Rising number of children stand accused of ‘crime of witchcraft’

Tens of thousands of children, some as young as four years old, are being accused of “crimes” of witchcraft in Africa, according to a new report, which examines the consequences for the societies they live in.

Unicef’s Children Accused of Witchcraft report which was released last week looks at a number of case studies across the East African region and in particular the recent killing of albino children in Tanzania.

The media, and more recently Internet sites in various regions of Africa regularly report shocking figures on the number of violent acts against children, that are related to witchcraft.

Unicef acknowledges that executions of alleged witches have reached alarming levels in a number of African countries including Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

There has been no comprehensive study to suggest how widespread child witchcraft allegations are, or the number of children who have been beaten or killed, but experts believe the numbers are in their thousands or tens of thousands.

Unicef’s regional child protection officer for West and Central Africa Joaquim Theis said more than 20,000 street children had been accused of witchcraft in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa alone.

The report says thousands of elderly people, especially women, have been accused of witchcraft and then beaten and/or killed in Tanzania.

In western regions of Kenya 15 women accused of witchcraft were recently burnt to death by angry villagers.

The report says the existence of such violence requires that a number of distinctions be made.

“First, that there is a difference between belief in witchcraft and accusations of witchcraft. The fact of believing in witchcraft, that is, in the extraordinary power of certain people, does not pose any particular problems.”

According to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

The report also notes that, witchcraft accusations that end in extreme violence require a different response.

“Not only do such acts pose serious problems for civil society and African state institutions, but also for those who defend human rights.”

The report says the most common age for witchcraft accusations is between four and 14 years old.

Unlike in medieval times in Europe or in the 19th and early 20th century in Africa, the studies indicate that witchcraft accusations target mostly boys.