For
Immediate Release – 26th June 2006
Call
for President Obama to Demand Urgent Action to Tackle Widespread Human Rights
Abuses that Take Place Throughout Africa Due to the Belief in ‘Witchcraft’
As President
Obama commences his visit to Africa, we call upon him to use the tour as an
opportunity to demand urgent action to tackle the widespread, and systemic, violations
of human rights that take place across the Continent due to harmful practices
connected to the belief in ‘witchcraft’. Such beliefs are strongly held by many in the countries that
he will visit – Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania – and they often lead to
some of the most horrific human rights abuses imaginable. Vulnerable
individuals and groups in society are most at risk, including older women,
street children and people with disabilities.
Of many examples
that have been catalogued, in April 2013 the body of the 14 year old boy,
Nkhumeleni Mukhado, was discovered in a village in South Africa. His skull and
genitals had been removed. His is just one of many similar tragic stories where
people are killed so that their body parts can be incorporated into concoctions
used in what is labelled as ‘witchcraft’. It is often believed that, through
ingesting such concoctions, the receiver will gain greater wealth and power.
In Gambia,
which borders Senegal, Amnesty International have documented[1]
over 1000 cases of suspected ‘witches’ being rounded up by President Jammeh’s
special guards who then tortured the suspects and forced to drink potions that caused them to hallucinate and
behave erratically. Many were then forced to confess to being a “witch”. In
some cases, they were also severely beaten, almost to the point of death.
In Tanzania,
according to the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC)[2],
an average of 500 people were murdered each year on suspicion of ‘witchcraft’
between 2005 and 2011, whilst numerous people with albinism have been murdered
in cold blood for their body parts.
Such beliefs and practices self-evidently
constitute a significant obstacle to the reputation, peace and prosperity of
the region. They inhibit economic growth, investment and trade; weaken
democratic institutions; and prevent hundreds of thousands of Africans from
reaching their true potential. President Obama should demand that Africa’s
political and faith leaders, and the wider international community, do more to put a stop to the horrific human rights abuses that
continue to scar this great Continent.
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All Party Parliamentary Group for Street Children
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
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Basic Rights Counsel
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Bethany Children’s Trust
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Centre for Human Rights and Development
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Churches Child Protection Advisory Service
(CCPAS)
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Consortium for Street Children
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Greenwich Inclusion Project
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Humane Africa
International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)
The Pagan Federation
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Stepping Stones Nigeria
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Street Invest
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Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network (WHRIN)
Baroness Sue
Miller
Kirsty
Brimelow QC
Professor
Susan Edwards, University of Buckinghamshire
Dr Christina
Oakley Harrington, Treadwells, London.
Russell Brown
MP
Leo Igwe –
Nigerian Humanist Movement
John W. Morehead, Evangelical Chapter
of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy
Hugh Davies
OBE QC, 3 Raymond Buildings
Louisa Young
– Author
Zoe Young –
Film Maker
Paul Stockley
– Development Worker
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