Origin of Blood Feuds - Essay Example

Heading: Blood Feuds Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Introduction Blood feud is an ancient practice by some communities in Pakistan and Albania. People that practice the phenomenon do that for various reasons. They engage in blood feuds in order to restore their damaged reputation, to seek justice for offences committed against them, to regain their honor, to revenge their offences, and to warn others against violations of other people’s rights. Therefore, the paper intends to explore the issue of blood feuds, and analyze them from a legal perspective. It also seeks to examine how the practice operates, as well as its benefits and merits to the people engaging in it. Origin of blood feuds Regarding the origin of blood feud, this phenomenon emerged out of the law established by the Albanian prince more than 50 years ago. According to the law, a crime committed against honor strictly requires repayment with either an apology or blood. Although authorities eliminated it in the mid 20th century under the communist regime, the subsequent end of the regime brought back the custom with revenge. Initially, an offence covered both some action considered small like referring to a man as a liar before others, as well as severe action like murder (Bridie, 2005). To address this issue, individuals and committees of the affected groups in Albania term themselves as reconcilers. These include the Foundation for Conflict Resolution, the Committee of Reconciliation, the Peace Missionary Union, famous individuals like Sait Sanli and different missionary groups. Some of them arrange events where societies promise to abandon the practice. Others lobby to change the Kanun rules, which are the medieval code that describes the blood feuds rules, in order to target offenders only. The Albanian government has efforts including seizing weapons from communities that believe in blood feud. This is crucial, as an economic crisis of 1997 caused invasions of military premises. Bridie (2005) asserts that this further led to stealing and distribution of nearly a million weapons among 3.2 million people. Some reports also say that the government does very little to eradicate the practice, and that it is not serving justice; hence, the need for individuals to take justice upon their hands. The perception that it is not the government’s responsibility to mediate complicates the matter, as that would mean that the government is liable to forgive. Consequently, there are several unreported blood feud killings, since, this would imply the jailing and protection of the offender; hence, the impossibility of attacking him. With respect to effects of blood feuds, blood feuds aim at men. These are different from honor killings that involve both women and men. The traditional perception of a murder of a child or a woman under this circumstance was dishonorable. Nonetheless, presently, people do not strictly adhere to the custom, as the United States embassy in Albania reports that blood feuds target both women and children. It is worth noting that blood feuds majorly occur in Albania. Nevertheless, reports also indicate that they take place in Balkans areas including Silicy, Kosovo, Caucus, and the Corsica region. How does the process operate? The well-developed practice of blood feuds is traceable to the ancient Afghan culture. Blood feuds are conflicts between opponent tribes, families, and armed factions. These feuds occur in response to felt violations to the honor of property rights women, water, or land issues. As per the practice, people, related to the tribe or family of the wrongdoer, are the main targets of the victim’s family or tribe members (UNHCR, 2010). People who practice blood feuds seek revenge by physical injury, killing, or publicly shaming the individuals or perpetrators associated to the tribe or family of the offender. These practices can run for a long time from generations to generations, with retaliatory violence cycle between opposing groups. Settling a dispute by an official justice system does not always stop a blood feud. Pashtuns may settle blood feuds through official jirga decision, which is a male dominated community based conflict resolution system. At times, a peaceful compromise like bad dadab marriage can prevent a dispute from developing into a blood feud (UNHCR, 2010). As per the UNHCR (2010), people involved in or aimed at, due to a blood feud can, relying on situations of individual case, be in danger based on membership of a certain social group. Nonetheless, allegations by people with aforementioned features can cause the need to analyze potential elimination from the status of refugees. Does it have any relevance to modern Australia? According to Bridie (2005), blood feuds are a grave problem in Pakistan and Albania, but have little publicity in Australia. People view it a male equivalent to honor killing. Blood feuds are permanent conflicts that exist between men of contrasting families. They start when people perceive that one man is causing crime to another. As a result, the wronged man attempts to regain his honor through spilling blood of the men of the opponent’s family. People who practice blood feuds believe that restoration of honor is only achievable through spilling blood of the members of the conflicting family. These individuals also believe that through killing another person, a dishonored man can restore his honor, and his community or family structure. The main feasible target of a blood feud is the offender, as well as his male relations because any man’s blood from the conflicting family counts towards the reinstatement of the offended man’s honor. This is despite the man’s status in his community or family, or the intimacy of the connection between him and the offender. In fact, the main objective of such a blood feud is not vengeance, but satisfaction of what people sees as justice. It also serves to prevent the opponent family from attaining victory in consequent revenge. From the Australian perspective, this is a hard concept to understand. This is because blood feuds concern the significance of honor, and honor assumes a more serious sense in certain parts of the globe than people might give it. A man’s family and personal honor is vital to his dignity, integrity, reputation, and pride. The society takes these elements very critically. In addition, people believing in blood feuds base them on past mistakes, rather than on future solutions. While some people consider wars to be an incident that ends, blood feuds, on the other hand, are unending. This is because those people involved in it find it hard to be content (Bridie, 2005). Objectives of blood feuds People who practice blood feuds have certain objectives. To start with, in Albania, people practice blood feuds in order to restore personal, family, or community honor taken by the offender. Secondly, those who believe in blood feuds practice it in order to revenge the wrongdoer who commits an offence to them. Thirdly, believers of blood feuds practice as a way of seeking justice for an offence committed against them by the opposing group. Therefore, they decide to kill, publicly shame, or cause physical injury to the offending team. Fourthly, people believing in blood feuds practice it in order to avoid trafficking of people from their family, community, or tribe. Besides, people like in Pakistan practice blood feud in order to seek justice for accidental killing of the family, tribe, or community members (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2008). In addition, some people engage in blood feuds in order to settle issues regarding property conflicts, such as, land or water disputes. Another objective for blood feuds in places like Pakistan and Albania is to prevent or avenge an offence relating to disrespecting a woman. They engage in a blood feud in order to take revenge on the offender, or on his family, community, or tribe. What is more, people practice blood feud with an intention of settling an issue regarding a person who lies to another or to a group. This normally takes place to the offender himself, his family, or tribe. The offended group normally avenges the offence against them through public shaming, physical injury, or killing of the wrongdoer (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2008). Benefits and merits There are many benefits or merits of engaging in blood feuds by some communities or individuals. First, blood feuds help in preventing unnecessary violation of people’s rights by other people. For instance, blood feuds are beneficial in protecting women against violations by irresponsible men in a given society. Second, engaging in blood feuds helps a community, family, or a tribe to coexist peacefully by preventing future attempts of offences or violations. This is because the practice serves as a warning to the rest on criminal activities against other members of the society (Bridie, 2005). Third, practicing blood feuds by some communities is helpful in the development of a feeling of justice to some injustice caused by another group of people. By killing or physical injury to an offender or the offender’s family gives the offended party a sense of justice. Fourth, blood feuds make the offended group feel satisfied by the pain caused to their offender. This implies that revenging their offenders for wrong deeds is important in making the offended party satisfied. Lastly, engaging in blood feuds is crucial to the offended party as they reclaim the lost honor through revenge. These people believe that revenging their wrongdoers help in eliminating dishonor caused by the offender, and in turn, restoring the honor to their families, communities, or tribes (UNHCR, 2010). Conclusion Blood feud is a traditional practice that is traceable to the Pakistan and Albanian communities. From the legal perspective, people who practice it view it as a way of seeking justice for offences committed against them. These people conduct blood feuds by publicly shaming the offender, killing him, or causing physical injury to the offending party, which could be the offender himself, his tribe, community, or family. Some of the objectives and benefits of conducting blood feuds including seeking justice, restoring honor, avenging the offender, warning against future offences, as well as protecting the community, family, or individuals against any form of violations. Some governments and authorities are trying to stop the practice. In the modern Australia, the practice is no longer relevant, as compared to other countries like Albania and Pakistan. References Bridie (2005). Blood feuds, Act Now. com. au. Retrieved on July 31, 2012 from http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Blood_feuds.aspx Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (2008). Issue Paper Albania Blood feuds. Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets. Pp. 1-25 http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1684_1243258524_http-www2-irb-cisr-gc-ca-en- research-publications-index-e-htm.pdf United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. (2010). UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Afghanistan. Pp. 1-46. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4d0b55c92.pdf Read More