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UN Urges Papua New Guinea to Take Action to Stop Vigilante Witchcraft Killings

by Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is under heavy criticism by the UN for doing little to combat the killing of women and sometimes men for suspected sorcery. Across the country deaths and illnesses are often blamed on sorcerers, those suspected of sorcery are often subject to vigilante killings. UN investigations have concluded that sorcery is often used in PNG to mask violence against women. Even though the PNG government has taken steps to combat the violence they have not been effective, impunity is often still given at the local level to those who kill alleged sorcerers.

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Woman is burned at the stake for suspected sorcery in a PNG village
(Photo Curtesy of The Telegraph)

 These problems in PNG were brought to the forefront of the international community a year ago when a 20-year-old woman was killed for alleged witchcraft when a young boy died of illness. The town’s people blamed the young woman for the death, she was striped naked, tortured and burned alive at the stake. Even though the attack was over a year ago no one has been brought to justice for the killing. Since this disturbing murder the number of vigilante attacks on suspected witches has increased sharply, causing an increase of violence and unrest.

 The PNG government has responded to the UN demands to deter these attacks by repealing the Sorcery Act of 1971, which created the defense of sorcery for defendants on murder charges. The country has also responded by reinstating the death penalty for murder and rape in hopes that it will deter these violent attacks on women. The UN has criticized the reinstatement of the death penalty, saying that the death penalty does not help deter the violence in anyway. Instead the UN advises that prompt investigation and trials would be effective in halting the attacks.

Even with these heavy-handed measures to combat the violence, bringing those responsible for the killings to justice proves difficult. At the local level, those who kill witches or sorcerers are not deemed to be criminals by the population. Arresting them and convicting them is difficult when their local communities do not think of them as criminals.  Since the death penalty reinstatement not one person has been given the capital punishment, the deterrence is not effective if the punishment is never given out for the crime.

The UN has recently held a conference in Port Moresby, the capital of PNG to discuss these issues with the PNG government. The PNG Deputy Secretary for Legal and Justice Affairs has stated that the UN conference should form the basis for legislative reform in the country. Other government agencies have also voiced their support for the UN conference and possible policy and legislative reforms to combat the issue of witchcraft killings.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — UN Urges Action on Papua New Guinea Sorcery Attacks — 13 June 2014 

Yahoo News — UN Urges End to Impunity for PNG Sorcery Attacks — 13 June 2014

News.com.au — Papua New Guinea Slammed by Amnesty International for Lack of Actions in Socery Killing — 6 February 2014

MSN News NZ — UN Urges Action on PNG Sorcery Attacks — 13 June 2014

 

Thousands Take to the Street to Protest Spanish Monarchy

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

MADRID, Spain – Thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets in dozens of cities across the country to protest the Spanish Monarch. The protesters have called for a referendum to abolish the Spanish Monarch, which they see as out-of-touch and outdated. It only took a few hours after 76-year old King, Juan Carlos, announced he was abdicating the thrown in favor of his son for Anti monarchy protests to take to the streets across the country. According to an El Pais Poll, almost two-thirds of the Spanish population are opposed to the continuation of the Monarchy in Spain.

Protesters flood the streets of Madrid with the color’s of the country’s Second Republic, calling for an end to Spain’s Monarchy and the establishment of a new Republic. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

On Saturday, dozens of left-wing political parties and citizens organizations came to support republicanism. The Protesters chanted ” España, mañana, será republican” meaning “Spain, tomorrow, will be republican,” as they waved the colors of the country’s Second Republic, red, purple and gold, which was established in 1931 but overthrown just ten years later by Generalissimo Francisco Franco at the end of the country’s civil war. In Madrid the protests, were among the largest mass rallies seen in the nation’s capital. Thousands of protesters also gathered in Barcelona, chanting “Dear Felipe, nobody has chosen you.”

The anti-monarchist movement, which has gained popularity in Spain due to the public frustration with the political system, corruption, and high unemployment, views the country’s royal family as a main part of Spain’s political problems. Mercedes Trujillo, an anti-monarchist campaigner said, “we don’t want them to think we are like babies, that we can’t decide what we want. We don’t want a king, we want to choose,”

Supporters of the Spanish Monarchy have held smaller demonstrations. They argue that the monarchy is a uniting force, keeping Spain’s regions together in a way that a President would not. Alberto Nunez, a supporter of the Monarchy, said that the king “has been for socialists, for populists, he has spoken to governors, presidents from all over the world no matter their ideology. A president of a Republic might have issues.”

In the Basque region, which has a unique language and culture and has long sought greater autonomy from Spain, of Northern Spain estimated 100,000 protesters formed a 123km human chain linking the Basque town of Durango to Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre region. The protesters waved Basque flags, calling not only for the end of the Spanish Monarchy but for the right of the people in Basque to vote for their region’s independence. The Protesters linked arms and raised their hands in the air, holding Basque Flags, as helicopters flew overhead. In recent years Basque leaders have negotiated more tax independence from Spain. The Violent separatist group ETA, which has been weakened by arrests and decreasing popular support, declared an end to its armed struggle in 2011. On May 29 adopted a symbolic declaration of self-determination.

Demonstrators participating in the human chain linking the Basque town of Durango with the Navarran capital of Pamplona leap mountain pass of Kanpazar on June 8, 2014 (Photo Courtesy of Reuters UK)

In recent months democratic independence movements have gained popularity in Spain, partially inspired by demonstrations in Catalonia. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, told the press last week that he was forging ahead with plans for an Independence vote to be held on November 9 which the central government has said it will block on constitutional grounds.

For more information please see:

The Guardian – Majority in Spain Want Referendum on Future of Monarchy – 9 June 2014

Al Jazeera – Anti-monarchy Protests Persist in Spain – 8 June 2014

International Business Times – Thousands Stage Anti-Monarchy Protests Across Spain – 8 June 2014

Reuters UK – Basques Form 123-km Human Chain calling for independence Vote – 8 June 2014

The Dozo Brotherhood: Military Entity, or Peaceful Hunting Group?

Following the 2010 presidential elections, Côte d’Ivoire slipped into a deep political crisis as a result of the election outcomes.  After the first round of votes yielded inconclusive results, a second round of voting was held between candidates Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara.  The predominantly Christian south aligned with Laurent Gbagbo, a member of the Bété tribe, and much of the Muslim north aligned with Muslim candidate, Alassane Ouattara, a member of the Dioula tribe. Alassane won the second vote, but former president, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to step down.  As a result, political violence erupted, ethnic tensions ruled, and a space was created for the Dozo, a hunting brotherhood, to become a power-weilding, quasi police force. 

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Dozo Hunters (Photo courtesy of IRIN Africa)

 

 

The Dozo are, traditionally, an ancient hunting brotherhood, rooted primarily West African countries.  Currently though, the brotherhood occupies a unique position in the indeterminate sphere between militant groups and the Ivorian military.  In Côte d’Ivoire, the Dozo back the Ouattara regime; in a unique manifestation of their support, the group has adopted the role of a quasi-military entity.  Armed with AK-47s, members have been implicated in road blocks, security checks, arbitrary arrests, and killings.  While the Dozo have denied these accusations, pointing to the strict moral code members adhere to that would forbid them to engage in such acts, there appears to be a general understanding that the Dozo have, in fact, been involved in the crisis in this capacity.  Côte d’Ivoire has attempted to quell this internal threat to stability by passing cabinet resolutions that forbid Dozo members from bearing arms, and call them to cease roadblocks and security checks, but these attempts by the government have been fairly futile, thus far.  These resolutions may not be considered entirely credible, as this regime has acknowledged the Dozo as influential in moving Côte d’Ivoire towards progress and the Ouattara regime.  Undoubtedly, the government has created a situation that seems to be simultaneously affirming the Dozo, while trying to quell the instability and security threat the group causes.

Ultimately, Côte d’Ivoire will have to address the Dozo and the role the group has assumed in a way that publically condemns the human rights abuses the Dozo have been charged with.  Otherwise, it will be unlikely that the Côte d’Ivoirian people will be able to move forward from this conflict. 

For more information, please visit:

Geo Currents- Ethnic Dimensions of the Conflict in Ivory Coast-28 April 2011 

IRIN- Ivoirian Hunters Accused of Abuses- 14 January 2014

The Eagle- The Harp Is the Hunter’s Qur’an: Text, Performance, and Narrative in Dozo Hunting Songs of Northwest- 24 February 2014

TV/C News- UN wants to end impunity for Ivory Coast’s “Dozo Killers”- 7 June 2014

Transportation Strike in Bolivia Leads to Clashes

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SUCRE, Bolivia – A transport workers strike caused chaos in the Bolivian city of El Alto on Tueday during a protest against the local government’s plans to regulate the transport system. The demonstrators, who are also demanding higher wages, blocked a main avenue in the city.

Bus drivers block an avenue during a previous transport workers’ strike in La Paz in 2012. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

Riot police arrived on the scene and fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters. Local media reported 58 bus drivers were arrested for damaging passing vehicles that would not support the protesters.

Bolivian Police were able to clear the roads after protesters set fire to tires in the middle of the road. Approximately 1,200 police officers guarded the highways that lead to the city’s main airports.

The protesters, who run a network of privately owned minibuses, stated that the strike would continue indefinitely if local authorities do not back down on their plans to modernize public transport systems.

A leader of a drivers’ union in El Alto, Marcos Tito Cabrera, said bus drivers have been charging the same fare for the past few decades. “Since the creation of such vehicles (minibuses) for the last 30 or 40 years we have been operating by charging only one Bolivian (peso) as passage. This government in eight years has raised the wages of workers four times, perhaps we are not part of the state but we are also the people,” Cabrera said.

The local government is implementing four modern transport systems in the metropolitan area of two million residents, which the drivers fear will affect their own services in the cities.

An exclusive bus system with special routes is planned, along with a multimillion-dollar cable car system that will link the two mountain cities of La Paz and El Alto. The system will change the way Bolivians transport around the city. The cable car and bus system will aim to offer a faster service than existing modes of city transportation, authorities say.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera — Bolivian transport strike causes chaos – 4 June 2014

The Washington Post – Clashes in Bolivia over transportation regulations – 4 June 2014

AOL News – Clashes in Bolivia  – 3 June 2014

Boston.com – Clashes in Bolivia – 3 June 2014