Posts by whrin_admin

South Africa: Marikana muti man killed

Eastern Cape – The sangoma believed to have performed rituals on protesting Lonmin mineworkers in Marikana, North West, has been gunned down, the Farlam Commission heard on Monday. Read more here.

Saudi Arabia: Man sentenced to death for witchcraft

The High Court in Taif has sentenced a man to death for performing witchcraft, it was reported on Sunday. The sentence was approved by a three-judge panel at a packed courtroom. Investigations showed that the man, in his 40s, was involved in more than 40 abortion cases and a number of witchcraft activities. Several confidential reports by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) have confirmed these activities.

Uganda: Child sacrifice suspects charged with murder, await court action

A group of family members who were arrested in connection with the death of a seven-year- old girl in Luweero District awaits court action after the police on Friday preferred murder charges against them. Read more here.

Kenya: Houses torched as residents raid Nandi suspected witches

An angry mob yesterday morning set several houses ablaze at a village in Nandi during a violent crackdown on families suspected to be practising witchcraft. Read more here.

Indonesia:PKS Leader Insists Proposed Law Against Witchcraft Is Sensible

A conservative legislator has sprung to the defense of a proposed article against witchcraft in a newly drafted revision to the Criminal Code, insisting it addresses a more serious problem than it appears to. Read more here.

Spain: Spanish police break up voodoo sex ring

Cultural Denial: What South Africa’s Treatment of Witchcraft says for the Future of its Customary Law

The following article examines the treatment of witchcraft under customary law and common law, both historically and under the new legal order, and analyses the implications this comparison reveals. See full article here

Poverty and Witch killing

Using rainfall variation, this study investigates the impact that income shocks have in causing violent crime, in particular; attacks on women branded as witches, to assess and conclude that economic conditions are a driving force behind witch murders. Full article here

Witchcraft: A human rights conflict between customary/traditional laws and the legal protection of women in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa

This following article provides an insight into the concept of witchcraft and its legal implications for women, particularly older women in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. Part I explores the foundation for the belief in witchcraft and witchcraft’s place in and effect on the social ordering within communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Part II examines the clash of customary/traditional laws against state legal systems. Part III analyses various international treaties, principles and norms and explores international law and human rights standards that could arguably protect this victimised class of women. The article concludes by suggesting potential methods to handle situations involving witchcraft accusations. See the full article here

Witchcraft accusations and human rights: case studies from Malawi

Taking a functionalist view of the role of witchcraft within contemporary African societies; this Article explores potential community-based interventions to assist victims of witchcraft accusations, based on forty-five case studies from an experimental mobile legal-aid clinic in Malawi, a country in south-eastern Africa where witchcraft accusations are widespread and often irreparably harm those accused. See the full article here