NY law professor helps run legal aid clinic in Malawi for persons accused of witchcraft, mostly children and elderly women

New York Times - February 17, 2011

Witchcraft Legal Aid in Africa

By CHI MGBAKO | Op-Ed


NEW YORK — Accusations of witchcraft in Africa have gained increasing attention because of the severe impact they can have on the lives of those accused, including imprisonment, deprivation of property, banishment from villages and in some cases physical violence.

The human-rights law program I direct recently partnered with an N.G.O. in Malawi to run a mobile legal-aid clinic focusing on witchcraft cases in two rural communities.

Men, women and children flocked to our clinic seeking legal assistance. The cases were challenging and engaged the question of how to confront accusations of witchcraft, particularly when children and elderly women disproportionately bear the brunt of such accusations.

The persecution of accused witches has not historically been confined to Africa. Witch-hunts have occurred in Europe, America, ancient Rome, Aztec Mexico, Russia, China and India. But the practice persists in poor settings in part because witchcraft can be used in communities without routine access to modern medicine and science to explain seemingly inexplicable instances of death and misfortune.

In Malawi, a country of deep poverty and low life-expectancy, one of our clients claimed that disgruntled community members in years past had cursed his village by proclaiming that the rains would disappear. When the rains did not arrive as anticipated, his conclusion was, “How could that be the result of anything but witchcraft?”

In such cases, we tried to explain what we believed were the real causes of misfortunes. Malawi has suffered a series of droughts, so in this case we discussed climate science to explain the lack of rains.

Economically oppressed people who lack political outlets to express their grievances may also turn to leveling accusations of witchcraft. Conflict, internal displacement, the lack of development, and the weight of HIV/AIDS on families have all contributed to the rise of witchcraft accusations in Africa.

Exacerbating the problem are mushrooming religious sects that offer bogus exorcism services, as well as local witch doctors who claim to “hunt” witches and charge exorbitant fees for potions to lift “spells.”

One client arrived at our legal-aid clinic desperate to cure her daughter of a perceived spell. She confided that she had spent huge sums of money and bartered goods on a series of witch doctors, all to no avail. We encouraged her to stop using her hard-earned savings on witch doctors, and she quickly realized that most of them were charlatans.

Although men are sometimes targeted, elderly women and children are often the primary victims of witchcraft accusations. Elderly women are at risk because their removal can expedite accusers’ access to their property. We heard a case in which a man had severely beat our client’s elderly mother and accused her of witchcraft in an attempt to gain access to her land.

Children are also easy targets. In one case we heard, someone accused a 12-year-old girl of being a witch and threatened to bury the child. Although this is not the case in Malawi, in countries like Angola, Nigeria and Congo, “witch children” are often abused and abandoned by their families.

Many clients came to our mobile legal clinic eager to learn the status of Malawi’s law on witchcraft. According to the law, currently under review by Malawi’s law reform commission, it is illegal to accuse someone of witchcraft or to hire a witch doctor to identify an alleged witch.

Some clients were resistant to the notion of providing a measure of protection to accused witches, but others were relieved. A female village chief, previously unaware of the law, had been holding town-hall meetings for years to encourage community members to stop witchcraft accusations. After attending our clinic, she was happy to learn that the law supports her stance.

We had many other cases in which individuals sought legal advice on whether they could proceed with accusing someone of witchcraft. We welcomed these cases because they gave us an opportunity to intervene before the belief in witchcraft was transformed into public blame and potential violence.

One young woman with chronically bad luck in love believed that her failed romantic relationships were the result of spells cast by her uncle. After we informed her that it is against Malawian law to accuse her uncle of witchcraft she vowed not to do so. We also dissuaded another woman from branding a local child in the community as a witch. She left the clinic determined to deter other potential accusers.

Many Malawians believe in witchcraft. This belief, in and of itself, is not the issue. It is the transformation of belief into accusation and subsequent harm that is at issue. So although the law does not address the question of whether witchcraft exists or not — individuals are free to believe or disbelieve — it should continue to criminalize witchcraft accusations.

Legislation alone will not stop attacks against alleged witches. Malawi and other African countries grappling with this issue should raise public awareness through nationwide campaigns that enlist church groups, police, the justice system, N.G.O.s and traditional healers to encourage people to refrain from making accusations of witchcraft against neighbors and relatives, especially emphasizing the often irreparable harm these do to children and elderly women.

Chi Mgbako is clinical associate professor of law and director of the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at Fordham Law School in New York City.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 18, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune.


This article was found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/opinion/18iht-edmgbako18.html

RELATED ARTICLES:

Nigerian police rescue 32 pregnant teens locked up and forced to produce babies for witchcraft rituals

Nigerian children's rights advocate harassed and arrested before he could give evidence to Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft

Nigerian Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons begins commission on abuse of children accused of witchcraft 

Torture of Nigerian girl by father claiming she is a witch reveals brutality of religious superstitions used against children 

Nigerian children accused of witchcraft shunned, tortured and murdered in the name of Jesus 

Christian belief in demon possession leads to physical, spiritual and psychological abuse of children 

Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense

Deliver us from evil: Exorcisms in demand 

UNICEF report documents tens of thousands of children abused and murdered as witches in East Africa 

Extremely abusive exorcisms of children branded as witches on the rise in the U.K.

Christian Extremism: Witchcraft, Murder and Child Abuse

Rapid growth of evangelical Christianity in Africa responsible for torture and murder of thousands of kids denounced as witches

Liberty Gospel Church members assault children's rights activists at meeting to end 'child-witch' atrocities

Witch hunt: Africa's hidden war on women

African Children Falsely Accused of Witchcraft

Persecuting the African child

Abuse of child 'witches' on rise, aid group says 

Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt

Widespread human rights violations are taking place on a daily basis against Nigeria's so called child "witches"

Protecting the Akwa Ibom Children of Nigeria From Ritual Abuse

Nigerian State Governor warns churches against labeling innocent children witches

'Child-witches' of Nigeria seek refuge

Saving Child Witches: A Nigerian Perspective

Child sacrifice and ritual murders rise in Uganda as famine looms

Uganda’s epidemic of child sacrifice

Uganda: Muslim women ask parliament to convene special session on child sacrifice, ritual murders

Spiralling acts of bloody child sacrifice in Uganda linked to West African prosperity cult

UGANDA: Church leaders want action on ritual killings of children

Angolan police rescue 29 children accused of witchcraft 

Tanzania: 13-year-old albino boy killed for body parts sold for use in witchcraft

Pastor held for locking up 'child sorcerers'

Young girl murdered after being accused of witchcraft 

Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense 

Deliver us from evil: Exorcisms in demand

Texas Supreme Court Okays Exorcism 

Family resolves to take fight over exorcism to Supreme Court 

High court declines to hear Texas exorcism case 

Family accused of exorcism killing

Jury finds five New Zealanders guilty of manslaughter during exorcism 

Girl's eyes gouged to get rid of devil 

They sought help, but got exorcism and the Bible 

They prayed to cast Satan from my body 

Hillsong: Exorcism in the suburbs

Mercy Ministries exorcism books leaked

Mercy Ministries claim exorcisms cure mental illness and drug addiction 

Cult-rescue group 'concerned about' Mercy Ministries 

Mercy Ministries Update: Big Donor Loss? 

Indiana man going to trial in exorcism case 

Fatal ending to Arizona exorcism response

Both Suspects In ‘Exorcism’ Child-Murder Case Indicted

Police suspect ancient Korean exorcism ritual responsible for teen girl's death

Swedish sect leader accused of performing violent exorcisms & using child labour

Former students of private religious college tell of exorcisms and harsh discipline

Guyana teenager dies after hours of religious rituals to exorcise demonic spirits from her 

Cops: Parents tried to exorcise teen’s ‘demons’ 

Georgia Mother Accused of Attempted Exorcism on Son 

Couple jailed, accused of beating baby over 'demons' 

'Cursed' woman claims exorcism sex abuse 

Swedish sect leader accused of performing violent exorcisms & using child labour 

Mentally ill Saudi man chained in basement for 6 years by father who thinks he is possessed by genie