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98-501: Benge is the 'Poison Oracle' used by the Azande of Central Africa, mainly in Southern Sudan, in which a decision is determined by whether or not a fowl survives being administered a poison. The outcome of the oracle can be taken as law in certain circumstances when a Zande Chief is present. The practice is increasingly rare since colonial times. The Azande Tribe believed that witchcraft

196-463: A Ouija board , made of two small pieces of wood easily carried to be consulted anywhere, and at any time." There was also a social institution similar to pederasty in Ancient Greece . As the anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard recorded in the northern Congo, due to the shortage of women in the region, male Zande warriors between 20 and 30 years of age routinely took on young male lovers between

294-414: A United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (established 1993) and an International Criminal Court (established 2002). Amnesty continued to work on a wide range of issues and world events. For example, South African groups joined in 1992 and hosted a visit by Pierre Sané to meet with the apartheid government to press for an investigation into allegations of police abuse, an end to arms sales to

392-596: A traditional African religion , but this has been supplanted to a large extent by Christianity . Their traditional religion involves belief in Mbori, an omnipotent god. They practice magic, oracles , and witchcraft in order to solve their everyday problems. However, the late-nineteenth century marked the beginning of many Zande converting to Christianity. 85 percent of Azande consider themselves Christian, while 15 percent follow their traditional religion. More than half of Azande identify as Roman Catholic . Early missionaries to

490-892: A "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Amnesty International received permission only once in Dec 2000, since then it had been denied Foreign Contribution permission under the Foreign Contribution Act by successive Governments. However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi , has been criticized by foreign medias for harming civil society in India, specifically by targeting advocacy groups. India has cancelled

588-698: A "toxic culture" of workplace bullying , and found evidence of bullying , harassment , sexism and racism , after being asked to investigate the suicides of 30-year Amnesty veteran Gaetan Mootoo in Paris in May 2018 (who left a note citing work pressures), and 28-year-old intern Rosalind McGregor in Geneva in July 2018. In April 2019, Amnesty International's deputy director for research in Europe, Massimo Moratti, warned that if extradited to

686-404: A December 2018 filing by Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who claimed NSO's software targeted his phone during a period in which he was in regular contact with murdered journalist Jamal Kashoggi . In September 2019, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen created the new position of "Vice President for Protecting our European Way of Life ", who will be responsible for upholding

784-601: A briefing 26 Nov, during which he discussed other acts of terrorism. In August 2020, Amnesty International expressed concerns about what it called the "widespread torture of peaceful protesters" and treatment of detainees in Belarus. The organization also said that more than 1,100 people were killed by bandits in rural communities in northern Nigeria during the first six months of 2020. Amnesty International investigated what it called "excessive" and "unlawful" killings of teenagers by Angolan police who were enforcing restrictions during

882-412: A bright light that can be seen by anyone during the nighttime. However, during the day it can be seen only by religious specialists. Oracles are a way of determining the source of the suspected witchcraft, and were for a long time the ultimate legal authority and the main determining factor in how one would respond to the threats. The Azande use three different types of oracles. The most powerful oracle

980-591: A consequence of European colonialism in the 19th century, the territory inhabited by the Azande was divided by Belgium , France , and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . During his travels in the late 1870s, the Austrian photographer Richard Buchta took photographs of Azande that were used in European publications about Central Africa and constitute an important source of historical documentation. The Azande are considered to be one of

1078-481: A deterrent against similar actions in the community. The Azande use oracles in their religious traditions, with many different oracles serving unique purposes and carrying varying levels of repute within the larger community. The poison oracle in particular carried a reputation as being an important oracle to the Azande as that oracle, reserved exclusively for men, kept oral traditions and stories alive. Other traditional beliefs include magic and witchcraft . Among

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1176-463: A food item carved into the shape of a phallus. They also reported that the daughter of a ruler may be given a female slave as a sexual partner. Evans-Pritchard also recorded that the male Azande were fearful of women taking on female lovers, as they might view men as unnecessary. Evans-Pritchard concludes that the numerous descriptions of cannibalism attributed to Azande are not entirely unfounded, though not all of them are reliable. He spoke with

1274-546: A military conquest during the first half of the 18th century. They were led by two dynasties that differed in origin and political strategy. The Vungara clan created most of the political, linguistic, and cultural parts. A non-Zande dynasty, the Bandia, expanded into northern Zaire and adopted some of the Zande customs. In the early 19th century, the Bandia people ruled over the Vungara and

1372-642: A notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson . In what he called "The Forgotten Prisoners" and "An Appeal for Amnesty", which appeared on the front page of the British newspaper The Observer , Benenson wrote about two students who toasted to freedom in Portugal and four other people who had been jailed in other nations because of their beliefs. AI's original focus

1470-526: A number of elderly Azande, who all agreed (though sometimes with "embarrassment") that cannibalism had been practiced in former times. According to their testimony, the victims were usually killed or captured enemies and executed criminals, though occasionally members of subjected neighboring peoples were killed for consumption, as they were considered outside "the law" and without rights. Except for criminals, clan members were never eaten except in times of severe hunger, when girls were sometimes sacrificed to ensure

1568-523: A prominent representative at the United Nations , had "undeclared private links to men alleged to be key players in a secretive network of global Islamists ", including the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas . The Times also detailed instances where Hussein was alleged to have had inappropriately close relationships with the al-Qazzaz family, members of which were high-ranking government ministers in

1666-710: A response to the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s arrest and prosecution of Chen Yu-hsi, whom the Taiwan Garrison Command had alleged committed sedition by reading communist literature while studying in the United States. In 1976, Amnesty's British Section started a series of fund-raising events that came to be known as The Secret Policeman's Balls series. They were staged in London initially as comedy galas featuring what The Daily Telegraph called "the crème de la crème of

1764-473: A role in leading the British to abandon the project. The word Azande means "the people who possess much land", and refers to their history as conquering warriors. Variant spellings include Zande, Azande, Azandeh, Azende, Bazende, Zandeh, A-Zandeh, and Sandeh. Another name is Adio. The onomatopoeic name Niam-Niam suggests cannibalism and was sometimes used for the Azande people. It was possibly circulated intentionally to create fear among ethnic groups in

1862-471: A success by many scholars, the program largely failed, partly because of the Azande's relative isolation to trading ports and lack of sufficient infrastructure to bring in the machinery required to build a finishing and manufacturing sector in such a rural area. Additionally, the roads were not of adequate quality for exports and the British government deemed the prices too steep to justify. The project required extensive human and monetary capital investment which

1960-520: A toast to liberty". Researchers have never traced the alleged newspaper article in question. In 1960, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo government of António de Oliveira Salazar . The government was authoritarian in nature and strongly anti-communist , suppressing enemies of the state as anti-Portuguese. In his significant newspaper article " The Forgotten Prisoners ", Benenson later described his reaction as follows: Open your newspaper any day of

2058-665: Is "yamyam", deriving from this name. The plant species Impatiens niamniamensis is named after the Azande people. The Azande population is spread over three Central African countries: South Sudan , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic . Azande Kingdom extends from the fringes of the South-central and Southwest Upper basin of South Sudan to the semitropical rain forests in Congo, and into

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2156-595: Is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights , with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ." The organization has played

2254-779: Is mostly oral , some of it published by missionaries in the early 20th century, and some of it translated in the 1960s. As in other African societies, applied arts , artifacts , music and oral literature are key elements of Zande culture. They are most famously known for their throwing knives , called the "shongo". These show the skill of Zande metal workers with their curved and multi-bladed features. Their visual art includes sculptures made from wood or clay. Many of these represent important animals or ancestors. Zande also have created drums and thumb pianos , called sansa, that sometimes looked like people, animals, and abstract figures. These instruments were used at celebrations like marriages and community dances. Most Azande formerly practiced

2352-489: Is the "benge" poison oracle, which is used solely by men. The decisions of the oracle are always accepted and no one questions it. The less prestigious but more readily available is the termite oracle. Women, men, and children are all allowed to consult this oracle. The least expensive but also least reliable oracle is the rubbing-board oracle. The rubbing board oracle is described in Culture Sketches as "a device resembling

2450-555: The African Great Lakes region and the abolition of the death penalty. In particular, Amnesty International brought attention to violations committed on specific groups, including refugees , racial/ethnic/religious minorities, women and those executed or on Death Row . In 1995, when AI wanted to promote how Shell Oil Company was involved with the execution of an environmental and human-rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria, it

2548-555: The Metropolitan Police . Lord Hoffman had an indirect connection with Amnesty International, and this led to an important test for the appearance of bias in legal proceedings in UK law. There was a suit against the decision to release Senator Pinochet, taken by the then British Home Secretary Jack Straw, before that decision had actually been taken, in an attempt to prevent the release of Senator Pinochet. The English High Court refused

2646-413: The "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and September 1962 the organization had been known simply as "Amnesty". By the mid-1960s, Amnesty International's global presence was growing and an International Secretariat and International Executive Committee were established to manage Amnesty International's national organizations, called "Sections", which had appeared in several countries. They were secretly supported by

2744-567: The Azande and Balanda Bviri ethnic groups from the Western Equatoria region. Additional conflict broke out between Azande and Balanda factions as well. In 1938, the Governor of Sudan ordered a survey of areas of modern-day South Sudan by Dr. J.D. Tothill, who previously oversaw agriculture in British Uganda , to evaluate the region's potential for agricultural production. The Azande region

2842-479: The Azande and the Dinka ethnic group in the city of Yambio , Western Equatoria state led SPLA chief Paul Malong Awan to instruct soldiers to open fire on anyone insubordinate to his directives. Awan implemented plans to soothe the situation in the region as ethnic tensions flared. Amnesty International documented evidence of war crimes in 2021 as warring factions from the larger Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups attacked

2940-607: The Azande as "individualists" who, prior to villagization under the Zande Scheme, lived together in family groups on homesteads with women carrying out agricultural duties. Sleeping sickness caused internal migrations and social reorganization among the Zande people, leading them to coalesce around paths of travel, which meant that they exhausted soil nutrients near thoroughfares. The Azande are mainly small-scale farmers. Crops include maize , rice, groundnuts (also known as peanuts), sesame, cassava and sweet potatoes. Fruits grown in

3038-473: The Azande found it difficult to draw comparisons between Christian beliefs and the spiritual belief in "Mbori" who created the universe though did not play the role of God in Christianity. Folk stories of "tricksters" have helped establish a basis for social conduct and the consequences of violating social expectations. The Azande trickster, Ture, is representative of poor decisions and rash actions and serves as

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3136-411: The Azande may blame witchcraft, just as non-Zande people might blame "bad luck". Although witchcraft is contained within the physical body, its action is psychic. The psychic aspect of mangu is the soul of witchcraft. It usually, but not always, leaves the physical body of the witch at night, when the victim is asleep, and is directed by the witch into the body of the victim. As it moves, it shines with

3234-482: The Azande's period of regional conquest. The name shows up on 19th-century maps of Southern Sudan as is now considered pejorative . First used by other tribes in southern Sudan, it was later adopted by Westerners, who frequently used it to refer to the Azande in the 18th and early 19th century. The British Museum website indicates as spelling variants Niam niam, Niam-niam, Nyam nyam, Nyam-nyam, Neam Nam, Neam Neam, Neam-Nam, and Neam-Neam. The Turkish word for cannibal

3332-430: The Azande, witchcraft, or mangu, is believed to be an inherited black fluid in the belly which leads a fairly autonomous existence, and has power to perform bad magic on one's enemies. Since they believed that witchcraft is inherited, an autopsy of an accused witch would also prove that a particular living person, related to the deceased, was or was not a witch. Mangu is thought to be passed down from parent to child of

3430-536: The British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as well as becoming head of Quaker Peace and Social Witness . In his memoirs, Benenson described him as "a partner in the launching of the project". In consultation with other writers, academics and lawyers and, in particular, Alec Digges, they wrote via Louis Blom-Cooper to David Astor , editor of The Observer newspaper, who, on 28 May 1961, published Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners". The article brought

3528-546: The British comedy world" including members of comedy troupe Monty Python , and later expanded to also include performances by leading rock musicians. The series was created and developed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis working closely with Amnesty staff members Peter Luff (assistant director of Amnesty 1974–1978) and subsequently with Peter Walker (Amnesty Fund-Raising Officer 1978–1982). Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on

3626-727: The British government at the time. The international movement was starting to agree on its core principles and techniques. For example, the issue of whether or not to adopt prisoners who had advocated violence, like Nelson Mandela , brought unanimous agreement that it could not give the name of "Prisoner of Conscience" to such prisoners. Aside from the work of the library and groups, Amnesty International's activities were expanding to helping prisoners' families, sending observers to trials, making representations to governments, and finding asylum or overseas employment for prisoners. Its activity and influence were also increasing within intergovernmental organizations; it would be awarded consultative status by

3724-408: The British government realized was too substantial. Because of this isolation, many Azande have moved to towns closer to major roads. Though the plan emphasized cotton, crops that maintained soil health were promoted and land was allocated specifically for palm oil production to assure substantial yield and quality. The plan included cattle farming which the British identified as deficient prior to

3822-792: The Central African Republic. Estimates of Azande speakers reported in SIL Ethnologue are 730,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 62,000 in the Central African Republic and 350,000 in South Sudan. The types of houses that the Azande built were made from mud and grass, which they framed around wooden poles and thatched with grass. Each household was built around a courtyard so that they can gather and converse with each other. Adjacent to these courtyards were kitchen gardens that were for plants that did not require large scale farming such as pineapples and mangos. In order to implement

3920-484: The Enforcement Directorate has said the investigation could take three months to complete. On 30 October 2018, Amnesty called for the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian security forces claiming that they used excessive force against Shi'a protesters during a peaceful religious procession around Abuja, Nigeria. At least 45 were killed and 122 were injured during the event. In November 2018, Amnesty reported

4018-540: The Treatment of Prisoners and of existing humanitarian conventions; to secure ratifications of the two UN Covenants on Human Rights in 1976, and was instrumental in obtaining additional instruments and provisions forbidding the practice of maltreatment. Consultative status was granted at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1972. Amnesty International established its Japan chapter in 1970, in part

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4116-664: The U.N. Human Rights Council is at stake. Since joining the council, Saudi Arabia's dire human rights record at home has continued to deteriorate and the coalition it leads has unlawfully killed and injured thousands of civilians in the conflict in Yemen ." In December 2016, Amnesty International revealed that Voiceless Victims , a fake non-profit organization which claims to raise awareness for migrant workers who are victims of human rights abuses in Qatar , had been trying to spy on their staff. In October 2018, an Amnesty International researcher

4214-1257: The UN to act promptly to implement the mission's recommendations. In February 2010, Amnesty suspended Gita Sahgal , its gender unit head, after she criticized Amnesty for its links with Moazzam Begg , director of Cageprisoners . She said it was "a gross error of judgment" to work with "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban". Amnesty responded that Sahgal was not suspended "for raising these issues internally... [Begg] speaks about his own views ..., not Amnesty International's". Among those who spoke up for Sahgal were Salman Rushdie , Member of Parliament Denis MacShane , Joan Smith , Christopher Hitchens , Martin Bright , Melanie Phillips , and Nick Cohen . In July 2011, Amnesty International celebrated its 50 years with an animated short film directed by Carlos Lascano , produced by Eallin Motion Art and Dreamlife Studio, with music by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer and nominee Lorne Balfe. In August 2012, Amnesty International's chief executive in India sought an impartial investigation, led by

4312-632: The US government's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , to a Soviet Gulag . During the first half of the new decade, Amnesty International turned its attention to violence against women , controls on the world arms trade , concerns surrounding the effectiveness of the UN, and ending torture. With its membership close to two million by 2005, Amnesty continued to work for prisoners of conscience. In 2007, AI's executive committee decided to support access to abortion "within reasonable gestational limits...for women in cases of rape, incest or violence, or where

4410-527: The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), played a series of concerts on five continents over six weeks. Both tours featured some of the most famous musicians and bands of the day. Throughout the 1990s, Amnesty continued to grow, to a membership of over seven million in over 150 countries and territories, led by Senegalese Secretary General Pierre Sané . At the intergovernmental level, Amnesty International argued in favour of creating

4508-504: The United Nations, the Council of Europe and UNESCO before the decade ended. In 1966, Benenson suspected that the British government in collusion with some Amnesty employees had suppressed a report on British atrocities in Aden. He began to suspect that many of his colleagues were part of a British intelligence conspiracy to subvert Amnesty, but he could not convince anybody else at AI. Later in

4606-601: The United Nations, to render justice to those affected by war crimes in Sri Lanka. On 18 August 2014, in the wake of demonstrations sparked by people protesting about the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown , an unarmed 18-year-old who assaulted a police officer and then resisted arrest, and subsequent acquittal of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot him, Amnesty International sent a 13-person contingent of human rights activists to seek meetings with officials as well as to train local activists in non-violent protest methods. This

4704-772: The United States, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would face the "risk of serious human rights violations, namely detention conditions, which could violate the prohibition of torture". On 14 May 2019, Amnesty International filed a petition with the District Court of Tel Aviv, Israel, seeking a revocation of the export licence of surveillance technology firm NSO Group . The filing states that "staff of Amnesty International have an ongoing and well-founded fear they may continue to be targeted and ultimately surveilled" by NSO technology. Other lawsuits have also been filed against NSO in Israeli courts over alleged human-rights abuses, including

4802-519: The Zande Scheme, the British sought to establish new settlements in the region, centered around cotton ginneries . In order to improve access throughout the region to encourage commutes between settlements in the region, the British contracted Azande laborers to modernize 100 miles of roadway and construct bridges to traverse rivers. The British also constructed agricultural training facilities and experimental farms in Yambio and pushed urbanization schemes in

4900-436: The Zande Scheme. Experimental agriculture was introduced to eventually reduce cotton as the region's primary crop. Coupled with the agricultural development, the British built industrial infrastructure further north near Khartoum to process the cotton and export it. Though the plan eventually failed, its ambitions were to turn Sudan into a wealthy state by the 1970s and was initially regarded as being on track to reach or exceed

4998-403: The Zande territory with "avenues" of trees surrounding many of the roads in the region around the middle of the 20th century. Since then, the Azande have hunted and farmed millet , sorghum , and corn. Major cash crops include cassava and peanuts. The region in which the Azande live has two seasons. During the rainy season the women and men both help get food from the river. Women help with

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5096-638: The administration of Mohammed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the time. Ms Hussein denied supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and told Amnesty that "any connections are purely circumstantial". In June 2016, Amnesty International called on the United Nations General Assembly to "immediately suspend" Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council . Richard Bennett, head of Amnesty's UN Office, said: "The credibility of

5194-448: The ages of twelve and twenty, who participated in intercrural and anal sex with their older partners while also performing household duties. Once the younger partner was considered old enough to become a warrior himself, he received weapons and the relationship ended, with the older partner taking a female wife instead of the "boy wife". The practice largely died out by the mid-19th century due to increasing European colonial influence in

5292-529: The application, and Senator Pinochet was released and returned to Chile. After 2000, Amnesty International's primary focus turned to the challenges arising from globalization and the reaction to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. The issue of globalization provoked a major shift in Amnesty International policy, as the scope of its work was widened to include economic, social and cultural rights, an area that it had declined to work on in

5390-465: The area include mangos, oranges, bananas, pineapples, and also sugar cane. Zandeland is also full of palm oil and sesame. From 1998 to 2001, Zande agriculture was boosted since World Vision International bought agricultural produce. The British colonial authority noted in 1948 that the importation of mangoes into the Azande region from the Congo around the turn of the 20th century. In the ensuing years, mangoes grew to prominence being planted throughout

5488-601: The arrest of 19 or more rights activists and lawyers in Egypt . The arrests were made by the Egyptian authorities as part of the regime's ongoing crackdown on dissent. One of the arrested was Hoda Abdel-Monaim, a 60-year-old human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights. Amnesty reported that following the arrests Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) decided to suspend its activities due to

5586-527: The authority and capabilities of government leaders. Aakar Patel, the executive director of the Indian branch claimed, "The Enforcement Directorate's raid on our office today shows how the authorities are now treating human rights organizations like criminal enterprises, using heavy-handed methods. On Sep 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Amnesty International using "glossy statements" about humanitarian work etc. as

5684-566: The collapse of the Twin Towers in New York." In the years following the attacks, some believe that the gains made by human rights organizations over previous decades had possibly been eroded. Amnesty International argued that human rights were the basis for the security of all, not a barrier to it. Criticism came directly from the Bush administration and The Washington Post , when Khan, in 2005, likened

5782-442: The coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, the organization raised concerns about security flaws in a COVID-19 contact tracing app mandated in Qatar . In September 2020, Amnesty shut down its India operations after the government froze its bank accounts due to alleged financial irregularities. On 2 November 2020, Amnesty International reported that 54 people – mostly Amhara women and children and elderly people – were killed by

5880-538: The deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The 117-page Amnesty report charged Israeli forces with killing hundreds of civilians and wanton destruction of thousands of homes. Amnesty found evidence of Israeli soldiers using Palestinian civilians as human shields. A subsequent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict was carried out; Amnesty stated that its findings were consistent with those of Amnesty's own field investigation, and called on

5978-426: The director of Amnesty, said, "Social media re-energises the idea of the global citizen". James M. Russell notes how the drive for profit from private media sources conflicts with the stories that AI wants to be heard. Amnesty International became involved in the legal battle over Augusto Pinochet , former Chilean dictator, who sought to avoid extradition to Spain to face charges after his arrest in London in 1998 by

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6076-540: The first two shows (1976 and 1977). Cleese, Lewis and Walker worked together on the 1979 and 1981 shows, the first to carry what The Daily Telegraph described as the "rather brilliantly re-christened" Secret Policeman's Ball title. The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "defence of human dignity against torture " and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. During

6174-522: The fishing in dammed streams and shallow pools collecting fish, snakes, and crustaceans . Men make and set up traps in the river to help with the collection of food. Another food that the Azande collect and eat is termites which are their favorites. The Azande speak Zande , which they call Pa-Zande, which has an estimated 1.1 million speakers. Zande is also used to refer to related languages in addition to Azande itself, including Adio, Barambu, Apambia, Geme, Kpatiri and Nzakara. Recorded Zande literature

6272-440: The flesh of enemies had been eaten not only to celebrate one's victory over them, but also because other provisions were often hard to secure during war campaigns and because letting the human flesh behind to rot was considered needless waste. Captives were either eaten immediately or kept as slaves, but the latter could still be butchered and consumed as punishment, or when provisions got scarce during famines. Among some clans it

6370-537: The goal. The plan's failures were attributed not only to lack of resources but failure to adequately train the population to shift from older agricultural methods. An immediate retrospective of the plan's failure pointed to lack of bureaucratic oversight in enforcing the tenets of the plan, leading to homestead mismanagement. When entrenched methods of farming proved increasingly difficult to dissuade, experimental farming techniques required additional investment to compensate for inefficiencies. These additional costs played

6468-482: The grounds that it was bugged and infiltrated by the secret services, and said that he could no longer live in a country where such activities were tolerated. (See Relationship with the British Government ) Amnesty International's membership increased from 15,000 in 1969 to 200,000 by 1979. At the intergovernmental level Amnesty International pressed for the application of the UN's Standard Minimum Rules for

6566-492: The hostile environment towards civil society in the country. On 5 December 2018, Amnesty International strongly condemned the execution of the leaders of the " black realtors " gang Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnoy in Belarus . They were shot despite UN Human Rights Committee request for a delay. In February 2019, Amnesty International's management team offered to resign after an independent report found what it called

6664-436: The last ethnic groups to move into the region and were the only group that did not engage in an agro-pastoral lifestyle. The Azande were considered skilled metalworkers in pre-colonial Sudan. Although the Azande did not originate in South Sudan, many other ethnic groups in the region also migrated into the region though the Azande's late arrival has made them the target of some cross-ethnic animosity. In 2015, conflict between

6762-672: The launch of "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961", the aim of which was to mobilize public opinion, quickly and widely, in defence of these individuals, whom Benenson named "Prisoners of Conscience". The "Appeal for Amnesty" was reprinted by a large number of international newspapers. In the same year, Benenson had a book published, Persecution 1961 , which detailed the cases of nine prisoners of conscience investigated and compiled by Benenson and Baker (Maurice Audin, Ashton Jones , Agostinho Neto , Patrick Duncan , Olga Ivinskaya , Luis Taruc , Constantin Noica , Antonio Amat and Hu Feng ). In July 1961,

6860-581: The leadership had decided that the appeal would form the basis of a permanent organization, Amnesty, with the first meeting taking place in London. Benenson ensured that all three major political parties were represented, enlisting members of parliament from the Labour Party , the Conservative Party , and the Liberal Party . On 30 September 1962, it was officially named "Amnesty International". Between

6958-409: The mid-to-late-1980s, Amnesty organized two major musical events took place to increase awareness of Amnesty and of human rights. The 1986 Conspiracy of Hope tour, which played five concerts in the US, and culminated in a daylong show, featuring some thirty-odd acts at Giants Stadium, and the 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour. Human Rights Now!, which was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of

7056-407: The nobility and passed it down through their lineage. Chiefs had many roles within the chiefdoms such as being military , economic , and political leaders. All the unmarried men were laborers and warriors. Within the chiefdoms clan affiliation was not stressed as important at the local level. They had "local groups" that were similar to " political organizations ". Colonial records described

7154-750: The north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and the south-central and south-western parts of South Sudan . The Congolese Azande live in Orientale Province along the Uele River ; Isiro , Dungu , Kisangani and Duruma. The Central African Azande live in the districts of Rafaï , Bangasu and Obo . The Azande of South Sudan live in Central , Western Equatoria and Western Bahr al-Ghazal States, Yei, Maridi, Yambio, Tombura, Deim Zubeir , Wau Town and Momoi. The Azande were formed by

7252-555: The only reasons he heard from Azande for eating human flesh were "either hunger, or more often, a taste for it", he concludes, in agreement with most other reports of the practice, that it "was eaten simply for meat". Around 1980, the Italian missionary F. Gero, who had spent nearly 40 years among the Azande, published a book about their former cannibalism. He too notes that only some Azande clans had eaten people, especially in war or in order to punish criminals. His informers told him that

7350-493: The past. Amnesty International felt this shift was important, not just to give credence to its principle of the indivisibility of rights, but because of what it saw as the growing power of companies and the undermining of many nation-states as a result of globalization. In the aftermath of 11 September attacks, the new Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan , reported that a senior government official had said to Amnesty International delegates: "Your role collapsed with

7448-473: The practice, but many other groups who came under their influence initially seem to have been cannibals, and Evans-Pritchard considers it credible that some of them continued this custom under Avongara rule, though the latter's disapproval may have caused it to become rarer. According to Evans-Pritchard, there is no credible evidence that cannibalism was practiced in order to acquire the properties of an admired foe or for any other "ritual" or "magical" reason. As

7546-715: The pregnancy jeopardizes a mother's life or health". Amnesty International reported, concerning the Iraq War , on 17 March 2008, that despite claims the security situation in Iraq has improved in recent months, the human rights situation is disastrous, after the start of the war five years earlier in 2003. In 2009, Amnesty International accused Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement of committing war crimes during Israel's January offensive in Gaza, called Operation Cast Lead , that resulted in

7644-483: The reader's attention to those "imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government" or, put another way, to violations, by governments, of articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The article described these violations occurring, on a global scale, in the context of restrictions to press freedom, to political oppositions, to timely public trial before impartial courts, and to asylum. It marked

7742-411: The region, but the elders Evans-Pritchard spoke to were still sufficiently aware of it to give a fairly detailed description. During the 1930s Evans-Pritchard recorded information about sexual relationships between women, based on reports from male Azande. According to male Azande, women would take female lovers in order to seek out pleasure and that partners would penetrate each other using bananas or

7840-459: The region. The British resettled 60,000 Azande people into newly constructed settlements of 50 families named gbarias . These settlements helped the British facilitate oversight concerning their plan's implementation as well as the development of academic and medical institutions. Families were given 25-40 acres of land and answered to a gbaria chief. The Azande were organized into chiefdoms that can also be called kingdoms . The Avongara were

7938-530: The registration of about 15,000 nongovernmental organizations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA); the U.N. has issued statements against the policies that allow these cancellations to occur. Though nothing was found to confirm these accusations, the government plans on continuing the investigation and has frozen the bank accounts of all the offices in India . A spokesperson for

8036-539: The rule-of-law, internal security and migration. Amnesty International accused the European Union of "using the framing of the far right" by linking migration with security. On 24 November 2019, Anil Raj , a former Amnesty International board member, was killed by a car bomb while working with the United Nations Development Project. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced Raj's death at

8134-482: The same sex — from father to son or from mother to daughter. Therefore, if a man were to be proven to possess witchcraft substance, this conclusion would extend to that man's father, sons, brothers, and so on. The Azande rarely have a theoretical interest in witchcraft. What is important is whether a person at a particular point in time is acting as a witch toward a specific person. Witches can sometimes be unaware of their powers, and can accidentally strike people to whom

8232-401: The same year, there were further allegations, when the US government reported that Seán MacBride , the former Irish foreign minister and Amnesty's first chairman, had been involved with a Central Intelligence Agency funding operation. MacBride denied knowledge of the funding, but Benenson became convinced that MacBride was a member of a CIA network. Benenson resigned as Amnesty's president on

8330-550: The survival of the others – with families exchanging their daughters so that nobody had to eat their own child. Evans-Pritchard found it impossible to determine how common cannibal customs had been in earlier times, but notes that they seem to have been quite rare during the lifetime of his informers – various older men had seen cases, but none described it as a general practice, not even during war campaigns. He also points out that customs differed and not all Azande clans engaged in cannibalism. The ruling Avongara clan clearly rejected

8428-473: The two groups became the Azande people. They lived in the savannas of what is now the southeastern part of Central African Republic . After the death of a king, the king's sons would fight for succession. The losing son would often establish kingdoms in neighboring regions, making the Azande Kingdom spread eastward and northward. Sudanese raids halted some of northward expansion later in the 19th century. As

8526-521: The week and you will find a story from somewhere of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government... The newspaper reader feels a sickening sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust could be united into common action, something effective could be done. Benenson worked with his friend Eric Baker – a member of the Religious Society of Friends who had been involved in funding

8624-468: The witch wishes no evil. In terms of death, the prince determined the vengeance placed on the witch or the killer. This could be done through physical killing of the witch, compensation, or lethal magic. Because witchcraft is believed always to be present, there are several rituals connected to protection from and canceling of witchcraft that are performed almost daily. When something out of the ordinary occurs, usually something unfortunate, to an individual,

8722-726: Was prisoners of conscience , with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals , to include miscarriages of justice and torture . In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg , succeeded in the 1990s by Pierre Sané . In the 2000s, it was led by Irene Khan . Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments where abuse takes place. Amnesty International

8820-507: Was a witch they would stop unknowingly cursing the other members of their tribe with bad thoughts. This occult -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Azande The Azande are an ethnic group in Central Africa speaking the Zande languages (whose classification is uncertain). They live in the south-eastern part of the Central African Republic ,

8918-599: Was abducted and beaten while observing demonstrations in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, Russia. On 25 October, federal officers raided the Bengaluru office for 10 hours on a suspicion that the organization had violated foreign direct investment guidelines on the orders of the Enforcement Directorate . Employees and supporters of Amnesty International say this is an act to intimidate organizations and people who question

9016-673: Was also usual to kill and consume lonely individuals from unrelated neighboring groups (including other Azande clans) if an opportunity to do so arose. Most of the victims were women and children, because they were easier to subdue and because their flesh was considered tastier than that of men. According to Gero, though the Avongara did not practise cannibalism and disapproved of the custom among other Azande clans, they punished criminals by selling them to neighboring cannibal peoples who then killed and ate them. Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI )

9114-573: Was founded in London in July 1961 by English barrister Peter Benenson , who had previously been a founding member of the UK law reform organization JUSTICE. Benenson was influenced by his friend Louis Blom-Cooper , who led a political prisoners' campaign. According to Benenson's own account, he was travelling on the London Underground on 19 November 1960 when he read that two Portuguese students from Coimbra had been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in Portugal for allegedly "having drunk

9212-416: Was inherited and grew with age. To tribe members, everyday ailments or events could be explained by witchcraft. If someone was ill, they would go to an oracle who would feed poison to a chicken. If the chicken died after the name of a certain tribe member was called, then that person was considered the witch. Azande believed people could be witches without knowing it, and once the tribe member learned he or she

9310-458: Was over the issue of whether it would be appropriate for an anti-racism campaign with a "single focus". The Jewish Chronicle noted that Amnesty International had previously published a report on discrimination against Muslims in Europe. In August 2015, The Times reported that Yasmin Hussein, then Amnesty's director of faith and human rights and previously its head of international advocacy and

9408-559: Was selected for agricultural experimentation because it was designated as food secure. The British got tribal and Indigenous leaders to support the plan and attempted to run a propaganda campaign to urge the local community to abide by the Azande Scheme. The Scheme was organized to reduce reliance on imports and promote self-sufficiency. It emphasized growth and processing of valuable commodities for local use and export. The exports were supposed to pay for necessary imports. Originally hailed as

9506-422: Was stopped. Newspapers and advertising companies refused to run AI's ads because Shell Oil was a customer of theirs as well. Shell's main argument was that it was drilling oil in a country that already violated human rights and had no way to enforce human-rights policies. To combat the buzz that AI was trying to create, it immediately publicized how Shell was helping to improve overall life in Nigeria. Salil Shetty ,

9604-425: Was the first time that the organization has deployed such a team to the United States. In the 2015 annual Amnesty International UK conference, delegates narrowly voted (468 votes to 461) against a motion proposing a campaign against antisemitism in the UK. The debate on the motion formed a consensus that Amnesty should fight "discrimination against all ethnic and religious groups", but the division among delegates

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