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New Hope for Survivors as they Celebrate Historic UN Resolution Condemning Harmful Practices Related to Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks

New Hope for Survivors as they Celebrate Historic UN Resolution Condemning Harmful Practices Related to Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks

Following 6 years of intensive advocacy by a coalition of survivors, NGOs, academics and lawyers, the UN Human Rights Council has passed a ground-breaking resolution, which “emphatically condemns harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks that result in human rights violations.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 27th July 2021

UN Concept Note: In Support of Advocacy for the Elimination of Harmful Practices: Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks

Please click HERE to download the full concept note and preliminary paper.

People Suspected of Witchcraft Are Still Being Persecuted and Killed: VICE News

An international group of advocates are urging the U.N. to do something about the ostracization and violence. See article here. 

UN Side Event – “Violence Against Children: Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices”

March 7th 2018

All WHRIN members are invited to attend a side event to the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council on: “Violence Against Children: Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices”

Please download the full concept note here

Please download the poster to the event HERE

Email workshop@whrin.org if you wish to attend the event and we will send you the relevant details. Please note that, sadly, we are not in a position to help with any costs or logistical arrangements.

BBC Radio 5 Live Investigation into Witchcraft Accusations in the UK

Listen to the full story, including comment from WHRIN Executive Director – Gary Foxcroft – here 

South Africa: Juju’s hold on trafficking victims

“The spirits, they will know and they will kill me.” This fear of the spirits, known as “Juju”, was expressed by a 16-year-old girl who refused to tell her rescuer who had trafficked her from Nigeria to Madrid.

According to experts speaking at a conference on human trafficking in Johannesburg yesterday, Juju is commonly used by Nigerian traffickers to silence their victims and scare them into not escaping. The conference was arranged in response to the lack of information, especially statistics, on human trafficking.

Read more here

Kuwait: Pinay worker in Kuwait accused of being a witch, mauled by employer

Monica (not her real name) is a 35-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who has been working in the Middle East for a little more than 16 years…

Monica’s “lucky charm” is described in reports as …”dried amniotic sac or caul wrapped in a red cloth.” She explained that this had come from the birth of one of her children…

One day, Monica’s male employer happened to be searching her bag. Monica relates he went berserk when he found her lucky charm. He thought it was a tool used for witchcraft. He accused Monica of practicing black magic or sorcery. Under Kuwaiti law, sorcery or witchcraft is considered a crime.

Read more here

India: Man sentenced to life for killing woman suspecting her as witch

A man was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district today for killing a woman suspecting her to be a witch.

Additional District Judge, Baripada, Asanta Kumar Das held Prafulla Santara, a tribal of Badabhalia village, guilty for killing Jhunumani Santara (25) of the same village on October 6, 2011.

According to prosecution, Prafulla had beaten Jhunumani to death with a stick as he suspected that she was practising witchcraft that led to ailments in his family.

Read more here

Kenya: Stopping Witch Burning In Kenya?

Last Sunday, a 45 year old woman, Christine Jemeli Koech, was accused of witchcraft. A neighbour claimed that Koech, a mother of six had been responsible for her child’s illness. A local mob stormed Koech’s house early in the morning while she was asleep. They murdered her and burnt her body. This gruesome practice of lynching continues in the East African country of Kenya.

According to media reports, the neighbour has been arrested but the people who carried out the killing are still at large.

Read more here 

USA: Bible Passage on Human Sacrifice Potentially Linked With Woman’s Alleged Murder of Toddler

Authorities are investigating whether a Florida woman accused of murdering her ex-partner’s 2-year-old daughter was prompted to do so from her interpretation of an Old Testament passage.

On Sunday, Kymberley Dawn Lucas and her ex-partner’s two children, Elliana Lucas-Jamason and Ethan Jameson, attended a service at Metropolitan Community Church in Jupiter, Florida, where pastor Lea Brown taught on Genesis 22. The biblical narrative tells a story where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, before God accepts a goat instead of the boy at the last minute.

One line of a note found by authorities on Lucas’ computer read “Lea’s sermon really, really touched me yesterday, but God never told me to stop!”

Read more here