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Omertà () is a Southern Italy code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especially during criminal investigations; and willfully ignoring and generally avoiding interference with the illegal activities of others (i.e., not contacting law enforcement or the authorities when one is aware of, witness to, or even the victim of certain crimes).
It originated and remains common in Southern Italy, where banditry or brigandage and Sicilian Mafia-type criminal organizations (like the Camorra, Sicilian Mafia, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita and Società foggiana) have long been strong. Similar codes are also deeply rooted in other areas of the Mediterranean, including Malta, Crete in Greece,Herzfeld Michael (2025). 9780226329130, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. . ISBN 9780226329130 and Corsica, all of which share a common or similar historic culture with Southern Italy.
Social ostracism, shunning, intimidation, societal pressure or peer pressure, and strong cultural norms are often used to reinforce omertà and encourage silence and non-cooperation with authorities; however, violence and retaliation against Informant or those who break the code of omertà is also common in criminal circles, where informers or traitors to the code of omertà are often described in English by terms such as "rats" or "snitches" and in Italian as infami or pentiti, depending on the context.
Omertà implies "the categorical prohibition of cooperation with state authorities or reliance on its services, even when one has been victim of a crime."Paoli, Mafia Brotherhoods, p. 109 A person should absolutely avoid interfering in the business of others and should not inform the authorities of a crime under any circumstances, but if it is justified, he may personally avenge a physical attack on himself or on his family by vendetta, literally a taking of revenge, a feud. Even if somebody is convicted of a crime that he has not committed, he is supposed to serve the sentence rather than give the police information about the real criminal, even if the criminal has nothing to do with the Mafia. Within Mafia culture, breaking omertà is punishable by death.
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. For that reason, many Mafia-related crimes go unsolved. Observers of the Mafia debate whether omertà should best be understood as an expression of social consensus for the Mafia or whether it is instead a pragmatic response based primarily on fear, as implied by 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").
It has also been described as follows: "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." Porello, The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia, p. 23;
Sicilians adopted the code long before the emergence of Cosa Nostra, and it may have been heavily influenced by centuries of state oppression and foreign domination. It has been observed at least as far back as the 16th century as a way of opposing Spanish rule.
The Italian-American mafioso Joseph Valachi famously broke the omertà code in 1963, when he publicly spoke out about the existence of the Mafia and testified before a United States Senate committee. He became the first in the modern history of the American Mafia to break his blood oath. Killers in Prison , Time, October 4, 1963 "The Smell of It" , Time, October 11, 1963 In Sicily, the phenomenon of pentito (Italian language he who has repented) broke omertà.
Among the most famous Mafia pentiti is Tommaso Buscetta, the first important witness in Italy, who both helped prosecutor 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 mental disorder and so his testimony led to the conviction of only himself and his uncle.
History
Omertà is a code of silence, according to one of the first Mafia researchers Antonio Cutrera, a former officer of public security. It seals lips of men even in their own defense and even when the accused is innocent of charged crimes. Cutrera quoted a native saying which was first uttered (as goes the legend) by a wounded man to his assailant: "If I live, I'll kill you. If I die, I forgive you." Antonio Cutrera, La mafia e i mafiosi, Reber, Palermo: 1900, p. 27 (reprinted by Arnaldo Forni Editore, Sala Bolognese 1984, ), quoted in Nelli, The Business of Crime, pp. 13–14
In popular culture
Mario Puzo wrote novels based on the principles of omertà and the Cosa Nostra. His best known such works are the trilogy The Godfather (1969), The Sicilian (1984), and Omertà (2000).
See also
Explanatory notes
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