Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, perpetrator of Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, Child Abduction and Sex Labor, and others.
Kony has been on the International Criminal Court's radar since its creation. Apart from any political ideology, religious affiliation, and degree of apathy to any form of communicative action, the mere awareness and perpetuation of this video on any social forum is an act of hope, responsibility, and courage. This is one of those times when the global community is finally focusing on the "funk." These types of horrifics, the terrible things that happen around the world, should be front and center. This exposure to the violations and systems of abuse is necessary. At one and the same time, it is both amazing that it took this long for Kony to surface and that he actually surfaced in the media in this way. What is perhaps, the most saddest thing about this campaign is that it had to come from independent sources of money. That this kind of money had to be spent to reach this kind of publicity. Nonetheless, the fact that this has reached facebook and twitter proves that there is hope and that it is still a driving force. There is courage for bringing this up to the front, regardless of our differences. Religious differences and the formation of discourse comes second. It does not matter what one's religious credo is, color, or politics, the crimes against humanity that Joseph Kony is perpetuating is enough to rabble the moral instincts in anyone. It is disgusting what he is doing. It is unfair and unjust. It is harmful. It is blatant disrespect to not only the people of Uganda but also the international community and human rights. It is an environment creating distrust and fear amongst the Uganda people, the continent of Africa, and the world. This is a systematic form of oppression and abuse.
The Lord's Resistance Army may be in decline in Uganda. I really don't know. They have not been seen in my news feed for quite some time. And it won't necessarily be the case that the LRA will simply disappear or that other similar forms of these resistance regimes will no longer continue to pop up. They will. Substituting one militant regime for another is not the answer either. There is a systematic issue with the way society functions, the way politics functions, and the way people, organizations, react to those systems. In this sense, regimes like the LRA will not simply vanish because of the indictment of one. Nor will the forms of oppression cease to continue. The flaw with the way the global system operates must be criticized and looked with hard scrutiny. However, without holding accountable those who commit these atrocities the credibility of a global justice system such as the ICC will not hold merit. Discipline must be enforced and a cause and effect of injustice and prosecution must be upheld. The world needs to take institutions of justice and the ICC seriously with legitimate causes for action. Without doing so, the "bully" will know that it is only a slap on the wrist, that the rest of the world does not care, and they will continue on in their own rampage. Accountability becomes necessary and critical. Justice must be upheld such that corruption does not corrode and deflate truth. The legal system within local contexts are already rotting at its core because of the impact money has on the outcomes of justice. We now have corporations, institutions, and people who have become "untouchable", "too big to fail", "too big" to prosecute. A necessary corrective must be put into place.
The online community has taken new forms of responsibility. It is with this vast exposure of information and capacity to spread information that this is possible. The responsibility is to keep it going when we see what is noble, virtuous, and just (however, as http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ points out, there is a danger of blindly supporting an organization who trumpets around with the virtue of a just cause. The economic subtleties and manipulations is another thing to be considered. But the point of my article is not about this kind of corporatization of non-profit and charitable organizations for the benefit of their own hidden agenda. The point is in the virtue of communication and awareness. Can't say that I know about the organization that is conducting this campaign [after perusing the internet, this organization has some shady shit going on http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2/. But money is not necessary, the awareness of it happening is. Any meaningful action about this kind of atrocity does not involve money or giving it anywhere.) This is a responsibility to Justice. Courage is the enabling virtue that Cornel West talks about. It enables Love, Hope, and Faith. It is the courage to overcome the fear that pushes us into conformity, complacency, and cowardice. Courage is necessary.
Letter to President Barack Obama From Civil Society Representatives in LRA-affected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan
Ugandans are not amused by Kony 2012: http://transitions.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/14/ugandans_are_not_amused
Nor should they be. The internet hype is still abstract from the daily lives and struggles they go through. We'll see if such an online campaign does have any tangible results other than a critique of what it is doing, the legitimacy of the organization, and the efficacy of something like this... it is ironic when the cause is overshadowed by the reputation of an organization who wishes to champion its cause...
No comments:
Post a Comment