Primitive Justice

I have mentioned previously the appearance of shari’ah courts in Somalia, particularly Mogadishu, and their growing influence in the chaotic political environment with its warlord-based culture.

Now we have this story from the BBC about the execution of harsh Koranic justice by one of these courts:

A teenage Somali boy has stabbed to death his father’s killer in a public execution ordered by an Islamic court.

Large crowds gathered at a Koranic school in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, to watch Mohamed Moallim, 16, stab Omar Hussein in the head and throat.

Hussein had been convicted of killing the boy’s father, Sheikh Osman Moallim, after a row about Mohamed’s education.

Islamic courts have brought a semblance of order to Mogadishu, imposing Sharia law after years of rule by warlords.

However there is some opposition to the courts. A group of warlords has been fighting a militia loyal to the Islamic courts, which they accuse of links to al-Qaeda.

What I want you to notice is the approving tone with which the BBC describes the social effects of Koranic justice:

Residents in the nearby area have reported a drop in robberies, murder and general lawlessness since the court began its work, Radio HornAfrik said.

Do you think the BBC would have written so approvingly if the fathers of Swedish girls had taken the law into their own hands and dispatched the rapists of their daughters?

Do they applaud the “vigilante” Minutemen in the southwestern United States as they exercise their rights as citizens, and keep illegal aliens out of the country?

Want to take bets?

So vigilante justice is appropriate when illiterate non-white Thirld World folk administer it to each other? A little throat-cutting here, a beheading there — that’s just the way they do things in those heathen parts, right?

It’s a cultural thing; no need to be judgmental.


Hat tip: commenter Scott.