In the present paper I aim to explain the challenges that criança-irânritual infanticide (Guinea Bissau) poses to international legal human rights. According to tenets of African humanism, as well with latest African philosophy’s formulations, in Guinea, the traditional notion of the political power, source and warrantor of the legal order, is deeply entrenched with metaphysics and cosmology. Animist beliefs on irân, ancestors and reincarnation shape the formation and the forcibility of native, customary rules and norms. My analysis is an analysis is based on extensive archival analysis and field work in Biombo region (Guinea Bissau).
For being a rather small quite with less than two-millions inhabitants, high ethnical heterogeneity in Guinea Bissau crosses with shared religious systems, often sparking syncretic dynamics. Along with Catholicism and Islam, native animist beliefs are hold by almost half of the country population, especially by the Pepel, Balanta, Bijagós, Manjaco and Mancanha ethnic groups.
According to local animist beliefs, all babies are born with a soul; nevertheless, there are babies who are born in a human-shaped body but are a spirit in their essence and ontology. Despite the human features, those babies are regarded a malign spirit, hence an utter threat to the mother, to the family, to the community. A ritual is therefore performed to dispose of the threatening creature.
Whether customary law condemn murders, it does not forbid the ritual infanticide practice: the latter is not regarded as homicide because there is no human to kill, thus the lack of criminal intent.
Structural deficiencies, along with ethnical parcelling, inhibited the formation of a national identity in Guinea Bissau, hence the primary strength of one’s ethnical belonging, on the cultural, social, political and legal level. It follows that, beside acknowledging both, individuals feel more compelled to comply with customary law instead that with State posited legislation.
Whilst there are little patterns of changeability on the shared belief in the rural setting, in the cities national and international ONGs work tirelessly for the implementation of human rights and for the abandonment of the practice. Bissau Guinean State formally prohibits the practice, exarticle 107, Penal Code, yet lacks the means and strategy for effective action. There are a very few record of trial cases also.
In consideration of the practice and its underpinning cosmology, throughout this paper I aim to shed some light on the inherent morality, humanism and customary legal set leading to criança-irâninfanticide. The discernment is the tool upon which to ground my latter analysis on specific inconsistencies between criança-irâninfanticide practice and international legal human rights. This is exposed in form of challenges that the former poses to the latter.
After discussing the apparent binomial opposition of human rights and cultural rights in the framework of the right to culture, I distinguish between individualistic and societal values inherent in human rights’ foundations, thus emphasizing how an historical product based on consensus omni gentican hardly achieve universal legitimation and applicability. I consider the universalist and relativist stances, along with cross-culturalism, yet argue for the need of ethical pluralism in the definition of universally representative international (legal) human rights.
Least, I argue that the uttermost challenge posed to international legal human rights by criança-irâninfanticide cultural practice relies on a different concept of humanness, which causally determines a forthcoming corollary of dignity, rights and duties and sanctity of life.