22. September 2017

 

Die folgenden Ausschnitte aus ausgewählten Quellen enthalten Informationen zu oben genannter Fragestellung (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 22. September 2017):

 

·      taz – Die Tageszeitung: Friedenstruppen aufgegessen, 17. März 2008
http://www.taz.de/!5184983/

„Beinahe unbemerkt von der Weltöffentlichkeit hat der Kriegsverbrecherprozess gegen Charles Taylor vor einer Strafkammer des Special Court for Sierra Leone eine dramatische Wendung genommen. In einer zum Teil haarsträubenden Zeugenaussage, die sich über drei Tage hinzog, belastete ein enger Vertrauter den früheren Präsidenten Liberias und Kriegsfürsten schwer. In sachlichem Ton berichtete der Zeuge von unzähligen Morden, unter anderem an Kindern und schwangeren Frauen, Vergewaltigungen und anderen Gräueltaten in Sierra Leone, Liberia und Guinea, die er alle auf Befehl Taylors begangen haben will. Besonders ausführlich schilderte Joseph ‚Zigzag‘ Marzah, der Taylor über zehn Jahre diente, Kannibalismus in einer Vielzahl von Fällen, was er ebenfalls auf ausdrückliche Anordnung von Charles Taylor getan haben will.

Dieses Bild des zu Unrecht angeklagten Staatsmannes hat jetzt erste Risse bekommen. Taylor hörte mit angewiderter Miene den sehr überzeugend wirkenden Ausführungen Marzahs zu kannibalistischen Ritualen eines Geheimbundes, des poro, zu, dessen Anführer er, Taylor, gewesen sein soll. Auf Anordnung Taylors wollte der Zeuge auch getötete oder hingerichtete Feinde verspeist haben, unter ihnen gefangen genommene Soldaten der nigerianischen Friedenstruppen. Marzah beschrieb wie Taylor und seine engsten Vertrauten bei Ritualen ihrer poro-Gesellschaft die Herzen ermordeter Konkurrenten aßen und im Jahre 1995 ein okkultes Ritual auf dem Strand außerhalb Monrovias, der Hauptstadt Liberias, veranstalteten. Bei diesem Ritual soll eine schwangere Frau lebendig begraben und ein lebendes Schaf von den anwesenden Kämpfern mit bloßen Händen in Stücke gerissen geworden sein. Auf Nachfrage von Taylors Anwalt, Courtenay Griffiths, sagte Marzah er ‚bereue nichts‘, da er auf Anordnung seines ‚Führers‘ Taylor gehandelt habe.

Kannibalismus und Rituale eines Geheimbundes? Dies scheint längst überwunden geglaubte Vorurteile über Afrikaner, die jederzeit wieder in ihren Aberglauben zurückfallen können, zu bestätigen. Doch ganz so einfach ist es nicht. Unter dem Begriff poro werden eine Vielzahl in ganz Westafrika verbreiteter Geheimbünde zusammengefasst. Die poro-Geheimbünde, denen nur Männer angehören, erfüllen wichtige Aufgaben bei der Initiation von Jungen und allen Aspekten des politischen und religiösen Lebens. Die poro waren vor der Ankunft staatlicher und kirchlicher Bildungsinstitutionen die zentrale Erziehungsinstitution in dieser Region und sorgten für die Aufrechterhaltung der gesellschaftlichen Ordnung.

Obwohl die Wurzeln des poro mindestens bis ins 16. Jahrhundert zurückreichen, ist der heutige poro ein modernes Phänomen, das während des Kontakts zwischen den ersten Siedlern Liberias und Sierra Leones, freigelassenen Sklaven, mit den dort lebenden Gruppen im 19. Jahrhundert entstand. In Liberia war der poro ein Versuch der indigenen Bevölkerung die Kolonisten und deren Staat in die lokalen Beziehungsnetzwerke einzubinden. Es ist deshalb auch kein Zufall, dass der poro in Vielem den bei den schwarzen Siedlern, den so genannten Americo-Liberianern, weit verbreiteten Freimaurerlogen und deren Ritualen glich. In den 1950er Jahren unternahm der liberianische Staat Versuche den poro bei der Ausweitung seiner Herrschaft über die ethnischen Gruppen des Hinterlandes einzusetzen. Diese Bestrebungen gipfelten darin, dass der Präsident Liberias seit den 1950er Jahren auch das Oberhaupt aller poro-Bünde des Landes ist. Der poro wandelte sich somit von einer Institution, mit dem die indigene Bevölkerung die Vertreter des Kolonialstaates zu kontrollieren versuchte, zu einem Herrschaftsinstrument mit dem der Staat versuchte seine Herrschaft über die indigene Bevölkerung auszudehnen.

Es gibt keinerlei Hinweise auf Kannibalismus in diesen regulären poro- Geheimbünden. Jedoch gab es seit dem späten 19. Jahrhundert immer wieder Berichte über in noch größerer Verborgenheit operierende Geheimbünde, den so genannten Leopardmenschen oder Alligatormenschen, die angeblich magischen Kannibalismus praktizierten, um ihre mentalen und physischen Kräfte zu mehren. Berichte über die Aktivitäten dieser Geheimbünde sind auch im 20. Jahrhundert immer wieder aufgetaucht, es kam auch zu vereinzelten Prozessen in beiden Ländern. Seit dem 16. Jahrhundert spielte in dieser Region eine weitere Form von Geheimbünden eine wichtige Rolle bei der Kriegsplanung und -führung. Diese exklusiven Bünde, in manchen Gegenden unter dem Namen wunde bekannt, waren nur ausgewählten Mitgliedern der regulären poro-Bünde vorbehalten und praktizierten nach zeitgenössischen Berichten magischen Kannibalismus in ihren Kriegszeremonien. […]

Sollte die Aussage des Zeugen zutreffen, stand Taylor an der Spitze eines komplexen Herrschaftssystems bei dem er sowohl Anführer einer bewaffneten Gruppe, der National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), als auch der spirituelle Führer einer Geheimloge war, durch deren magische Rituale er sich die unbedingte Treue ihrer Mitglieder sicherte. Der Kannibalismus, bei dem die Mitglieder des Bundes zusammen einen Mord begehen und das Herz des Feindes gemeinsam verspeisen, wäre hierfür ein äußerst wirksames Mittel. Eine dritte Dimension dieses Herrschaftssystems wäre dann der durch den Bürgerkrieg ausgehöhlte Staatsapparat, dem er von 1997 bis 2003 als Präsident vorstand.“ (taz, 17. März 2008)

·      Landinfo - Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre: Liberia-Sierra Leone: Poro/sande og andre “hemmelige samfunn”, 30. März 2010
http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1189/1/1189_1.pdf

„SUMMARY

Poro/sande are important institutions in most of Sierra Leone and large parts of Liberia. Most members of a community join poro/sande through initiation rituals marking the end of childhood and the entering of adult life. Men become part of poro, and women part of sande. Poro/sande are important arenas of power in the region, and the political elites in Liberia and Sierra Leone have attempted to become part of these institutions, and partly to control them. Some outsiders claim ritual killing and human sacrifice take place within poro/sande, but researchers are of the opinion that such acts are more likely committed by more exclusive secret societies in Liberia and Sierra Leone, which hide their existence from the general public.” (Landinfo, 30. März 2010, S. 3)

·      Vogel, Heath: Societies Within Society - The Secret Societies of Liberia, 16. Juni 2012
http://bloggingwithoutmaps.blogspot.co.at/2012/06/societies-within-society-secret.html

„Poro and Sande

First off there are two main societies: Poro and Sande. Poro is the society for men, Sande for women. There are many other societies as well, but these are the main traditional societies (for example, the Krahn that have a society more like those of Ivory Coast, and the Masonic Order which functioned in Liberia as a kind of secret society among Americo-Liberians yet rumored to have practiced ritual sacrifices just like Poro). Within Poro and Sande there are sub-groups that are designed for certain strata of society: chief, Zoe (pronounced ‘Zoh’ meaning priest), and the regular ordinary initiate.

Poro and Sande have held a great amount of power in Liberian society and in many cases they still do. I have heard the rumor on several occasions that no one can hold a political position in Liberia without being a member of Poro or Sande. I'm not sure that is true, but that sentiment is easy to find in Liberia.

Citizenship by Initiation

What is fairly well documented is that many traditional communities do not consider the uninitiated to be a citizen of their village, clan, or even tribe. The uninitiated are considered 'unclean', 'childish' and/or unfit for marriage until they have been initiated (this usually involves circumcision). Therefore, the advantages to joining are so great that many parents are eager to place their child in 'bush school' during enrollment season. ” (Vogel, 16. Juni 2012)

·      UN News Centre: Liberia: UN report calls for ending sometimes deadly cultural practices that violate human rights, 18. Dezember 2015
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52856#.WcS1Yrg0HWQ

„Senior United Nations officials today called on Liberia to root out sometimes deadly human rights violations masquerading as cultural practices, citing female genital mutilation, forced initiation into secret societies, witchcraft accusations, trials by ordeal and ritualistic killings.

The study, based on in-depth interviews with victims, family members, community leaders, Government officials and civil society between January 2012 and September 2015, shows that violations disproportionately affect women, children, elderly people, the destitute and those with disabilities, with criminal offenses going unpunished due to their perceived cultural dimensions. […]

It also documents abductions, forced initiations, torture and rape by members of another secret society called Poro. Non-members considered to have transgressed its rules, for instance by 'trespassing' on its sacred ground or remaining outdoors during Poro activities, have also at times been forcefully initiated, tortured and, in two documented cases, gang-raped. […]

‘The authorities often hesitate to investigate or prosecute cases involving trial by ordeal, due to the perceived cultural dimensions of the practice,’ it noted. ‘This has generated widespread culture of impunity among traditional actors.’

The report documents nine cases of suspected ritualistic killings, including three last August and September, in one of which a motorcycle driver in Ganta was killed, allegedly for ritualistic purposes. This sparked riots during which a man accused of this alleged ritual murder was killed by an angry mob.

‘These events illustrate the lack of faith many Liberians have in the capacity and willingness of local authorities to take action in cases of ritualistic killing, and of the formal justice system to hold perpetrators accountable,’ it said. ‘This situation raises serious concerns in view of the 2017 national elections when the number of ritualistic killings is likely to increase.’“ (UN News Centre, 18. Dezember 2015)

Der erwähnte Bericht der UN Mission in Liberia (UMNIL) ist unter folgendem Link zugänglich:

·      UNMIL - UN Mission in Liberia: The Assessment of Human Rights Issues Emanating from Traditional Practices in Liberia, Dezember 2015 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1452853411_568d1ca94.pdf

 

 

·      Bertelsmann Stiftung: BTI 2016; Liberia Country Report, 2016
http://www.bti-project.org/fileadmin/files/BTI/Downloads/Reports/2016/pdf/BTI_2016_Liberia.pdf

„As such, a democratic civic culture has not yet fully developed, though improvements are undeniable. Associational life and especially social trust have still to recover from the aftermath of more than a decade of civil war. The extent of damage to ethnic traditions and the question of their restoration are key issues for social integration in postwar Liberia. It is not clear whether the Poro (and Sande) secret societies in the northwestern parts of Liberia and the mechanisms of social integration in the traditional societies of the southeastern region will regain sufficient strength to influence the construction of social capital in these rural areas. The Poro, victims of various factions during the civil war between 1990 and 2003, have the potential to either help resolve or exacerbate social and ethnic conflicts. However, research has shown that the secret societies tend to play a negligible role in urban areas, and are to some extent even considered a substantial threat. Moreover, their ability to act as conflict mediators appears to be hampered by the fact that they operate in an isolated ‘parallel society.’” (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2016, S. 14)

·      IRB - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada: Liberia: The Sande secret society, its activities, organization, leaders and consequences of refusing the role of leader; Sande’s power, its treatment of those who speak out against or oppose its practices; state protection for individuals threatened by Sande (2012-November 2016) [LBR105687.FE], 22. Februar 2017 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/local_link/337920/480850_de.html

„In a December 2015 report on traditional practices in Liberia, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) describes secret societies as follows:

[UN English version]

The Sande and Poro societies are the trusted custodians of ‘culture’ in much of Liberia and have been present in the region for centuries. These societies are traditionally believed to inculcate values and teach skills conducive to communal harmony and to prepare children for the rigors of adulthood. They also have a spiritual dimension, though they are not considered to be religious institutions as such, and most Sande and Poro members are also adherents of Christianity or Islam. (UN Dec. 2015, para. 14)

Sande is a secret female society (Norway 30 Mar 2010, 3; Equality Now 2 Oct. 2015, 2). Poro is its male equivalent (IBIS 18 Apr. 2012, 7; UN Dec. 2015, para. 7). […]

Sande and Poro have a presence in the north and the west (IBIS 18 Apr. 2012, 7; UN Dec. 2015, para. 15) as well as in central Liberia (ibid.). However, they have very little or no presence in the southeast (ibid.; IBIS 18 Apr. 2012, 7). […]

2.1 The Power of Secret Societies

The Sande and Poro secret societies are seen as powerful institutions (Norway 30 Mar. 2010, 3; Thomson Reuters Foundation 4 Aug. 2016) and ‘influential’ (Equality Now 2 Oct. 2015; UN Dec. 2015, para. 15). The UNMIL report states that they are held in high esteem by the public because of their role in passing on values and skills from one generation to the next (UN Dec. 2015, para. 7).

Secret societies hold power over the communities, resolving disputes (International Crisis Group 6 Apr. 2006, i; Australia 5 Aug. 2009, 1) and condemning members who have defied established social norms (ibid.). In addition, the village’s important political decisions are made by the secret societies (International Crisis Group 8 Dec. 2004, 26; Pulitzer Center 30 Mar. 2012).

Some sources describe membership in a secret society as a condition for exercising power in your community (28 Too Many Dec. 2014, 20; Equality Now 2 Oct. 2015). Families who opt out of secret societies are considered ‘sinners’ and are ‘treated as outcasts’ (Pulitzer Center 30 Mar. 2012). Only individuals who are members of the Sande and Poro societies can take part in decisions concerning the village (Thomson Reuters Foundation 6 Feb. 2014; Pulitzer Center 30 Mar. 2012). […]

According to UNMIL, the chief Poro zoe [traditional practitioner] is the head of the National Council of Chiefs and Elders (NCCE), the representative body of traditional authorities in Liberia (UN Dec. 2015, para. 20). The council is [UN English version] ‘highly influential’ and is consulted by state authorities on all matters related to society; it plays an advisory role on internal affairs in the country and it is mandated to help the government maintain peace (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.2 The State’s Power over Secret Societies

UNMIL explains that in Liberia, two departments oversee secret societies: the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), which supervises the activities of secret societies and the NCCE, but the minister of which is second in authority (to the chief Poro zoe) with respect to cultural affairs; and the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), which promotes and preserves culture but does not oversee traditional practices or cultural societies (UN Dec. 2015, para. 21-22). Corroborating information or additional information about the state’s power over secret societies could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.“ (IRB, 22. Februar 2017)

·      USDOS - US Department of State: 2016 Report on International Religious Freedom - Liberia, 15. August 2017
https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2016/af/268664.htm

„Traditional practitioners include the secret Sande and Poro societies, seen both as religious and cultural practitioners and highly influential in the northern, western, and central regions of the country.“ (USDOS, 15. August 2017)

·      The New Republic: Liberia: 'Boakai Joins Poro Society', 18. Mai 2017 (verfügbar auf AllAfrica)
http://allafrica.com/stories/201705190863.html

„Vice President Joseph Boakai seems not to be leaving any stone unturned in his attempt to succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President of Liberia in January 2018. Reports this paper gathered revealed that Veep Boakai is not only crisscrossing the country and receiving plethora of support, but also touching basis with traditional people to provide accommodations for him culturally.

While in Bong County recently, Veep Boakai reportedly visited a Poro society bush where he was admitted as member. The exercise went on, according to the report, a day before citizens of Bong, one of the heavily traditional-inspired counties in the country, pledged unflinching support to his presidential bid.

Poro and Sande, two of the leading societies in Liberia, are practiced in Bong and other counties, especially Lofa, the birthplace of the vice president. Poro society is a famous traditional society for boys and men, practiced by large numbers of the 16 tribes of Liberia, mainly in the north, central, central-south of Liberia. The report did not say what the intent behind the vice president's decision is, but most presidential contenders reportedly do it as sign of support for Liberian culture. It is believed that joining any society - poro, sande or any other - gives them ancestral blessings and also boosts their connections with the rural (traditional) people of the country. […]

Vice Pres. Boakai reportedly went through rigorous process of becoming a member of the Society. In Liberia, poro and sande has become a political tool, considering international pressure for them to be abolished.” (New Republic, 18. Mai 2017)

·      The News: Liberia: Govt Criticized for Not Protecting Cultural Values, 9. Jänner 2017 (verfügbar auf AllAfrica)
http://allafrica.com/stories/201701091119.html

„A local pro-culture organization has asserted that the lack of interest and national effort to promote and incorporate traditional medicine and cultural values in our society has undermined the important role traditional value has got to offer in our society. The group blames the government for prioritizing foreign medicine and values over traditional medicine and culture values. […]

The group also observed that since the emergence of the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, there has been so much effort directed at abolishing and restricting the advancement of traditional Poro and Sandi school systems in Liberia.” (The News, 9. Jänner 2017)

·      The Daily Observer: Liberia: Resolving the House Impasse - Chief Zanzan Kawor Has a Chance, 21. August 2016 (verfügbar auf AllAfrica)
http://allafrica.com/stories/201608220921.html

„The Chairman of the National Traditional Council (NTC) has thankfully intervened in the conflict in the House of Representatives, where the Speaker, Bomi County's Alex Tyler, and his Deputy, Grand Bassa's Hans Barchue, are at loggerheads.

Both are holding rival sessions, the Speaker in the regular House chambers, and Barchue and his faction in the Joint Chamber of the National Legislature, which his supporters forcibly opened last week to hold their separate session. […]

The NTC has a distinct and unique chance of helping to resolve the crisis--why? Because the vast majority of members of the Legislature are traditional people, belonging to the nation's traditional societies, the most powerful among them being the Poro and Sande, to which many of them, especially those from Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Nimba and Rivercess counties are very strong adherents. But the rest of the counties, too, all have their own traditional societies, not necessarily related to the Poro and Sande, but there is a strong cultural bond among them all.” (The Daily Observer, 21. August 2016)