A societal cancerRevenge is killing us [Archives:2004/735/Community]

By Nawal Zaid
For The Yemen Times
The issue of revenge is one that hurts our society, environment and future generations. It sometimes reaches the extent of disasters and brutal wars, which take place all the time and in every part of the country, especially in villages and rural areas. We have seen and heard of this negative phenomenon to have victimized thousands of people due to the lack of education, and social and cultural awareness.
The motives behind revenge in Yemen are many, but the most apparent ones are those related to and generated from the break up of families, swayed by greed, the desire to have dominance over others' properties and lands and not having strong faith in God.
Many people end up dying unnecessarily just because some other people want to confiscate their lands by force. The rightful owners die and the perpetrators end up fugitives, afraid of the retaliation of family members of deceased ones.
Consequently, it's a vicious circle. In many cases, the state is even unable to settle some of revenge cases and disputes, which have erupted between families or sometimes between tribes over a misdemeanor committed by one.
The wrong approach to settling it leads the problem to get out of hand, because the concerned persons to settle it resort in the heat of the moment to the use of violence and sometimes, the problem would escalate to an all out war.
The factors of education and awareness could also play apart in exacerbating or in reducing the extent of the problem. Illiteracy leads many to commit crimes of revenge even if laws and the judiciary would have met the needs for revenge legally.
Although, many illiterate citizens do not resort to the choice of taking the law on their own hands in vengeance for retaliation to the loss of loved ones killed unlawfully. They would allow the laws and judiciary to take its course.
Ironically, some fathers do not even think about their own children before they commit a crime of revenge because they themselves fall victims to wrong indoctrination at the hands of ill-minded heads of tribes or notorious friends to commit crimes.
Following their crime, they either end up getting caught by the security forces or fugitive or killed by relatives of the killed ones. In all cases, they end up abandoning their young children only to grow up to be revenge seekers and therefore premeditated criminals.
One of the reasons leading to revenge is the unintentionally killing of someone and the slow legal process to settle the issue briskly. Another reason would be the involvement of more than one person in the killing of another person.
The unanimity of the real killer leads the two fighting families or tribes to waste more lives through the individual acts by members of two families or tribes to eliminate each other randomly.
Each day to revenge the killing of some one new. The ramification of such a case becomes even difficult for the state to resolve.
Many people in our urban cities, villages and rural areas in our society always carry arms with them. And as soon as a small problem arises, one would choose his rifle or pistol to end this problem thinking that the killing of his enemy would decisively end the problem.
The role of media and the information could play an important role in shedding light on the serious consequences of revenge and in the spreading of awareness on the importance to let the laws and the judiciary to take its path and that justice definitely and always prevails.
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