Archive for September, 2009
Witch Hunts Are Now An International Epidemic
September 25, 2009UN publishes IHEU statement on witchcraft in Africa
September 25, 2009Killing of women and child “witches” on rise, U.N. told
September 24, 2009By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) – Murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world and destroying the lives of millions of people, experts said on Wednesday.
The experts — United Nations officials, civil society representatives from affected countries and non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialists working on the issue — urged governments to acknowledge the extent of the persecution.
“This is becoming an international problem — it is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe,” Jeff Crisp of the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR told a seminar organised by human rights officials of the world body.
Aides to U.N. special investigators on women’s rights and on summary executions said killings and violence against alleged witch women — often elderly people — were becoming common events in countries ranging from South Africa to India.
And community workers from Nepal and Papua New Guinea told the seminar, on the fringes of a session of the U.N.’s 47-member Human Rights Council, that “witch-hunting” was now common, both in rural communities and larger population centres.
HOMELESS CHILDREN
Gary Foxcroft of British-based charity Stepping Stones- Nigeria said children living homeless on the streets in many countries had been driven out by families or communities because they were suspected of being witches.
But increasingly children suspected of witchcraft — usually on the basis of vague accusations — were being killed because their parents feared they would have to take them back if the authorities identified them.
Ulrich Garms from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the seminar that there were no reliable statistics on how many women and child “witches” were killed annually around the globe.
Other U.N. officials tracking the problem said deaths ran into at least tens of thousands, and beatings, deprivation of property and banishment and isolation from community life meant victims of “witch frenzy” ran into millions.
Speakers at the seminar agreed that poverty, exacerbated by the current world economic crisis, often lay behind the phenomenon as people sought to find scapegoats for their misfortunes and the illnesses they suffered.
But some preachers of major religions and governments were also responsible, they said.
(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Louise Ireland)
By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) – Murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world and destroying the lives of millions of people, experts said on Wednesday.
The experts — United Nations officials, civil society representatives from affected countries and non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialists working on the issue — urged governments to acknowledge the extent of the persecution.
“This is becoming an international problem — it is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe,” Jeff Crisp of the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR told a seminar organised by human rights officials of the world body.
Aides to U.N. special investigators on women’s rights and on summary executions said killings and violence against alleged witch women — often elderly people — were becoming common events in countries ranging from South Africa to India.
And community workers from Nepal and Papua New Guinea told the seminar, on the fringes of a session of the U.N.’s 47-member Human Rights Council, that “witch-hunting” was now common, both in rural communities and larger population centres.
HOMELESS CHILDREN
Gary Foxcroft of British-based charity Stepping Stones- Nigeria said children living homeless on the streets in many countries had been driven out by families or communities because they were suspected of being witches.
But increasingly children suspected of witchcraft — usually on the basis of vague accusations — were being killed because their parents feared they would have to take them back if the authorities identified them.
Ulrich Garms from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the seminar that there were no reliable statistics on how many women and child “witches” were killed annually around the globe.
Other U.N. officials tracking the problem said deaths ran into at least tens of thousands, and beatings, deprivation of property and banishment and isolation from community life meant victims of “witch frenzy” ran into millions.
Speakers at the seminar agreed that poverty, exacerbated by the current world economic crisis, often lay behind the phenomenon as people sought to find scapegoats for their misfortunes and the illnesses they suffered.
But some preachers of major religions and governments were also responsible, they said.
(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Louise Ireland)
Call is made for Witchcraft Act amendment
September 24, 2009Death for Tanzania albino killers
September 24, 2009Drive launched in township to preserve aboriginal witchcraft
September 24, 2009Death for Tanzania albino killers
September 23, 2009Jailed for forcing witchcraft
September 22, 2009What is Witchcraft Abuse?”
September 16, 2009A recent publication: “What is Witchcraft Abuse?” addresses the terrible phenomenon of child branding as witches or as evil spirits among some African communities in the UK. It looks at why children are branded as witches, what kind of children are vulnerable and how they are abused and harmed as a consequence. It also addresses the issue of religion and how some fake pastors are helping to fuel this form of child abuse through wrongful branding as witches. It identifies how children who are branded as witches can be safeguarded and supported and what role AFRUCA is playing to help victims in the UK.
Copies can be downloaded from the website at http://www.afruca.org. This publication is part of the “Safeguarding African Children in the UK” series.
Witchcraft, Displacement and Human Rights Network 
