Tara Bandu
As Tara Bandu ( Tarabandu ) in to East Timor traditional rules and laws referred to, which were mostly created locally by village communities. Through public agreements, it enforces defined social norms, morals and rituals for a certain community in order to achieve reconciliation and to maintain peace. The centuries-old rules have experienced a renaissance since East Timor's independence in 2002. They are now being written down and compiled anew in some places. Smaller offenses are regulated within the village community, which benefits the chronically overloaded judiciary.
term
“Tara Bandu” literally means “to hang up a prohibition ” in Tetum . The adoption of new rules is marked by the hanging of certain objects of cultural importance on a wooden stake, symbolizing the prohibition. These can be leaves or other specific parts of plants, as well as animal skulls and legs or horns. The Fataluku call the rules "Sikua". Other terms are "kahe-aitahan," "kait-aitahan," or "tara-aitahan", all of which mean the hanging or setting up of symbolic objects to indicate prohibitions. This takes place in a large, public ceremony, which is often followed by a meeting at which sanctions for disregarding the rules are publicly decided.
Overview
The rules of Tara Bandu can differ from Suco to Suco; traditionally the rules were only passed down orally. Today it is customary to write them down on paper, for example the Tara Bandu of the Ermera municipality or the Sucos Becora and Daudere . In addition to traditional leaders, the local administrations, police or the Catholic Church also provide support in drawing up or summarizing local law.
This customary law covers three areas in the everyday life of people in the rural areas of the Southeast Asian state: The coexistence of people, behavior towards animals and dealing with nature. In Daudere, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries worked with local village chiefs to work with Tara Bandu to introduce rules to limit logging and to promote reforestation. The Haburas Foundation, East Timor's only environmental non-governmental organization , received much acclaim for its environmental protection programs, which follow traditional Taru Bandu rules. Many rules regarding environmental behavior reflect ancient knowledge about the protection of natural resources. Examples are the Mechi festival in Lautém or the fishing festival on Lake Malai . There are restrictions on slash and burn, the removal of rocks from nature (to prevent landslides) or the disposal of non-organic waste.
In general, Tara Bandu regulate socio-cultural, economic and political aspects of relationships between people. They prohibit the violation of the rights of other people, so physical and sexual violence is just as prohibited as theft or the destruction of someone else's property. Economic violations include, for example, the waste of resources to the detriment of others. In Ermera, Tara Bandu limits the amount of expenses that traditionally have to be raised for family celebrations such as weddings or funerals. Previously, such costs often led to financial difficulties for the families concerned. In Tutuala , for example, in the parliamentary elections in 2012 , the community prohibited the use of “aggressive political language” through Tara Bandu in order to keep the peace.
The guidelines for behavior towards animals apply to your own and other livestock as well as wild animals. If there was damage to fields from free roaming livestock, violence broke out between groups because the victims often killed the animals. Therefore, stealing, injuring or killing other livestock was forbidden. At the same time, guidelines for keeping were made in order to prevent damage to the fields. Hunting bans are issued for wild animals. There are also bans on certain pesticides or on dynamite fishing .
Violations and Penalties
Nowadays, typical penalties are to be paid in material form, either in the form of animals (sacrifices) or monetary payments. In Ermera, for example, fines range from $ 10 for minor offenses to $ 6,000 for serious crimes, such as murder, in line with the poverty of the population. Threats of punishment in this amount are primarily intended to have a deterrent effect. The penalties may differ depending on the location. While in Metinaro, for example, animal theft is atoned for with a fine equal to the value of the stolen animal, the thief in Maubisse has to pay the owner one cow for a cow theft and sacrifice another for the benefit of the community. The amount of the penalty can be adjusted to the circumstances of the perpetrator, for example to minimize financial difficulties. In Remexio , the punishment can be cleaning up the church. In Dauderre, in the event of domestic violence, a pig and the victim must bring palm wine to a mediation ceremony.
In Lautém in particular, many communities believe in the possibility of spiritual punishment. People who violate the Tara Bandu face misfortune, illness or other challenges. Such threats are often more of a deterrent than potential financial penalties.
In contrast to the state system, in which the punishment should represent retribution in the eyes of the victim, the streets in Tara Bandu should create a spiritual balance and restore the balance in the community and nature.
Violations are dealt with in a close biti , in which the perpetrator and the injured present their case to local authorities. This method was also used to process conflicts from the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) and even longer-lasting feuds between groups for settlement.
Tara Bandu in urban areas
In urban areas, Tara Bandu is seen as a welcome vehicle to convey the culture of the next generation. In front of the state capital Dili , ethnic groups from all over the country meet, so that the respective traditions can be lost. Many therefore say that the Lulik (the sacred energy in the traditional Timorese faith ) is weak in Dili, especially since the respective traditional leaders continue to live in their home villages. In part it was doubted that Tara Bandu could work in Dili without the connection to the Lulik. Some therefore called for higher fines to be imposed in Dili than in rural areas in order to achieve the same deterrent effect. Others called for complete renunciation and instead demanded state regulations for urban areas as a substitute. Taking up traditional means of conflict resolution can, however, also catch young people who have come to Dili in search of work and prevent them from finding protection and social connection in the various gangs that have taken up traditional elements in their ideologies. When setting up Tara Bandu in the urban Sucos Dilis, however, care must be taken to include all groups. When the Becora rules were also to be introduced in Camea , the immigrant group from Laga in particular took part , while older immigrants stayed away from the discussions. Such an exclusion, albeit unintentional, can lead to later conflicts.
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Most studies see a benefit in Tara Bandu, as the creation of peace in the community is the ultimate goal. In some regions, however, people distrust the law and trust the traditional rules more. However, in a 2013 survey, most respondents believed that more serious crimes should be prosecuted through a formal legal system.
Tara Bandu can support national legislation. but also partially create parallel law. For example, in some regions women who have been victims of domestic violence are not adequately compensated under official law. The question is whether the woman's misconduct caused the man's violence, for example because she did not want to cook or otherwise neglected her duties as a wife and mother. According to East Timorese law, domestic violence is a criminal offense that actually has to be prosecuted by the state even without a report. Despite this, a judge in Suai in 2010 dismissed an indictment because the perpetrator and the victim presented an out-of-court agreement through Tara Bandu.
Since the local authorities, such as Lian Nain or Chefe de Suco , can deviate from the fixed penalties in favor of one party, preferential treatment can arise. In Timorese society in particular, families are closely linked and the decision on punishment is made within the small communities. Women in particular run the risk of being disadvantaged. They are often victims and the authorities in most cases are men. They are also the ones who set up the Tara Bandu together with local authorities, the police or the church, for example, which is why it can at least theoretically come about that underrepresented groups such as women, young people, the disabled or religious and linguistic groups are disadvantaged.
An example where as many groups as possible were involved in the establishment of the new village rules are the Sucos Tutuala and Mehara in the Tutuala administrative office . A third of the members of the working group were women, the discussions were held in the local Fataluku as well as in Tetum in order to enable everyone to communicate and the results were presented in all Aldeias . In Remexio, the commission did not take over the old Taara Bandu that owners had to tie up their livestock, which meant that some people no longer took other rules seriously. The first meeting to draw up a set of rules was held in a hotel in Com . Local participants also complained that government officials did not wear tais with the motifs they considered necessary. The consequent lack of communication with the spirit world caused a rejection of the entire process. Difficulties arise when there are different rules in neighboring sucos. So it happened in Com and Aileu that people simply went to the sucos without regulation to fell trees, which the Tara Bandu forbade them to do. An attempt to remedy this problem is the creation of the Tara Bandu for the entire Ermera community.
See also
literature
- José Cornélio Guterres : Sacred Ritual of Tara Bandu and Environmental Stewardship: A Phenomenological Study on the People of Mambae , Bunak and Fataluku , Timor-Leste , 2014, ISBN 3639665406 .
- Enrique Alonso Población, Pedro Rodrigues, Robert Lee: Tara Bandu as a coastal and marine resource management mechanism: A case study of Biacou, Timor-Leste , 2016.
Web links
- Belun & The Asia Foundation: Tara Bandu: Its Role and Use in Community Conflict Prevention in Timor-Leste , June 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Southeast Asia Globe: Tara bandu: homegrown justice , June 25, 2015 , accessed May 20, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Belun & The Asia Foundation: Tara Bandu: Its Role and Use in Community Conflict Prevention in Timor-Leste , June 2013 , accessed on May 17, 2020.
- ↑ Grist: Demétrio do Amaral de Carvalho champions East Timor's environment, 2004 , accessed on January 26, 2014
- ↑ Dionísio Babo Soares : Nahe Biti: The Philosophy and Process of Grassroots Reconciliation (and Justice) in East Timor , The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 5, No. 1, April 2004, pp. 15-33. (PDF; 133 kB)