Justice

October 14

Justice. People complain that things aren’t fair. The government isn’t fair. The courts aren’t fair. The village head isn’t fair. The teacher isn’t fair. Life isn't fair. But do people really want justice?

A number of years ago some friends were indirectly involved in a community issue and were accused of various offenses. Upon investigation it was found that the accusations were not true. Nevertheless the highest government official involved said in no uncertain terms that he was not concerned with what was true or false, but with public order and so wanted my friends to leave the area. Some see the government in this region as placating certain groups rather than being concerned with justice per se. A recent example was the execution of three men sentenced to death for their involvement in 3 years of inter-ethnic violence in this area. Many people felt the whole trial was unjust as the judges and witnesses were constantly threatened and intimidated. It was also seen as unjust because the parties instigating the conflict have never been tried, and very few from the other side of the conflict (non-natives) were ever even arrested, let alone tried or convicted. And no one has been tried for any of a long series of bombings, shootings, and beheadings that have followed in recent years aimed at the native community It seemed to many that these three men were being made the scapegoat for the entire conflict, though it was apparent to any reasonably impartial observer that the three could hardly be the masterminds, being uneducated farmers who weren’t even native to the area, tied only by religion to the native group.

One can almost see government officials dithering over this case – if they didn’t carry out the execution the non-native ethnic group was threatening to burn the provincial capital down. That ethnic group is known for having volatile tempers, for taking “vengeance” not against the offender but indiscriminantly against anybody at all related by blood, religion, or geography to the offender. On the other hand, if they did carry out the executions the native ethnic group would certainly be angry. But the risk of the native group burning down the city was almost nil because that group was of a different religion and their religious leaders would preach against taking vengeance. So it seems possible that the decision to carry out the executions may have been driven more by the concern with “public order” rather than justice.

Even at the local level, justice is often not done because of a concern for public perception. I was at a contest a couple of weeks ago for reading, poetry, singing, etc. The participants were from 10 different villages. When the prizes were awarded many people were surprised that some very good performers had not gotten any prize and others who weren’t as good got trophies. I later heard people comforting each other by saying, “Well, maybe it’s good to distribute the prizes to as many different villages as possible so that people will still want to come next year. If they didn’t get any prizes, maybe they would lose heart and not participate.”

So do people really want justice? Or do they really want vindication of themselves? As the first of my worlds slides further and further from a justice system based on absolutes, will they see more and more decisions made catering to the perceptions of the majority or at least of those most likely to cause public disorder?

What is justice? Around here the answer seems to be that only God knows.