Antropologia Juridica - Essay

8/2/2019 Antropologia Juridica - Essay

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UNIVERSIDADE NOVA LISBOA

Ritual aspects of theindefinition of conjectures,

legitimation, authority andthe circumscription of

collective identityGuerrillas in Zimbabwe

Albero, LauraCasaus, CarlotaGracia, ngela

Platas, Marina


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In the recommended bibliography Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and spiritmediums in Zimbabwe. David Lan assesses two aspects of therelationship between ZANLA guerrillas and spirit mediums during theZimbabwe revolution.

First, he analyzes the impact of the spirit medims to mobilize thepeasants support. Second, the author analyzes the impact of the waron the spirit mediums.The book begins by describing the role of spirits and spirit mediums inthe korekore society of the Zambezi Valley in northern Zimbabwe.

Zambezi Valley. NorthernZimbabwe

In the Korekore cosmology, a chief rules because his ancestorsare the owners of the land, the clan who either seetles in the area first,or conquered the original settlers and established a ritual relationshipbetween with the defeated group. These ancestors who are the ownersof the land are mhondoro spirits, and they are responsible for theentire countrys well-being, though their mediums the men andwomen whom the mhondoro spirits posses the spirits bring rain andprotect their country from witches.

The mhondoro spirits, through their mediums, also protect thesuccession of the chiefs. Korekore successions follow recognized rules,and so the decision does not fall entirely to the medium; in the case of


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disputes, however, the medium chooses from the claimants. Themedium makes certain that the rightful owners of the land remain inpower.

The white colonial regime kept the mhondoro mediums fromfulfilling their political function. The colonial government chose chiefs

on the basis of their willingness to help the whites, with little or noregard for rightful successors.As the chiefs became associated with the repressive colonialgovernment, the mhondoro mediums took on more and more of thechiefs day-to-day responsibilities, acting for the owners of the land.

In 1885, the British South Africa Company (BSAC) adopted the nameRhodesia. Southern Rhodesia became the official denotation for theregion south of the Zambezi, which later became Zimbabwe. Thenorthern region was administered separately by BSAC and later namedNorthern Rhodesia nowadays Zambia.

The Shona staged unsuccessful revolts - Chimurenga againstencroachment upon their lands. Following the failed insurrections of1896-1897, the Ndebele and Shona groups became subject to Rhodessadministration thus precipitating European settlement en masse whichled to land distribution disproportionately favouring Europeans,displacing the Shona, Ndebele, and other indigenous people.

Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in 1923,subsequent to a 1922 referendum. Rhodesians served on behalf of the

United Kingdom during World War II, mainly in the East AfricanCampaign against Axis forces in Italian East Africa. In 1953, in the faceof African opposition, Britain consolidated the two colonies of Rhodesiawith Nyasaland, nowadays Malawi, in the ill-fated Federation ofRhodesia and Nyasaland, which was dominated by Southern Rhodesia.

Growing African nationalism and general dissent, particularly inNyasaland, persuaded Britain to dissolve the Union in 1953, formingthree colonies. Colonial rule was ending throughout the continent andAfrican-majority governments were increasing and spreading.

In Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the white-minority Rhodesiangovernment led by Ian Smith made a Unilateral Declaration ofIndependence from the United Kingdom on the 11th November 1965,effectively repudiating the British plan that the country should becomea multi-racial democracy.

The United Kingdom deemed this act of rebellion, but didnt re-establish control by force. The white-minority government declareditself a Republic in 1970. A civil war ensured with Joshua NkomosZimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) and Robert MugabesZimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) using assistance from thegovernments of Zambia and Mozambique. Meanwhile, Southern


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Rhodesia dropped the designation Southern and claimed nation statusas the Republic of Rhodesia in 1970.

The author points out that when the guerrillas arrived to Dande(Zambezi Valley) in 1971, they claimed to be the owners of the land.

Rather than arguing with them, the spirit mediums supported theguerrillas cause. Its shown how the spirit mediums transformed theguerrillas into the owners of the land by giving them ritual prohibitionsagainst sex and killing wild animals; these prohibitions would keep theguerrillas from polluting the country.The spirit mediums also gave the guerrillas the power to controlwitches, and aided them in more concrete ways, such as teachingthem woodcraft, and showing them little-known paths and caves to usein hiding from the Rhodesian army.

We can also learn through the pages of the book that the spiritmediums used their interchange with the guerrillas to strengthen theirown position as well. By turning to the spirit mediums, the guerrillasconfirmed that the mhondoro, through their mediums, were the truejudges of the rightful owners of the land.

Zimbabwe reached its independence from the United Kingdom on the18th of April 1980. The new Constitution provided for a non-executivePresident as Head of State, with a Prime Minister as Head of theGovernment. The Constitution was amended in 1987 to provide anExecutive President and abolish the office of Prime Minister. The

constitutional changes came into effect on 1st

January 1988 with RobertMugabe as President. The bicameral Parliament had a directly-electedHouse of Assembly and an indirectly-elected Senate, partly made up oftribal chiefs.

Ethnic divisions soon came back to the forefront of national politics.Tensions between ZAPU and ZANU erupted with guerrilla activitystarting again in Matabeleland in south-western Zimbabwe.Because of the unsettled security situation, immediately afterindependence and the continuing anti-government dissidence, thegovernment kept in force a state of emergency. In 1983 to 1984, the

government declared a curfew in areas of Matabeleland and sent in thearmy in an attempt to suppress dissidents. Reports surfaced ofwidespread violence and disregard for human rights by the securityforces during these operations, and the level of political tension rose inthe country as a result. The pacification campaign, known as theGukuruhundi, or strong wind, resulted in at least 20.000 civiliandeaths. The situation evolved into a low level civil war.In December 1987, ZAPU became part of ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe AfricanNational Union Patriotic Front) and the government changed theconstitution to make Robert Mugabe the countrys first executivepresident and Joshua Nkomo one of the two vicepresidents.


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The end of the book portraits the following situation: the war ended upand only the spirit mediums remain in Dande to speak for the ownersof the land; because the chiefs had been discredited, and the guerrillaswere gone.In this area, the spirit mediums were supporting the village committees

and district committees, the new form of local government. Thepeasants accepted the spirit mediums right and power to judge thenew government, and so they implicitly accept. Male elders wereunderstood as the most proper administrators according to Korekorecosmology, so they continued to dominate local government in Dande.

... The revolution changed the way local governmentworked in Dande (Northern Zimbabwe), but it confirmed thespirit mediums power.

NACIONALIST ORGANIZATIONS: ZAPU AND ZANU

As we said the origins of the war in Zimbabwe are link with thecolonization of the region by white settlers in the late 19th century, andthe dissent of black African nationalist leaders who opposed whiteminority rule.In the context of the nationalist organizations soon emerged twodivisions: the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) and theZimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).

ZANU and its military wing ZANLA were headed initially by theReverend Ndabaningi Sithole, and later Robert Mugabe.

The fighting was largely rural, with the two rival movementsattempting to secure peasant support and to recruit fighters whilepushing the administration and the white civilians. To ensure localdomination they ZANLA and ZIPRA sometimes fought against eachother as well as against the security forces.

ZANU won the 1980 elections under the leadership of Robert Mugabe,

and seven years later merged again with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU to formZANU-PF.ZANU was formed by an August 1963 split from ZAPU. It was foundedby Ndabaningi Sithole, Henry Hamadziripi, Mukudzei Midzi, HerbertChitepo, Edgar Tekere and Leopold Takawira at the house of EnosNkala in Highfield. The founders were dissatisfied with the militanttactics of Nkomo.

Most of ZANU's operations were planned from exile in the 1970s, andthe party had office in Lusaka, Dar-es-Salaam, Maputo and London.

Before 1980 ZANLA was heavily dependent on China and othercommunist countries for finance and for arms supplies - and indeed for


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weapons training. Thus, it easy to understand why ZANU wanted it toappear that they were receptive to Communist and Maoist ideology.

There were two splits within ZANU before the independence. The firstwas with Nathan Shamuyarira and others leaving to join the Front for

the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI) in 1973.

ZANLA had strong links with Mozambique's independence movement,FRELIMO. ZANLA, in the end, was present on a more or less permanentbasis in over half the country, as evidenced by the location of thedemobilization bases at the end of the war, which were in everyprovince except Matabeleland North.

In addition, they were fighting a civil war against ZIPRA, despite theformation of a joint front by their political parties after 1978. It wasZANLA's intention to occupy the ground, supplant the administration inrural areas, and then set the final conventional campaign. ZANLAconcentrated on the politicization of the rural areas using force,persuasion and ties of kinship.

The organization tried to paralyze the Rhodesian effort and economyby planting Soviet anti-tank land mines on the roads. From 1972 to1980 there were 2,504 vehicle detonations of land mines killing 632people and injuring 4,410.The mining of roads increased as the war intensified; indeed theincrease from 1978 (894 mines or 2.44 mines were detonated a day) to

1979 (2,089 mines or 5.72 mines a day) was 233.7%.In response, the Rhodesians co-operated with the South Africans todevelop a range of mine protected vehicles.

The Zimbabwe African People's Union also fought for the nationalliberation of Zimbabwe from its founding in 1961 until it merged withthe Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front in December1987.

The party was formed on 17 December 1961, 10 days after theRhodesian government banned the National Democratic Party (NDP).

Founded by Joshua Nkomo as president and Parirenyatwa as vice-president. ZAPU was banned in 1962 by the Rhodesian white minoritygovernment, and was later engaged in a guerrilla war against it. Thearmed wing of ZAPU, known as Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army(ZIPRA), was managed by General Lookout Masuku.

ZAPU was aligned with the Soviet Union whose ideology was tomobilize the urban workers, whereas ZANU had a pro-People's Republicof China orientation which was to mobilize the rural peasantry.

In 1980 it contested elections in Zimbabwe as the Patriotic Front, butlost to its rival the ZANU. They merged into ZANU-PF in 1987 followingthe Gukurahundi massacres.


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ZIPRA was the anti-government force based around the Ndebeleethnicity, led by Joshua Nkomo, and the ZAPU political organization. Incontrast to ZANLA's Mozambique links, Nkomo's ZIPRA was moreoriented to Zambia for local bases. However, this was not always with

full Zambian government support.

Because ZAPU's political strategy relied more heavily on negotiationsthan armed force, ZIPRA did not grow as quickly or elaborately asZANLA, but by 1979 it had an estimated 20,000 combatants, almost allbased in camps around Lusaka, Zambia.

ZIPRA was responsible for two attacks on civilian Air Rhodesia Viscountaeroplanes, on 3 September 1978 and 12 February 1979. Using SAM-7surface-to-air missiles, the guerrillas shot down each plane during itsascent as it took off from Kariba Airport. ZIPRA took advice from itsSoviet instructors in formulating its version of popular revolution and itsstrategy for taking over the country. There were about 1,400 Soviets,700 East German and 500 Cuban instructors deployed to the area.

By the late 1970s, ZIPRA had developed a strategy known asStorming the Heavens to launch a invasion from Zambia, supportedby a limited number of armored vehicles and light aircraft. Anoperation by the Rhodesian armed forces to destroy a ZIPRA base nearLivingstone in Zambia was never launched.

The ZAPU/ZIPRA strategy for taking over Zimbabwe provedunsuccessful. In any event, the transfer of power to black nationaliststook place not by the military take-over expected by ZAPU/ZIPRA, butby a peaceful and internationally supervised election. Rhodesiareverted briefly to real British rule, and a general election took place inearly 1980. This election was supervised both by the UK andinternational forces. Robert Mugabe won this election, being the onlymajor competitor for the vote of the majority ethnicity, the Shona.Once in power, Mugabe was internationally recognized as Zimbabwe'sleader and was installed as head of government, as well as having the

backing of the overwhelming majority ethnic group. He was thereforeable to quickly and irreversibly consolidate his power in Zimbabwe,forcing ZAPU, and therefore ZIPRA, to give up hope of taking over thecountry in the place of ZANU/ZANLA.

GOVERNMENTAL RHODESIAN ARMED FORCES

To face the guerrillas during the conflicting years the Rhodesian ArmedForces were formed of several shapes. Prior to 1953, the British SouthAfrica Police (BSAP) was responsible for Rhodesia's defence; it was the

nucleus of Rhodesia's military contribution to the British Empire.


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When the army was established in 1953, it was viewed with abenevolent tolerance by the BSAP.

In theory, the BSAP and the army held co-equal status within thegovernment, with each element assigned separate missions. In reality

the army was reduced to a secondary status. The institution of aRhodesian Security Force began to develop in earnest after the SinoiaBattle of 28 April 1966. This incident was commemorated as"Chimurenga Day" by the guerrillas, and marked the official beginningof the Rhodesian War. During this action, the BSAP, with the assistanceof local police reservists and air force helicopters, deployed against aforce of ZANLA insurgents. As a result of the inept handling of thesituation by the BSAP, the government became convinced that theBSAP were policemen and not soldiers.

A shift of emphasis resulted in 1966, and the Rhodesian Security Forcebecame the government's primary instrument for the conduct ofcounterinsurgency operations. In 1969 the Security Forces felt they hadabsolutely defeated the guerrilla threat and, as a result, they werereluctant to accept the evidence of increased and more sophisticatedinsurgent activity.From 1971-1973 the complexion of the war began to change. Theinsurgent activity developed to a point that demanded the totalcommitment of the Security Forces.

There is little evidence that the majority of the Rhodesian black

population supported the nationalist cause, but it was also not anenthusiastic supporter of the white minority government. Throughoutthis stage of escalation, the brutalization of the black tribesmen by theinsurgents may have increased their sympathies for the minoritygovernment, but it also undermined their confidence in thatgovernment's ability to protect them.

In order to counter the escalation of insurgent movement into thecountry from virtually all points of the compass, the Security Forcesseparated the country into five military districts. The northern districtwas identified as HURRICANE; THRASHER covered the Eastern

Highlands; REPULSE included Fort Victoria and the majority of the BEITBRIDGE-RUTENGA railway; TANGENT was established in the areaadjacent to Botswana, and GRAPPLE occupied the centre of thecountry.In addition, the Rhodesians tended to disregard the internationalboundaries of the five black nations that had proclaimed themselves as"Front-Line" states: Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania andAngola.

The Rhodesian Security Forces was patterned after the British model,with a separation of the Army into branches or "arms".


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The five military districts in Rhodesia were controlled by JointOperations Centres (JOCs) which were linked directly to Salisbury. Theindividual JOC was a combined operations centre with representativesfrom the Army, Air Force, Police, Central Intelligence Organization, andInternal Affairs.

The air service unit was composed of approximately 1300 personnel.Pilot training was unique by American standards, but it followed Britishtraditions.The majority of its military resupply was built upon a system ofimprovisation and invention.

THE RHODESIAN ARMY (C.1979)The Rhodesian Army consisted of one Armoured Car Regiment, sixInfantry Battalions, four Special Air Service Squadrons, one ArtilleryRegiment, six Engineer Squadrons, and two Special Scout Groups.The Army's lack of sophisticated weaponry and equipment was animportant element in its success. It was a force which dealt with theterrorist on his own level. The government forces had to rely upon thebasic ingredients of victory - professionalism and an intimateknowledge of the terrain. The combat forces operated in small units,and depended upon mobility, surprise, flexibility and tactical dispersionfor success.

In order to appreciate the effectiveness of this counterinsurgency forcean understanding of the structure and mission of its principalcomponents is necessary. Each of the elements of this force had a

distinct mission, and a unique character.

THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (RLI)It was established in 1961 as a conventional infantry battalion. In 1964it was assigned the mission of a commando unit, and based itsreorganization upon a British pattern. The regiment containedapproximately 1,000 men.The mission of the unit became purely counterinsurgency. Theemphasis of organizational training was centred upon search anddestroy operations.The RLI was also unique because of the large number of foreign

nationals who served in its ranks. It has been estimated that thisparticipation went as high as 30%. The Rhodesian Security Forces hada higher standard of military discipline than most western armies, andAmericans were generally surprised by the intensity and severity of thissystem.

RHODESIAN AFRICAN RIFLES (RAR)The RAR was an elite organization and enjoyed the distinction of havingmore black volunteers for billets than were available. The RAR was anhereditary organization.Of equal import, membership in the regiment would guarantee a higherstandard of living, and more prestige to the young black than he wouldhave been able to achieve in most civilian pursuits.


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By 1977, the RAR was organized into four battalions. Each battalionconsisted of approximately 700 men. The emphasis was on small unittactics, ambushes and tracking.

THE RHODESIAN ARTILLERY REGIMENT (1st Field Regiment)

This unit reveals a disparity between the American concept of anartillery regiment and the reality of its Rhodesian counterpart. The 1stField Regiment consisted of two batteries, one active and one reserve.The reserve battery was dependent upon British 25 pounders forsupport.

THE RHODESIAN ARMOURED CAR REGIMENT (RAC)The RAC was established in 1972 to fulfil an armoured cavalry mission.Its primary duties involved reconnaissance, patrolling, escort duty,crowd control, and road blocks.There were four armoured squadrons; each squadron had four troops.Three of the squadrons were commanded by a cadre of regular officersand NCOs, and manned by reservists who were activated forincremental periods. The fourth squadron was a regular establishment.The tactics initially used by the RAC reflect its British heritage.However, as the war progressed, the RAC began to incorporate Israelimechanized doctrine. It developed many innovative and small scalearmoured cavalry movements for use in the occupied territories. TheRhodesians studied these tactics, and modified them to the terrain andcharacter of an African insurgency.

THE GREYS SCOUTSThe Greys were one of the most unique military organizations of thelatter 20th Century. They were a horse mounted infantry unit ofapproximately battalion size which specialized in tracking,reconnaissance and pursuit. Because of the terrain characteristics ofRhodesia, there were very few places within the country that were notaccessible to horse mounted infantry.The published advantages of the Greys Scouts were primarily itsrapidity of movement and shock effect.Although the Greys suffered very few casualties throughout the war, itis possible that this was due more to the poor marksmanship of the

insurgent than the effectiveness of the unit.

THE SELOUS SCOUTSElite unit. The skills of the Selous Scouts have become legendary.The new government founded upon the efficiency of the organization.During the war the Scouts were credited with the deaths of 68% of theinsurgents killed within the borders of Rhodesia.The purpose of the unit was the clandestine elimination of theNationalists without regard to international borders. The foundation ofthe units effectiveness was its members ability to live off the land,combined with the tracking skills of the individual soldier. All memberswere volunteers and combat veterans. They were initiated into the


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Scouts via a very severe indoctrination programme which eliminatedapproximately 85% of the respondents.The entire training cycle was the development of Bush and Trackingtechniques. The team gave the appearance of being a guerrilla force.Once they ascertained the presence of an insurgent force, they began

to stalk them. This gave them the advantage of initiating contact withthe insurgents at their discretion. The Selous Scouts achievedremarkable results by carrying the war directly to the guerrillas. Theirsuccess carries the key to an effective counterinsurgency campaign.

SPECIAL AIR SERVICE (SAS)The Rhodesian SAS was modelled directly after its British counterpart.Its primary task consisted of reconnaissance. The training for the SASinvolved static line and free fall parachuting, light and heavy weaponstraining, demolitions, tracking, scuba, and in indigenous languages.The unit never consisted of more than several hundred men. It was avery professional and effective force, but limited because of its size.

THE MEDIUMS AND THE DIFFERENT ORGANISATIONS.

THE MEDIUMS AND THE PARTY

Once the Independence is achieved, the nationalist parties needed away to gain the majority in the elections, and in order to legitimate hispower, they contact and take in account the spirit mediums. Thisdecision is taken because of the previous relation between theguerrillas and them. It is important, for the understanding of theserelation, know why the guerrillas contact with the mediums. Theguerrillas were young people, who have their religious beliefs deeply-rooted, and the believe that the mondhoro were the warriors of thepast, so they will be well known in war affairs so that, the mediums, asthem function of the communicator of the mondhoro, will be welladvised and guided by the ancestors, so they will help them in the war.Moreover, the mondhoro are considered as protectors, so if theguerrillas have the support of the mediums the mondhoro spirits will

give them protection, if they submit to some prohibitions imposed bythe mediums.

According to this, the nationalist parties, as they are the democraticway of the guerrillas, understood as the evolution of them, they willhave the same legitimation gave by the mediums as the guerrillas. Theconnection between mediums and guerrillas is materialized in the localcommittees organized before the independence. In the first elections,some of the member of these secret committees were elected as well,representing the interests of ZANU, the nationalist party who gain thepower. In this democratic point, the role of the mediums is not to be the

democratic representatives, but in the meeting of the committees theyhave an important role.


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In all the committee meetings, they have religious rituals at thebeginning and at the end, what remains to the members that theirresponsibility it isn't only with the people who had elected them, but tothe mondhoro, who are actually the owners of the land, obviously, this

officers are not appointed by the mondhoro as the ancient chiefs, butthis officers, after his election have to visit the spirit medium to ask forapproval of the mondhoro and his advice. In this way, the mondhorogive them support, by the medium, to the committee, so thecommittee have to respect them, and have to respect their rules andthe moral code imposed.

So that, the mediums, as we said, hasn't got a direct role in thecommittees but they have the power of the religious legitimacy withthis approval. It might not be approved if a medium oppose theelection, so it is believed that the mondhoro have concerned of thepeople welfare, so if a medium oppose the election, it will appear to bea self-interest of the medium, and this oppose won't be accepted.Moreover, with the committees, the difference between the ancientchiefs and the rest of people has been destroyed, so, as all people areson of the mondhoro, all people has the same rights to participate inthe political live, and then, the chiefs lose them primacy in the society,and it has delayed whit the differences between men and women andbetween elder and younger.

Nowadays, mediums has a normal activity, some of them has

knowledge about western medicine, and the support strongly theprogressive development of the country. But, in other point, they havelost some importance, so with the end of the war and with theindependence and the democracy, some of the things what theypredicate or what they fight against, like the exploitation of the blackpeople by the whites has been adopted by the government, so hisjob has no more sense in these aspects, but in the aspects morerelated directly with the mondhoro, by the opposition of the process ofdeath and life, they have still and important role.

THE MEDIUMS AND THE STATE

In this perspective, it is very clear the relation between the mondhoroand the territory, so they believe that the mondhoro are the owners ofthe country, and due to the relation done between the guerrillas andthem, the government is legitimated by them, and all what thenationalist governments do is to use this image of the past to organizethe country, and they protect the country already. This means that, asthey have the legitimacy of the mondhoro, they will have legitimacy toorganize the territory and to exercise their power in that territory. Is anexample of the delimitation of the territory, the fact that the guerrillas,when they goes out the territory of Zimbabwe, they didn't have tosubmit the prohibitions given by the mediums, so it is clear that theancestors only affect to this concrete territory, so the govern just can


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affect to this concrete territory.

The State, have continuous refers to the mondhoro and this religiousculture, and give legality to lots of acts and procedures do it by theShona, given those laws and procedures. Moreover, the State has

limited the action of the mediums, for example in the medicine field,the mediums are not allowed to do treatments which not cure anything,and they can use some western medicine principles.CONCLUSIONAs a conclusion, we can say that, all over this procedure of change inthe society, the religious views and beliefs have been conserved andadapted to the new ways of life and organisation, remaining essentiallythe same. In this case, the politician has used this religious matters inorder to legitimate their power and their actions, under my point ofview, in order to get the majority, and in order that the vast majority ofpeople accept them.So this case, show as, how a population can change and can evolveconserving the theological matters behind the state organization.


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