Necklacing
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Necklacing (sometimes metonymically called Necklace) refers to the practice of execution carried out by forcing a rubber tire, filled with gasoline, around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire.
[edit] Necklacing in South Africa
The practice became a common method of lethal lynching during South Africa's national liberation struggle of the 1980s and 1990s. Necklacing sentences were sometimes handed down against alleged criminals by "people's courts" established in black townships as a means of circumventing the apartheid judicial system. Necklacing was also used to punish offenders, including children, alleged to be traitors to the liberation movement, as well as their relatives and associates. The practice was frequently carried out in the name of the African National Congress (ANC), and was even endorsed by Winnie Mandela, then-wife of the imprisoned Nelson Mandela and a senior member of the ANC, although the ANC officially condemned the practice. [1]
Photojournalist Kevin Carter was the first to photograph a public execution by necklacing in South Africa in the mid-1980s. He later spoke of the images "I was appalled at what they were doing. I was appalled at what I was doing. But then people started talking about those pictures... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad. Being a witness to something this horrible wasn't necessarily such a bad thing to do." [2]
He goes on to say:"After having seen so many necklacings on the news, it occurs to me that either many others were being performed (off camera as it were) and this was just the tip of the ice berg, or that the presence of the camera completed the last requirement, and acted as a catalyst in this terrible reaction. The strong message that was being sent, was only meaningful if it were carried by the media. It was not more about the warning (others)than about causing one person pain. The question that haunts me is "would those people have been necklaced, if there was no media coverage?"
Desmond Tutu once famously saved a near victim of necklacing when he rushed into a large gathered crowd and threw his arms around a man who was about to be killed. Tutu's actions caused the crowd to release the man [citation needed].
[edit] Necklacing in other countries
The same practice of extra-judicial lynching is found in the Caribbean country of Haiti, prominently used against supporters of Jean-Claude Duvalier's dictatorship at the beginning of the democratic transition (from 1986 to 1990). The term used in popular language is "Père Lebrun" (Father Lebrun), because of the well known autoparts dealer Mr Lebrun in whose shops tires can be bought by motorists [citation needed].
At least one person has died by necklacing in the deadly Muslim protests of satirical cartoons drawn of the Prophet Muhammad [3].
A method commonly used in the shanty towns (i.e., "favelas") of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by drug dealers against locals who have, in any way, collaborated with the authorities. Known via a local variation, where the tire is substituted for a tin barrel, filled with petrol or any other inflamable substance, called the "microwave oven" (i.e., "microondas"). Its most notorious victim was journalist Tim Lopes, who was killed, in 2002, in such manner while investigating drug trafficking around impoverished communities in Rio de Janeiro.
[edit] Necklacing in pop culture
The character Armadillo Quintero from the TV series The Shield uses Necklacing to kill his opposition gang members while consolidating his drug trade in the fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles.
In an episode of the Canadian series Blue Murder, two of the detectives had to investigate two cases of necklacing related to diamond and drugs smuggling.
In an episode of the Canadian/South African sci-fi series Charlie Jade, executives from Vexcor threaten Charlie's friend Karl with Necklacing if he doesn't give them information. Incidentally, this scene takes place in Cape Town, South Africa.
