Another kind of justice

Maintirano Madagascar

August, 2011 

The Melaky region of western Madagascar is often referred to by locals as the nation’s “wild west.”  Cattle bandits, or “malaso” roam the region armed with spears, self-made muskets, and magical relics, tied around their necks, that supposedly turn bullets to water. Following the break down of governance and security caused by Madagascar’s military-backed coup of 2009, the wild west got a lot more wild. Locals report that malaso started stealing more than cattle, often raiding villages for jewelry, farming tools, and even pots and pans, the latter being melted down and sold for their aluminum content. 

Not only did banditry spike after the coup, but also petty theft, murder, fraud, and other kinds of crime, disorder and chaos. The social bonds of trust and civility came apart at the seams with disastrous results. Trade between regions dwindled, people both in the countryside and in towns began to barricade themselves in their houses at dusk, and perhaps most worryingly, many people gave up raising livestock -- their main form of savings as well as buffer against food insecurity. According to one source, the price of beef rose 500% per cent. 

Today, things are back to normal. In fact, they are better than normal: the nightlife in the region’s capital, Maintirano, is thriving, and people can be seen wandering (and stumbling) the streets late at night without fear. Livestock numbers are growing and beef prices are falling. Everyone reports that theft has nearly disappeared. 

So what happened? More police? An election? The new transitional government reasserted control? None of the above.  According to nearly everyone we’ve spoken to what reversed this trend of criminality was a growing movement of citizen justice. Tired of what is perceived to be a corrupt and inefficient state justice system, citizens took matters into their own hands and convened their own, independent justice system based on traditional laws or Dina. At its most extreme, the new Dina stipulates that offenders receive capital punishment. Already, more than 10 people  --reportedly all armed robbers or murderers -- have been killed by mobs of citizens, led by a committee of regional elders called the Committee of the Dina Tsy Mipoly (the “irreversible dina”). 

Surprisingly, the regional authorities and courts, in contradiction with national law against capital punishment, recently ratified the Dina Tsy Mipoly. According to the president of the Dina Tsy Mipoly Committee, the authorities recognised the popular appeal of the Dina while also recognising that insecurity in the region was threatening even their own safety. 

One citizen described to us an intense meeting between the Dina committee and regional authorities, when the Dina was first accepted by regional authorities.

According to this source, the committee supposedly gave regional authorities an ultimatum - recognise the committee’s authority and come under their protection, or stay outside their protection and deal with the malaso by themselves. At first, authorities declined to join, preferring to stick with the “regular” justice system. However when the committee suggested that without the Dina the lawmakers themselves would get no help from their neighbours in the event that they or their families were attacked by malaso, they changed course and decided to join up. The Dina was subsequently legalised, despite some  significant contradictions with national law, which forbids corporal punishment). 

It’s not entirely clear what to make of all this. Critics of the system argue that capital punishment is morally wrong; others worry that corrupt ringleaders will hijack the system to kill off innocent people.  But proponents say that the system works: crime seems to have disappeared and many locals say they are very satisfied with the Dina. Personally, I believe that the issue underscores the fact that a functioning society requires a a functioning justice system It’s a tragedy that the official justice system has failed so terribly in this region as to force local people to take matters into their own hands. We can only hope that a resolution to the political crisis will eventually allow the vigilantes to trust the former system enough to lay down their spears once and for all.