5 October 2017
GENEVA, 5 October 2017 (Issued as received) – More than 100 UN* and other international experts have identified a series of effective ways to curb and stop human rights violations caused by a “disturbing diversity of harmful practices” related to witchcraft.
Concrete measures identified include strengthening research and data collection, reviewing relevant laws, collaborating with and monitoring the work of traditional healers, prohibiting newspaper advertisements of witchcraft practitioners, and regulating independent faith-based practices.
“All measures must reflect a human rights approach and should be comprehensive, with governments working closely with communities and civil society,” the experts stressed in a summary of their proposals, which emerged from a ground-breaking workshop held in Geneva.
“An approach that combines legislative action with improvements in child protection, education, health, justice, social protection, economic and livelihood measures, and gender equality and empowerment is essential, with the strong involvement of traditional healers, faith leaders, and groups vulnerable to such attacks,” they said.
One of the main convenors of the event, the UN Independent Expert on the human rights of persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, said: “The workshop helped us better understand the complex web of meaning behind witchcraft, a phenomenon with various manifestations.
“It also helped to identify potential solutions to prevent and address human rights violations that are still committed on a daily basis throughout the world. These include killings, ritual attacks and mutilations, human sacrifice, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, discrimination and isolation, among many other harmful practices,” she added.
The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, Agnes Callamard, stressed that witchcraft-related violations of the right to life amounted to arbitrary killings, triggering State responsibility.
“In practical terms, this means the State must do everything in its power to prevent the occurrence of witchcraft-related killings, including by actively countering harmful stereotyping,” said Ms. Callamard.
She further recommended that witchcraft-related killings be treated as “hate crimes”, thus demanding a range of additional legal, investigatory, sentencing and protection measures. She called for firm legal protection, implementation of non-discrimination measures, and demonstration of the effectiveness of State policies and practices with regard to prevention, investigation, punishment and remedies.
Noting that harmful witchcraft beliefs and practices resulted in gross violations of women’s rights, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Šimonoviæ, called on States to apply due diligence to prevent such acts, to protect victims and to punish perpetrators.
Ms. Šimonoviæ also called for a holistic approach aimed at the eradication of violence against women, including comprehensive human rights education and awareness-raising programmes, as well as changes in any laws that supported such harmful practices and human rights violations.
Expressing her strong support for the event, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, called for effective measures to free children from the risk of violence associated with witchcraft accusations to be put in place urgently.
“This is critical to ensure that children are fully protected from all forms of violence by the 2030 deadline set by the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.
“Being accused of witchcraft is a form of psychological violence in itself and is often associated with unspeakable attacks that amount to torture. Even when child victims survive, they are often stigmatized, abandoned and forced to live on the street where an even more vulnerable life awaits them.
“These acts of violence are largely under-reported and remain concealed, impunity prevails and children rarely have access to recovery and social re-integration mechanisms,” added SRSG Santos Pais.
Speakers at the workshop, including those from the United Kingdom, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Australia, India and Papua New Guinea, presented examples of the impact of witchcraft on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations and how they responded to them. Victims of harmful practices related to witchcraft also recounted their experiences.
Participants recommended spearheading action on the issue as part of States’ commitment to end all forms of violence and leave no one behind under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
(*) The UN experts: Ms. Marta Santos Pais,Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children; Ms. Ikponwosa Ero, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism ; Ms. Dubravka Šimonoviæ, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Ms. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The Independent Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. As a high level global independent advocate, Marta Santos Pais promotes the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children in all settings, including online and offline, the justice setting, in the home, in institutional care, in schools, in the workplace and in the community. For links to webcast sessions of the event, click here: Check out our special website: People with albinism: not ghosts, but human beings.
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts: Bryan Wilson – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9826 / firstname.lastname@example.org)
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For use of the information media; not an official record