A whole bunch of individuals suspected of witchcraft in Ghana, particularly older girls, face rampant human rights abuses together with homicide, Amnesty Worldwide mentioned Monday, asking the federal government to criminalize accusations and ritual assaults.
In 2023, the Ghanaian parliament handed a invoice making it a legal offense to declare, accuse, title, or label somebody as a witch however the invoice is but to be signed into regulation.
“The accusations, which might result in threats, bodily assaults and even dying, normally begin throughout the household or amongst group members following a tragic occasion reminiscent of an sickness or a dying,” Amnesty said.
“Older girls dwelling in poverty, with well being situations or disabilities are at higher danger, in addition to girls who don’t conform to stereotypical gender roles. In some instances, accusers even base their claims on having had a foul dream about an individual,” it added.
Nearly all of victims are “marginalized people, notably older girls,” in areas in nation’s northern and northeastern areas, the report mentioned.
Perception in witchcraft stays widespread in lots of rural communities alongside the west African coast, together with Ghana, and elsewhere within the continent. Earlier this yr, two males in Zambia had been charged with practicing witchcraft and possessing charms supposed to hurt the nation’s president.
Individuals accused of witchcraft are normally banished from their dwelling areas and in Ghana they search refuge in camps run by conventional clergymen “the place they continue to be till they die or a member of the family or one other group accepts them,” the rights monitor mentioned.
Amnesty mentioned Ghana had not carried out sufficient to guard victims, stressing the necessity for a sensitization marketing campaign in susceptible areas.
It additionally mentioned the federal government had didn’t “guarantee entry to enough meals, secure housing and clear water” for individuals dwelling in these camps.
“The authorities ought to move laws particularly criminalizing witchcraft accusations and ritual assaults, together with protecting measures for potential victims,” mentioned Genevieve Partington, Amnesty’s nation director in Ghana.
Partington can also be a member of the Coalition In opposition to Witchcraft Accusations, an affiliation arrange following the lynching of a 90-year-old lady in July 2020 in northern Ghana.
Related assaults happen in different components of Africa.
Eight girls blamed for the dying of two ailing boys in Guinea Bissau final yr had been pressured to drink poison and died.
Additionally final yr, two girls of their sixties had been publicly stoned and their our bodies burnt within the Democratic Republic of Congo for allegedly inflicting the deaths of a number of individuals.
It is a reflection of how “we deal with aged individuals,” Leo Igwe, founding father of Nigeria-based non-profit Advocacy for Alleged Witches, instructed AFP.
Samadu Sayibu of Ghana’s rights group Songtaba, mentioned it additionally “highlighted points reminiscent of gender and poverty.”
Perception in witchcraft can also be widespread in some rural communities in Angola regardless of sturdy opposition from the church within the predominantly Catholic former Portuguese colony. Final yr, police mentioned about 50 people died in Angola after being pressured to drink an natural potion to show they weren’t sorcerers.
Throughout a 2009 journey to Angola, Pope Benedict urged Catholics to shun witchcraft and sorcery.
