Turning a blind eye

Banaz Mahmod, aged 20, from Mitcham, south London, was tortured, raped and strangled last year by a gang recruited by her uncle - her uncle - Ari Mahmod, because her family disapproved of her boyfriend. Thursday's Guardian reported that her body was found in a suitcase and buried in a pit three months after she disappeared: "In the weeks before her murder, she repeatedly told police of threats from her family and, on one occasion, an attempt by her father to kill her, but officers did not take her claims seriously". Now it tranpires that one of the despicable monsters responsible for her murder has turned up in northern Iraq, and those who hold him are offering to extradite him to the UK. Incredibly, it seems the UK authorities are not interested. According to Kurdish and British sources, "the CPS has failed to launch extradition proceedings". The CPS say extradition is not possible under Iraqi law. The Guardian contrasts "the CPS approach in this case with the attempts made to bring the suspected killers of Alexander Litvinenko to justice". Indeed.