Crimes Against Culture as a War Crime

by Eze Eluchie,

The recent arraignment, admission of guilt and conviction of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, a member of the Taureg extremist Islamist militia, Ansar Dine, before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing ‘crimes against culture’ via the destruction of ancient religious artifacts, structures and literature and ‘historical monuments or buildings dedicated to religion’, as a war crime in contravention of Article 8(b)ix of the Rome Statute, is a monumental and welcome development in international criminal law.

The recognition that when a peoples culture is destroyed, their very being, existence and life is depreciated, irreversibly diminished, thrown into turmoil and their ability to make meaningful progress adversely impacted, ranking pari passu with such other vile acts as genocides, mass rapes and systematic torture amongst several other war crimes, will serve to put into proper context similar crimes against culture committed elsewhere which have seemingly been overlooked by civilizations and mankind.

The recent prosecution for ‘crime against culture’ and the rationale given as reason for the landmark prosecution of the Malian terrorist in question by the ICC, should serve as a prism through which the world may yet begin to understand the extent of harm inflicted upon and suffered by the so-called emerging economies and countries and brings to mind the wrongs done to the various peoples of the African continent by foreign missionary and colonialists who traversed the continent.

   

For centuries, crimes against culture were perpetuated against several indigenous peoples, particularly across Sub-Sahara Africa, with such high level of impunity and brazenness that the heinous crimes gained currency as norms. One prime activity Islamic and Christian missionaries who first set foot on Sub-Sahara African soil engaged in was the systematic desecration and ultimately destruction of traditional symbols of religious and temporal authority, artifacts and whatsoever items that served for purposes of communal identification, unity and cohesion of the various peoples and communities they sought to conquer, convert, rule and or colonize.

An integral part of the political conquest (under the guise of colonization) of the indigenous people who own the various territories the colonialists seized was the total annihilation of whatsoever traditional instruments of authority and or religion/worship of ‘colonized peoples’ – in other words, colonization in a nutshell, was a prolonged Crime Against Culture, a prolonged War Crime.

This practice of destruction of people’s cultural heritage and identity has rather than abate, continued till date with greater frenzy and violence – at times supported by instrument of State authority. Till date Islamic and Christian groups, acting independently of one another but unified by their hatred of traditional culture and religions, take pride in public destruction of Traditional Masquerades, Religious Charms and Amulets, and Shrines dedicated to various Gods in traditional communities. Ironically, some States in Sub-Sahara Africa acting under the influence of the two religious bodies which institutionalized crime against culture in the continent, now serve as instruments to deepen crimes against culture against their own peoples, passing legislation's which seek to ‘criminalize’ traditional heritage, indigenous cultural practices and religions.

Considering that the devastation and harm caused by crimes against culture is a continuum, and that the crimes were so endemic and coordinated as to be deemed to be perpetuated in perpetuity, it would be interesting to know what the opinion of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the ICC itself would be towards investigating and ultimately prosecuting the principal custodians of the Islamic and Christian faiths and the present beneficiaries of years of commission of crimes against culture against peoples of Sub-Sahara Africa (to wit: the King of Saudi Arabia/Custodian of the Two Holy Temples {Islam}, the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Head of the Church of England/Anglican Communion {Christians}, and the complicit governments.

If the destruction of one mosque in Timbuktu will result into a conviction for Crime Against Culture, how would the ICC treat the obliteration of a peoples religion, culture and way of life?

Picture: A traditional masquerade (representative of the Gods) amongst the Igbo ethnic nationality in Nigeria.

Tacit US Acquiescence To Impending Acts of Mass Atrocities In Niger Delta Region?

by Eze Eluchie,

Is the present belligerent posture of the Nigerian ruler towards the Niger Delta issue in any way traceable to the recent visit of US Secretary of State, John Kerry?

Were there any assurances given to Nigeria’s rulers by their august visitor that when Nigeria’s military starts killing Nigerian citizens with US supplied weapons that the US will simply look the other side?

The above twin questions becomes pertinent when one contrasts the dispositions and mannerisms of the ruling junta in Nigeria to activists in Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta region prior to and subsequent to Mr. John Kerry’s visit.

Prior to the visit, the Nigerian government had been appealing to all quarters for dialogue, sending all manners of emissaries to try and reach out to the various leadership of myriad activist elements and organizations in the Niger Delta region. As the date of the visit approached and thereafter, all such efforts at dialogue evaporated and was replaced with expedited and ferocious military build-up, militarization of the Delta region and a sudden fatalistic and threatening disposition and a military operation code-named ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’ – a crocodile, supposedly, only smiles when it has made a kill.

The Nigerian military has laid siege on the Niger Delta region. There is apprehension that buoyed by the visit of the US Secretary of State, a repeat of previous acts of mass atrocities carried out by the Nigerian State against its citizens in the Niger delta region (particularly the genocidal attacks on Odi, Bayelsa State in 1999 and Gbaramatu in Delta State in 2009),  might, once again, be in the offing.

An inkling as to how much tension the visit of Mr. Kerry has generated amongst divergent interest groups in Nigeria can be gleaned at from the fact that, in a most unusual development, the umbrella organization of Christians in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), issued a stringent Press Release expressing dismay at the skewed ethno-religious slant of the US Secretary of State’s itinerary and dispositions during his recent visit. Some Nigerians who feel threatened with the probably outcome of the Kerry visit have taken the added option of petitioning authorities in the US who they feel will have powers to prevent or forestall what appears to be a pending doom resulting from interferences from Mr. Kerry.

In the 15 months it has thus far been in power, the Nigerian government led by Muhammadu Buhari has shown an appetite to use excessive military force against its own citizens for merely expressing constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and express contrary opinion such as with the massacre of members of the Independent Peoples of the Sovereign State of Biafra (IPOB) in Aba (Abia State, South-east Nigeria),  and the mass killings of Shi’a adherents in Zaria (Kaduna State, North-central Nigeria) both in December 2015.

It is thus with a view to avoiding an imminent mass wastage of lifes to suppress agitators for equity, regionalism and restructuring of Nigeria, following the amassing of military personnel and firepower in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region by the Nigerian Government, that FREEMIND joins other people and organizations of goodwill, including the Chairman of the United States House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Judiciary, Congressman Tom Marino, to urge the Government of the United States, considering its obvious influence over the Buhari regime, to use its immense reach to ensure that the recent visit of US Secretary of State, John Kerry, does not get turned into a vague acquiescence for plans to commit mass atrocities against Nigerian citizens.

Picture: US Secretary of State and Nigeria’s ruler, Muhammadu Buhari during tgeh formers visit to Abuja September 2016.

US Secretary of State, John Kerry, Goofed In Nigeria

by Eze Eluchie,

By his itinerary and comments during his recent junket to Nigeria, United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, merely underscored the reasons why the Barrack Obama presidency has been such a catastrophic failure in the area of Foreign Affairs and International relations.

The slant in persons and locations visited and the underlining hypocritical advice (to Nigeria) to apply ‘diplomacy’ in dealing with terror are clear recipes for domestic disaster.

These were the same mannerisms and dubious mindsets which led the Obama administration under the Hillary Clinton tenure as Secretary of State to term Boko Haram a 'socio-economic reaction to economic marginalization' and thus refuse to treat BH as a Foreign Terrorist Organization - under such warped thinking, Al Qaeda and ISIS should be treated as mere affiliates of the Boys Scout movement!

The Obama administration appears intent on exporting its cohort with proponents of extremist Islamist philosophies across the African continent – consorting with the Buhari regime which rode into power in Nigeria on the back of Boko Haram terror attacks and meetings with Islamist leaders in Nigeria some of whom (such as Mr. Sa’adu Abubakar alias Sultan of Sokoto) had within the past few days asserted that ‘Christians commit wicked acts such as crimes against humanity’, as Kerry did during his last visit, without even trying to understand or meet the victims of Islamist extremism in Nigeria, ultimately is a disservice to the United States and hurts US interests and image.

If Mr. Kerry's visit is indicative of what a President Obama's visit would have looked like, then Nigerians of goodwill should be celebrating the failure of Obama to visit Nigeria throughout his tenure.

http://thenationonlineng.net/can-faults-kerrys-visit/

Picture: US Secretary of State, John Kerry with his primary host during his recent visit to Nigeria, ruler of Nigeria’s Fulani Muslims, Mr. Sa'adu Abubakar alias Sultan of Sokoto.