Necklacing– in which a rubber tire, filled with kerosene, is forced around a victim’s chest and arms and set on fire– was a common form punishment imposed by “people’s courts” Apartheid-era South Africa. The practice was first captured by the late photographer Kevin Carter. And Archbishop and peace activist Desmond Tutu once intervened to stop a man who was about to be necklaced. Tragically, nearly 20 years later, Tutu must, once again, call on South Africans to stop this brutal practice. Before the victims were suspected collaborators (with the apartheid regime) and criminals. Now refugees from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, who flee violence and poverty in their own countries are the victims. They are being blamed for taking jobs and driving up crime rates. 42 people have been killed, 28,000 people have been displaced by the violence and more than 400 have been arrested.

A saddened Desmond Tutu highlighted a tragic irony: South Africans, who were welcomed by neighboring countries during Apartheid, are attacking refugees from neighboring countries fleeing from their own violence and turmoil.

Please stop. Please stop the violence now… This is not how we behave…. We can’t repay them [the Africans who welcomed South African refugees during Apartheid] by killing their children. We can’t disgrace our struggle by these acts of violence…. These are our sisters and brothers. Please, please stop. The world is shocked and is going to laugh at us and mock us. We are disgracing our struggle heroes. Our children will condemn us in the future.

and go to The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation where you can donate to this great cause! Also by visiting Desmond Tutu’s amazing Hands That Shape Humanity, an online exhibit that displays pictures of “people who have lived exceptional lives, and have in different ways touched on people’s lives through their art or politics” including Anita Roddick, Carlos Santana, Gillian Anderson, Marion Jones, Gary Kasparov, Lennox Lewis, Isabel Allende, Shimon Peres, Jane Campion, Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer, FW de Klerk, Paolo Coelho, Paul Theroux, Johan Lomu and Marc Quinn, Nadine Gordimer, Cesaria Evora, and Natascha McElhone.

Related:

South Africa calls in army as street violence spreads

Mbeki is to blame for xenophobic attacks, says watchdog

The return of the ‘necklace’: Anti-immigrant violence sweeps South Africa’s townships

Previously:

Tutu Proves He REALLY Knows What Would Jesus Do At LGBT Gala

Pangea Day: Behind The Scene Photos!