View source for Omertà

{{Otheruses|Omerta (disambiguation)}}
{{Mafia}}

'''Omertà'''<ref>In [[English language|English]], it is often rendered ''omerta'', without an accent, leading to frequent mispronunciation. This [[grave accent]] in [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] indicates that the final ''a'' is [[Stress (linguistics)|stressed]].</ref> is a popular attitude and [[Honor code|code of honor]], common in areas of southern [[Italy]], such as [[Sicily]], [[Calabria]], and [[Campania]], where criminal organizations like the [[Mafia]], [['Ndrangheta]], and [[Camorra]] are strong. A common definition is the "[[conspiracy of silence (expression)|code of silence]]". 

Omertà implies “''the categorical prohibition of cooperation with state authorities or reliance on its services, even when one has been victim of a crime.''”<ref>Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 109</ref> Even if somebody is convicted for a crime he has not committed, he is supposed to serve the sentence without giving the police any information about the real criminal, even if that criminal has nothing to do with the Mafia himself. Within Mafia culture, breaking ''omertà'' is punishable by death.

The code was adopted by Sicilians long before the emergence of [[Cosa Nostra]] (some observers date it to the 16th century as a way of opposing Spanish rule).<ref>[http://www.knowital.com/history/sicily/sicily-history.html knowital.com] (not a very reliable source)</ref> It is also deeply rooted in rural [[Crete]], [[Greece]].<ref>Michael Herzfeld, [http://books.google.nl/books?id=rE9qHQwTCUoC The Body Impolitic: Artisans and Artifice in the Global Hierarchy of Value], Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2004; ISBN 0226329135]</ref>

==Origin==
The origin of the word is often traced to the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] word ''hombredad'', meaning ''manliness'', through the Sicilian word ''omu'' for man.  According to a different theory, the word comes from [[Latin]] ''humilitas'' (humility), which became ''umirtà'' and then finally ''omertà'' in some southern [[Italian dialects]].<ref>However, the theory that omertà originates from ''umiltà'' was already discarded by the first Antimafia Commission of the Italian parliament in the 1970s, which traces the origin to ''omu''. See: {{it icon}} Relazione conclusiva, Commissione parlamentare d’inchiesta sul fenomeno della mafia in Sicilia, Rome 1976, p. 106</ref> 

Omertà is a code of silence, according to one of the first Mafia researchers [[Antonio Cutrera]], a former officer of public security, that seals lips of men even in their own defense and even when the accused is innocent of charged crimes. Cutrera quoted a native saying first uttered (so goes the legend) by a wounded man to his assailant: “''If I live, I’ll kill you. If I die, I forgive you.''”<ref>{{it icon}} Antonio Cutrera, ''La mafia e i mafiosi'', Reber, Palermo: 1900, p. 27 (reprinted by Arnaldo Forni Editore, Sala Bolognese 1984, ISBN 88-271-2487-X), quoted in Nelli, ''The Business of Crime'', p. 13-14</ref>

The suspicion of being a “stool pigeon”, a ''cascittuni'' (an [[informant]]), constituted the blackest mark against manhood, according to Cutrera. Each individual had the obligation of looking out for his own interests and of proving his manliness by not appealing to legally constituted authority for redress of personal grievances. A wronged person is expected to avenge himself, or find a patron who will see to it that the job is done.

Omertà is an extreme form of loyalty and solidarity in the face of authority. One of its absolute tenets is that it is deeply demeaning and shameful to betray even one’s deadliest enemy to the authorities. Observers of the mafia debate whether omertà should best be understood as an expression of social consensus surrounding the mafia or whether it is instead a pragmatic response based primarily on fear. The point is succinctly made in a popular Sicilian [[proverb]] ''Cu è surdu, orbu e taci, campa cent'anni 'mpaci'' ("He who is deaf, blind, and silent will live a hundred years in peace").

The American Mafioso [[Joe Valachi]] famously broke the ''omertà'' code when in 1963 he publicly spoke out about the existence of the Mafia and testified before the [[United States Congress]].<ref>[http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,875227,00.html Killers in Prison], Time, October 4, 1963</ref><ref>[http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873080,00.html "The Smell of It"], Time, October 11, 1963</ref> In Sicily, the phenomenon of [[pentito]] ([[Italian language|Italian]] ''he who has repented'') broke omertà.

Among the most famous Mafia ''pentiti'' is [[Tommaso Buscetta]], the first important state witness who helped [[judge]] [[Giovanni Falcone]] to understand the inner workings of [[Cosa Nostra]] and described the [[Sicilian Mafia Commission]] or ''Cupola'', the [[leadership]] of the Sicilian Mafia. (A predecessor, [[Leonardo Vitale]], who gave himself up to the [[police]] in 1973, was judged as suffering from '[[mental illness]]' so his testimony led only to the conviction of himself and his uncle.)

==Other definitions==
A more popular and more simplified definition of the code of omertà is: "Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of himself without police protection is both. It is as cowardly to betray an offender to justice, even though his offences be against yourself, as it is not to avenge an injury by violence. It is dastardly and contemptible in a wounded man to betray the name of his assailant, because if he recovers, he must naturally expect to take vengeance himself."<ref>Porello, ''The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia'', p. 23; [http://www.americanmafia.com/What_Is_The_Mafia.html]</ref>

==Popular culture==
[[Mario Puzo]] wrote novels based on the principles of Omertà and the Cosa Nostra. His best known works in that vein are the trilogy "[[The Godfather (novel)|The Godfather]]", "[[The Sicilian]]" and "[[Omertà (novel)|Omertà]]". The final book of the series, Omertà, was finished before his death but published posthumously in 2000 from his manuscript.

==See also==
*[[Stop Snitchin']]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Blok, Anton (1988). ''The Mafia of a Sicilian Village, 1860-1960. A study of violent peasant entrepreneurs'', Long Grove (Illinois): Waveland Press ISBN 0-88133-325-5 (Originally published in 1974) 
*Nelli, Humbert S. (1981). ''The Business of Crime. Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States'', Chicago: The University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-57132-7 (Originally published in 1976)
*Paoli, Letizia (2003). ''Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style'', Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-515724-9
*Porrello, Rick (1995). ''The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia. Corn Sugar and Blood'', New York: Barricade books ISBN 1-56980-058-8
*Servadio, Gaia (1976), ''Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day'', London: Secker & Warburg ISBN 0-436-44700-2


{{DEFAULTSORT:Omerta}}
[[Category:Organized crime]]
[[Category:Organized crime terminology]]
[[Category:History of the Camorra in Italy]]
[[Category:History of the 'Ndrangheta| ]]
[[Category:History of the Sicilian Mafia]]
[[Category:Italian-American organized crime| ]]
[[Category:Italian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Secrecy]]

[[bg:Омерта]]
[[ca:Omertà]]
[[cs:Omerta]]
[[co:Omertà]]
[[de:Omertà]]
[[el:Ομερτά]]
[[es:Omertá]]
[[fr:Omertà (loi du silence)]]
[[it:Omertà]]
[[he:אומרטה]]
[[lt:Omerta]]
[[nl:Omertà]]
[[ja:血の掟]]
[[no:Omertà]]
[[pl:Omertà]]
[[pt:Omertà]]
[[ro:Omertà]]
[[ru:Омерта]]
[[sk:Omertà]]
[[sl:Omertà]]
[[fi:Omertà]]
[[sv:Omertà]]
[[Category:2Fix]]