The collective oath, vendetta and blood money

For Hart, the collective oath (tagallît) is the “cornerstone” of the judicial system. The accused swears with his agnates (ait 'ashra), whose number increases with the gravity: 5 for theft of barley, 10 for theft of livestock or from a house, 20 for the murder of a woman, 40 for that of a man.

The oath is sworn barefoot, in one's shirt and unarmed, repeating word for word the formula pronounced by the anahkâm. A single error is enough to “break” it; onlookers could try to trip up the co-jurors by shouting “hâh! hâh!”, a practice banned by the French. The main oath site of the Saghro Aït Atta was Timjraj, between Ikniouen and the Bou Gafer.

In case of murder, the culprit fled to an enemy tribe, accompanied by nine agnates who stayed three days with him before returning to negotiate blood money (diyit) with the victim's agnates. If the offer was refused, the exile became permanent.

The Rteb customary code published by Ahda gives similar figures: five co-jurors for a debt or a theft outside the house, ten for a theft inside the house or palm grove, forty for a murder (2001, p. 101); Hart gives the same for the Saghro (1984, p. 10). A man who could not gather his quota could sacrifice a sheep to the members of a neighbouring lineage to obtain their help (Hart 1984, p. 10), and Hart quotes a maxim: “oaths are the roots of custom” (p. 9).

The same code settles the fate of a killer: after a fine and the sacrifice of a calf before the victim's relatives, he obtains a “year of peace” (afia) within set limits, guaranteed by each section; if he leaves them, revenge goes unpunished. After two years he must obtain forgiveness or pay the dia (600 douros, “formerly” 1,200, half for a woman), failing which he goes into exile “among the Ait Yafelman” (Ahda 2001, pp. 112-113).