A Barbaric Act Of Cruelty

By AM Sunday, June 14, 2020

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Anthony McIntyre thinks there is something to be learned from a recent court which flagged up the tension between cultural norms and the law of the land. 

 Earlier this month a snake oil salesman was jailed for three years at Longford Circuit Criminal Court. His crime was the mutilation of a ten month old boy. Philip Ogbewe, originally from Nigeria had been living in Ireland for twenty years and had taken to promoting himself as Dr Philip, a “third generation circumciser.”

Although the boy’s mother believed Ogbewe was a doctor, the resident of Drogheda had no medical qualifications and had worked as a grocer and fridge technician rather than in the health profession. While he had been assaulting children in similar fashion since his mid-teens, his knowledge of refrigeration systems never prompted the slightest doubt for him about the wisdom of not freezing his child victim to prevent significant pain.

In what the trial judge described as "a barbaric act of cruelty, there is no question about it, on a 10-month old, even allowing for cultural norms,", Ogbewe circumcised the child with a blade using no anesthetic. Ogbewe had arrived at the child’s home with a stethoscope which the mother claimed led her to believe he was doctor. He was paid €200 for his work and when later told that the child was bleeding heavily advised that Calpol or Neurofen be administered.

Fortunately the baby’s mother had the child rushed to hospital where it received immediate medical intervention and recovered after a two week stay under medical supervision. But for such prompt medical action the child would have died. Ogbewe had pleaded guilty to the reckless endangerment of life.

A detective had told the court in 2018 that after a check of the quack's phone it was found that there were 21 other appointments for circumcision. As he is most likely not the only practitioner, that suggest a sizeable number of babies out there are still at risk. Yet, such was the serial thug’s contempt for the Irish laws that protect children from barbarism, he continued with his vile practices even after being released on bail. This was later revoked in order to protect children from him.

Implicit in the judge’s reference to "cultural norms" is the possible acknowledgement that there might just be circumstances in which cultural norms might be able to override the law of this society and as a consequence leave a child without the protection of the law, presumably on the grounds that the law might offend a particular culture. This risks being the type of cultural relativism that can so easily slide into racism, by assuming that because a baby might not be Irish but was born into a family with a Nigerian cultural heritage, it is permissible for it not to be afforded the protection of Irish law. This is precisely why Maryam Namazie and her colleagues in the One Law for All movement in the UK, campaign so vigorously to ensure that all citizens are protected by the law of the land from the injurious effects of an alternative cultural law emerging to either displace it or allow it to operate on a equal footing. Because Black Lives Matter must be more than a mere slogan the lives of black people must matter equally regardless of what colour of skin poses a threat to them. In a society that failed to protect them in all circumstances, Black Lives would not matter as much as they should matter.

It is difficult to see in circumcision anything other than a form of genital mutilation, although nowhere near as horrendous as female genital mutilation. It is time for it to be banned in any civilized society where it is not performed for medical purposes. And where it is determined necessary for such purpose, then it must be carried out only by a medical professional and not some quack with a stethoscope and a blade.

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