Necklacing

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Necklacing is a method of extrajudicial summary execution and torture carried out by forcing a rubber tire drenched with petrol around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire. The term "necklace" originated in the 1980s in black townships of apartheid South Africa where suspected apartheid collaborators were publicly executed in this fashion.[1]

South Africa[edit]

Necklacing was used by the black community to punish its members who were perceived as collaborators with the apartheid government.[2] Necklacing was primarily used on black police informants; the practice was often carried out in the name of the struggle, although the executive body of the African National Congress (ANC), the most broadly supported South African opposition movement, condemned it.[3][4] In 1986, Winnie Mandela, then-wife of the imprisoned Nelson Mandela, and who herself had endured torture and four imprisonments to a total of two years,[5] stated, "With our boxes of matches, and our necklaces, we shall liberate this country", which was widely seen as an explicit endorsement of necklacing.[6][7] This caused the ANC to initially distance itself from her,[8] although she later took on a number of official positions within the party.[8]

The first victim of necklacing, according to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was a young black woman, Maki Skosana of Duduza, on 20 July 1985:[9]

Moloko said her sister was burned to death with a tire around her neck while attending the funeral of one of the youths. Her body had been scorched by fire and some broken pieces of glass had been inserted into her vagina, Moloko told the committee. Moloko added that a big rock had been thrown on her face after she had been killed.[10]

Photojournalist Kevin Carter was the first to photograph a public execution by necklacing in South Africa in the mid-1980s. He later spoke of the images:

I was appalled at what they were doing. I was appalled at what I was doing. But then people started talking about those pictures ... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad. Being a witness to something this horrible wasn't necessarily such a bad thing to do.[11]

Author Lynda Schuster writes:

'Necklacing' represented the worst of the excesses committed in the name of the uprising. This was a particularly gruesome form of mob justice, reserved for those thought to be government collaborators, informers and black policemen. The executioners would force a car tire over the head and around the arms of the suspect, drench it in petrol, and set it alight. Immobilized, the victim burned to death.[12]

Some commentators have noted that the practice of necklacing served to escalate the levels of violence during the township wars of the 1980s and early 1990s as security force members became brutalized and afraid that they might fall victim to the practice.[13]

Other countries[edit]

Haiti[edit]

This form of lynching was used in Haiti, where it was known as Pé Lebrun, or Père Lebrun (French), after a tire advertisement showing a man with a tire around his neck. It was used prominently by mobs allied with Jean-Bertrand Aristide to assassinate political enemies. Aristide himself allegedly showed strong support for this practice, calling it a "beautiful tool" that "smells good", encouraging his Lavalas supporters to use it against wealthy people as well as members of the Lavalas party who were not as strong in their fervor.[14][15]

Sri Lanka and India[edit]

In the early years of the 1960s, when the seeds of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan Civil War) related to Eelam were being sown, Sinhalese rioters used necklacing in anti-Tamil riots.[16][17] Necklacing was also widely used in the second armed insurrection led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. A graphic description of one such necklacing appears in the book The Island of Blood by journalist Anita Pratap.[citation needed] This technique was widely used against Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which took place throughout northern India after the erstwhile Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, having presided over Operation Blue Star earlier that year, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.[18]

Ivory Coast and Nigeria[edit]

In the early 1990s, university students in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, were plagued by burglars stealing from their dormitories. The students took matters into their own hands by capturing the alleged thieves, and then executed them by placing tyres around their necks and setting the tyres on fire. Ivorian police, powerless to stop these necklacings, could do nothing but stand by and watch.[19]

In 2006, at least one person died in Nigeria by necklacing in the deadly Muslim protests over satirical cartoon drawings of Muhammad.[20]

Brazil[edit]

A form of necklacing where victims are forced inside a stack of tyres doused with petrol and set on fire is widely used by drug dealers in Brazil, notably in Rio de Janeiro, where it is called micro-ondas, or microwave in Portuguese.[21][22][23] Journalist Tim Lopes was a notable victim.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Oliver, Mark (19 May 2018). "Death By Tire Fire: A Brief History Of "Necklacing" In Apartheid South Africa". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  2. ^ Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla (2006). A Human Being Died That Night: Forgiving Apartheid's Chief Killer. Portobello Books. p. 147. ISBN 1-84627-053-7.
  3. ^ "The Black Struggle for Political Power: Major Forces in the Conflict". The Killings in South Africa: The Role of the Security Forces and the Response of the State (Report). Human Rights Watch. January 1991. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  4. ^ Fihlani, Pumza (12 October 2011). "Is necklacing returning to South Africa?". BBC News. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  5. ^ Monica McCausland (6 May 2020). "An Analysis of the Imprisonment and Detainment Treatment of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela". South African History Online. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Winnie Madikizela-Mandela". South African History Online. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  7. ^ Beresford, David (27 January 1989). "Row over 'mother of the nation' Winnie Mandela". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  8. ^ a b Meintjes, Sheila (August 1998). "Winnie Madikizela Mandela: Tragic Figure? Populist Tribune? Township Tough?" (PDF). Southern Africa Report. Vol. 13, no. 4. pp. 14–20. ISSN 0820-5582. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Evelina Puleng Moloko". Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Human Rights Violations Submissions – Questions and Answers. Duduza. 4 February 1997. JB0289/013ERKWA. Retrieved 7 December 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ "Truth Commission Looks at First "Necklace" Murder". South African Press Association. 4 February 1997. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  11. ^ Porter, Tim (18 February 2003). "Covering War in a Free Society". timporter.com. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  12. ^ Schuster, Lynda (2006) [2004]. A Burning Hunger: One Family's Struggle Against Apartheid. Ohio University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-8214-1652-5.
  13. ^ Turton, A.R. (2010). Shaking Hands with Billy. Durban: Just Done Publications. Retrieved 2 April 2021.[page needed]
  14. ^ "Aristide's "Pe Lebrun" speech". Haïti Observateur. 27 September 1992. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  15. ^ Smith, C. Fraser (2 October 1994). "Enigmatic Father Aristide Exhibits A Haitian Character Lost in Translation". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  16. ^ Subramanian, Samanth (2015). This Divided Island. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-0-85789-595-0. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.[page needed]
  17. ^ Dalrymple, William (9 March 2015). "This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War review – a moving portrayal of the agonies of the conflict". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Tyres: The Unusual Weapon Used During the 1984 Riots". Harperbroadcast.com. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  19. ^ Kaplan, Robert D. (1996). The Ends of the Earth: A Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy. New York: Random House. p. 14. ISBN 0-679-75123-8.
  20. ^ Musa, Njadvara (19 February 2006). "Muslims' rage over cartoons hits Nigeria". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 February 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  21. ^ Grellet, Fábio (24 May 2010). "Autorizado a visitar família, condenado por morte de Tim Lopes foge da prisão". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Polícia encontra 4 corpos que seriam de traficantes queimados com pneus". O Globo (in Portuguese). 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013 – via Federação Nacional dos Policiais Federais.
  23. ^ "Micro-ondas". WordReference.com. Retrieved 6 July 2013..
  24. ^ "Repórter foi capturado, torturado e morto por traficantes" (in Portuguese). Agência Estado. 9 June 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2020.

External links[edit]

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