Culture and Traditions

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Vows to Repeal Sorcery Act

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Vows to Repeal Sorcery Act
Bernadine Racoma

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill promised to repeal the 1971 Sorcery Act which accepts accusation of sorcery as one’s defense in murder cases. This legislation has led critics to say that it has given sorcery a legitimacy that it does not deserve. Accusations of black magic have led to a number of brutal public killings directed at suspected sorcerers, particularly women. The 1971 Sorcery Act recognizes the practice of black magic as a legitimate defense in murder cases and criminalizes sorcery or witchcraft.

Even the United Nation’s attention has been caught by the recent violent attacks made on those accused of sorcery. A UN inspection conducted in March revealed that the killings are often conducted by young men under the influence of drugs and alcohol. These men were reportedly following the instructions of their community.

“Barbaric”

Very recently, a woman from the southern region of Bougainville was beheaded after being accused of sorcery. The death of her female colleague, a local teacher and was blamed on her.

In this most recent incident, the villagers were outnumbered by the police and they proceeded with their intent to kill. The mob even looted property and three female relatives of their victim were injured as well. Paul Kamuai, acting assistant commissioner of south Bougainville said that the police could not do anything to stop the villagers.

According to Amnesty International, it has been part of the culture of Pacific nations to attribute mysterious deaths and illnesses to sorcery. For several years people have been quick at accusing sorcerers, particularly women. This is based on the widespread belief in the region on the supernatural particularly in black magic or sorcery. People would attribute unexplained deaths to supernatural rather than natural causes.

A string of violent public killings

In February of this year, a woman named Kepari Leniata was accused of witchcraft. She was tortured and eventually burned alive after she was doused with gasoline. She was 20 years old. Her killers were relatives of a six-year old boy who they claimed was the victim of Leniata’s sorcery. Townsfolk barred the way so that policemen and firefighters could not do anything to save her from her fate.

In July of last year, police were able to apprehend a gang of 29 witch hunters who reportedly murdered and cannibalized their victims. A similar string of killings occurred in 2009 led the head of the Papua New Guinea’s Constitutional Review and Law Reform Commission claimed that people were only using accusations of sorcery as an excuse to hurt people. The call for appropriate legislation to put an end to the issue was already put forward at that time.

International pressure

Prime Minister O’Neill revealed in an interview that they are already working on the pertinent issues at hand. However, there is no guarantee that a legislation that will stop the nonsense related to witchcraft will be discussed and passed in this current session of Parliament.

The international community has been putting a lot of pressure on the government of Papua New Guinea due to the increase in vigilante killings targeting people suspected of practicing black magic.

Photo Credit: PNG’s Prime Minister O’Neill

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