Genes and Crimes Against Humanity
The BBC News featured an article today about an historic meeting between the son of former dictator of Uganda Idi Amin and the son of former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere. Jaffar Amin and Madaraka Nyerere agreed to meet three decades after Uganda’s brutal 1978-79 war with Tanzania, in which Idi Amin was ousted from power.
Reconciliation is certainly a positive development, but I find this a disturbing example of our built-in genetic ability to defend kin. If you are related to a murderer — especially one of prominence and prestige — you will rationalize his behavior in order to sustain your own well being. It is frighteningly simple.
It is very likely that Idi Amin today would be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, and possibly for genocide. Yet Jaffar Amin writes glowingly of his father’s achievements, with absolutely no mention of his brutal human rights violations. Granted, he is only one child of amongst between 30 and 40 siblings, but I can’t help but be bothered by the lengths one will go to rehabilitate one’s own name in the face of overwhelming evidence. Reconciliation means little without remorse. Jaffar, in this article at least, has shown none of it.
–D.O.
