I chose this article so that people do not forget what happened in London on September 21st, 2001. The torso of an unidentified little boy "Adam" washed up in the Thames River. Massive media coverage was initiated, but today, have people forgotten?Ritual killings and mutilations are still events that happen too often in some African countries. Some individuals believe that these disgusting acts will bring them good fortune. When people try to contact the police about these problems, they encounter barriers that disable them from taking further actions. The countries do not want to admit that this sort of behavior takes place on their land to them because it will cast them in an unfavorable light. One Gabonese citizen has finally been able to put a group together to speak up against this issue. The American embassy helped host the event, which is exactly the kind of assistance that many people need in Africa: the sort that will directly benefit the people.
I believe that Africans should be able to keep their traditional ways, as long as it does not hurt others! Human sacrifices are unacceptable, no matter what! The fact that governments do not actively pursue these criminals is truly appalling. In addition, something else that must not be forgotten is that public human sacrifices, not conducted out of belief that one will benefit from them, but rather out of pure evil, go on every day. One example is the LRA, led by Joseph Kony. When will these evildoers be stopped? When will justice be done? Should we be concerned or should we let these injustices happen? Personally, I believe this is a tragedy and we (the West) must absolutely do something about this!
3 comments:
"As we clamour for liberty and democracy we cannot accept that some people get away with killing another human being just so they can feel more at ease," - Senegalese culture minister.
I was absolutly very shocked to hear of this practice. I thought that murders such as this didn't actually happen! These ritual killings bring to light the human rights issues which are associated with them. I think that we can all agree that humans have a right to life and personal security (it is enumerated so in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights). These acts definetly threated these basic rights. As the culture minister said above, How can a country develop towards a more stable state with democratic institutions if these types of crimes occur? The presence of these types crimes can be seen as a failure of the government to protect its inhabitants. This is one of the characteristics of a failed state. If these types of killings are allowed to occur without investigation, then undoubtedly other crimes also go unnoticed. This dimishes the public trust in the government and thus does not help development.
Speaking now only of mutilations/killings that fall within tradition and customs (say, for example, human sacrifice), can we look at our knee-jerk desire to put a stop to them as another example of western individualism being wrongly applied to other cultures? I'm not advocating the practice, and I'm no moral relativist, but might these practices be an extreme example of putting the good of the community above the good of the individual? If this is indeed the case, then it's no surprise that westerners can't understand them.
(Probably this will piss you off. I seem to be rationalizing the murder/torture of individuals. I'm not trying to be inflammatory, i'm just looking at this idea from a different angle. I hope I'm wrong and there's a good moral argument that proves it...is there?)
Scott,
I think that we shouldn't impose our western views on traditions that do not harm others. For traditions that involve murders and mutilations, there is no excuse. Only suffering comes out of traditions like these. Africans themselves are hurt by such events, and believe that it is truly wrong. That's why these things need to be in the media: a lot of people don't know that such disgusting habits still occur. Awareness is the key here, and I applaud those who want to help and put an end to this, no matter where they are from.
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