Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:35:41.023Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Witchcraft, Justice, and Human Rights in Africa: Cases from Malawi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2015

Adam Ashforth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The human rights approach to witchcraft accusations denies their validity and forecloses the possibility of a trial, fair or otherwise. While there is much to be said for a bracing rationalism in all aspects of life, evidence from Africa over the past couple of centuries shows no sign that witchcraft narratives lose their plausibility as a result of people being told that witches do not exist.

Résumé:

L’exclusion des accusations de sorcellerie dans le contexte de la gestion des droits de l’homme annule leur réalité et exclut la possibilité de rendre justice en cas d’accusation infondée. Bien qu'il y ait beaucoup à dire pour soutenir un rationalisme solide dans tous les aspects de la vie, des études de cas menées au cours des deux derniers siècles en Afrique démontrent que les récits de sorcellerie n’ont rien perdu de leur crédibilité en dépit des discours publics niant l’existence des sorcières.

Keywords

Human rightswitchcraftjusticeMalawi
Type
ARTICLES
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , April 2015 , pp. 5 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adinkrah, Mensah. 2004. “Witchcraft Accusations and Female Homicide Victimization in Contemporary Ghana.” Violence Against Women 10 (4): 325–56.Google Scholar
Ashforth, Adam. 2000. Madumo, a Man Bewitched. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ashforth, Adam. 2005. Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ashforth, Adam. 2011. AIDS, Religious Enthusiasm and Spiritual Insecurity in Africa. Global Public Health 6: S132–47.Google Scholar
Ashforth, Adam, and Watkins, Susan. 2015. “Narratives of Death in Rural Malawi in a Time of AIDS.” Africa 85.Google Scholar
Badoe, Yaba, director. 2010. “The Witches of Gambaga.” Ghana: Fadoa Films.Google Scholar
Barber, B. 2012. “Dartmouth Exhibit and Lecture Highlight African Witchcraft.” Dartmouth Now, May 9.Google Scholar
Behringer, Wolfgang. 2004. Witches and Witch-Hunts: A Global History. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Peter. 1975. “Society and the Supernatural: A Medieval Change.” Daedalus 104 (2): 133–51.Google Scholar
Bryant, Alfred. T. 1949. The Zulu People, As They Were Before the White Man Came. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter.Google Scholar
Cammack, Dianna, Kanyongolo, Edge, and O’Neil, Tam. 2009. “‘Town Chiefs’ in Malawi.” London: Africa Power and Politics Programme (APPP) of the Overseas Development Institute.Google Scholar
Ceci, Stephen J., and Bruck, Maggie. 2006. “Children’s Suggestibility: Characteristics and Mechanisms.” Advances in Child Development and Behavior 34: 247–81.Google Scholar
Chanock, Martin. 1985. Law, Custom, and Social Order: The Colonial Experience in Malawi And Zambia. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chilimampunga, Charles, and Thindwa, George. 2012. “The Extent and Nature of Witchcraft-Based Violence against Children, Women and the Elderly in Malawi.” Research Report. Lilongwe: Association of Secular Humanists and Royal Norwegian Embassy.Google Scholar
Cimpric, Alexandra. 2010. “Children Accused of Witchcraft: An Anthropological Study of Contemporary Practices in Africa.” Dakar: UNICEF WCARO.Google Scholar
Cohan, John A. 2011. “The Problem of Witchcraft Violence in Africa.” Suffolk University Law Review 44: 803–72.Google Scholar
Comaroff, John, and Comaroff, Jean L.. 2004. “Criminal Justice, Cultural Justice: The Limits of Liberalism and the Pragmatics of Difference in the New South Africa.” American Ethnologist 31 (2): 188–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murders. 1996. “Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murders in the Northern Province of the Republic of South Africa” (Ralushai Commission). Northern Province, S.A.: Ministry of Safety and Security.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). n.d. “Particular Social Group: An Australian Perspective.” UNHCR Expert Roundtable Series. Canberra: DIMIA.Google Scholar
Crampton, A. 2013. “‘No Peace in the House’: Witchcraft Accusations as an ‘Old Woman’s Problem’ in Ghana.” Anthropology and Aging 34 (2): 199–212.Google Scholar
Darr, Orna Alagon. 2011. Marks of an Absolute Witch: Evidentiary Dilemmas in Early Modern England. Farnham, Surrey, U.K.: Ashgate.Google Scholar
de Boek, Filip. 2009. “At Risk, as Risk: Abandonment and Care in a World of Spiritual Insecurity.” In The Devil’s Children: From Spirit Possession to Witchcraft—New Allegations that Affect Children, edited by La Fontaine, J. S., 129–50. Farnham, Surrey, U.K.: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Dicks, Ian D. 2013. “Witchcraft Accusations amongst the Muslim Amacinga Yawo of Malawi and Modes of Dealing with Them.” The Australasian Review of African Studies 34 (1): 103–28.Google Scholar
Doctor, Henry V., and Weinreb, Alexander A.. 2003. “Estimation of AIDS Adult Mortality by Verbal Autopsy in Rural Malawi.” AIDS 17: 2509–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, Mary. 1963. “Techniques of Sorcery Control in Central Africa.” In Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa, edited by Middleton, J. and Winter, E. H., 123–41. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Elias, T. O. 1956. The Nature of African Customary Law. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, Stephen. 2007. “Witching-Times: A Theme in the Histories of Africa and Europe.” In Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa, edited by Haar, Gerri ter, 31–52. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Englund, Harri. 2007. “Witchcraft and the Limits of Mass Mediation in Malawi.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13 (2): 295–311.Google Scholar
Englund, Harri. 2011. Human Rights and African Airwaves: Mediating Equality on the Chichewa Radio. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1937. Witchcraft Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Federici, Silvia. 2008. “Witch-Hunting, Globalization, and Feminist Solidarity in Africa Today.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 10 (1): 21–35.Google Scholar
Fisiy, Cyprian. 1998. “Containing Occult Practices: Witchcraft Trials in Cameroon.” African Studies Review 41 (3): 143–63.Google Scholar
Fisiy, Cyprian, and Geschiere, Peter. 1990. “Judges and Witches, or How Is the State to Deal with Witchcraft? Examples from Southeastern Cameroon.” Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines 118: 135–56.Google Scholar
Fisiy, Cyprian, and Rowlands, M.. 1990. “Sorcery and Law in Modern Cameroon.” Culture and History 6: 63–84.Google Scholar
Foxcroft, Gary. 2009. “Witchcraft Accusations: A Protection Concern for UNHCR and the Wider Humanitarian Community?” Stepping Stones Nigeria. http://www.experts.com.Google Scholar
Gaskill, Malcolm. 2008. “Witchcraft and Evidence in Early Modern England.” Past and Present 198 (1): 33–70.Google Scholar
Gavan, Mags, and van der Valk, Joost. 2009. “Saving Africa’s Witch Children.” Dispatches. United Kingdom: Channel Four.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford. 2000. Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Geschiere, Peter. 2013. Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust: Africa in Comparison. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gluckman, Max. 1955. The Judicial Process among the Barotse of Northern Rhodesia. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press.Google Scholar
Good, Byron J. 1994. Medicine, Rationality, and Experience. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Government of Malawi. 2012. “2012 Global AIDS Response: Progress Report: Malawi Country Report for 2010 and 2011.” Lilongwe: Government of Malawi.Google Scholar
Hanson, K., and Ruggiero, R.. 2013. “Child Witchcraft Allegations and Human Rights.” Brussels: European Parliament.Google Scholar
HelpAge International. 2011. “Using the Law to Tackle Allegations of Witchcraft: HelpAge International’s Position.” London: HelpAge International.Google Scholar
Hund, John. 2003. Witchcraft Violence and the Law in South Africa. Pretoria: Protea Book House.Google Scholar
Innocence Project. 2013. “False Confessions: Understand the Causes.”www.innocenceproject.org.Google Scholar
Institoris, Henrich, and Sprenger, James. 1928 (1489). Translated by Montague Summers. Malleus Maleficarum. London: J. Rodker.Google Scholar
Jonsen, A. R., and Toulmin, S.. 1988. The Abuse of Casuistry: A History of Moral Reasoning. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kanyongolo, F. E. 2006. “Malawi Justice Sector and the Rule of Law: A Review by AfriMAP and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.” Johannesburg: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.Google Scholar
Kapindu, R. E. 2009. “Malawi: Legal System and Research Resources.” GlobaLex (Hauser Global Law School Program). www.nyuglobal.org.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M. 2008. “The Psychology of Confessions.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 4 (1): 193.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., and Wrightsman, L. S.. 1985. The Psychology of Evidence and Trial Procedure. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kaunda, D. 2011. “Expanding Access to Justice for the Poor: Malawi’s Search for Solutions—A Comparative Analysis with Other Informal Justice Systems.” Copenhagen: Danish Institute for Human Rights.Google Scholar
Kgatla, S. T., et al. 2003. “Crossing Witchcraft Barriers in South Africa: Exploring Withcraft Accusations—Causes And Solutions.” SANPAD Research Report. Utrecht: Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University.Google Scholar
Kirk-Greene, Anthony. H. M. 1955. “On Swearing: An Account of Some Judicial Oaths in Northern Nigeria.” Africa 25 (1): 43–53.Google Scholar
Langbein, John. H. 1977. Torture and the Law of Proof: Europe and England in the Ancien Regime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ludsin, Hallie. 2003. “Cultural Denial: What South Africa’s Treatment of Witchcraft Says for the Future of Its Customary Law.” Berkeley Journal of International Law 21 (1): 62.Google Scholar
Mart, E. G. 2010. “Assessment and Testimony in Child Abuse Cases.” Journal of Psychiatry and Law 38 (3): 265.Google Scholar
Marwick, Maxwell Gay. 1965. Sorcery in Its Social Setting. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Marwick, Maxwell Gay. 1967. “The Sociology of Sorcery in a Central African Tribe.” In Magic, Witchcraft, and Curing, edited by Middleton, John, 101–25. Garden City, N.Y.: The Natural History Press.Google Scholar
Massina, L. 2013. “Group Launches Campaign to Help Suspected Witches in Malawi.” VOA News. www.voanews.com.Google Scholar
McCracken, John. 1998. “Democracy and Nationalism in Historical Perspective: The Case of Malawi.” African Affairs 97 (387): 231–49.Google Scholar
Melland, Frank Hulme. 1923. In Witch-bound Africa: An Account of the Primitive Kaonde Tribe and Their Beliefs. London: Seeley, Service & Company.Google Scholar
Mgbako, Chi, and Glenn, Katherine. 2011. “Witchcraft Accusations and Human Rights: Case Studies from Malawi.” George Washington International Law Review 43: 389–417.Google Scholar
Miguel, Edward. 2005. “Poverty and Witch Killing.” The Review of Economic Studies 72 (4): 1153–72.Google Scholar
Molinar, Javier Aguilar. 2006. “The Invention of Child Witches in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Social Cleansing, Religious Commerce and the Difficulties of Being a Parent in an Urban Culture.” Save the Children/USAID. www.savethechildren.org.Google Scholar
Mutua, Makau. 2002. Human Rights: A Political and Cultural Critique. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
The Nation. 2009. “Witchcraft Terrorises Balaka Hospital.” June 5.Google Scholar
Needham, Rodney. 1972. Belief, Language, and Experience. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ormsby, Mike. 2013. Child Witch: Kinshasa. Transylvania: Nicoaro.Google Scholar
Peters, P. E. 2002. “Bewitching Land: the Role of Land Disputes in Converting Kin to Strangers and in Class Formation in Malawi.” Journal of Southern African Studies 28 (1): 155–78.Google Scholar
Petrus, T. 2009. “An Anthropological Study of Witchcraft-Related Crime in the Eastern Cape and Its Implications for Law Enforcement Policy and Practice.” Ph.D. diss., Nelson Mandela University.Google Scholar
Pollock, Frederick, and Maitland, Frederick William. 1911. The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Principe, Gabrielle. F., et al. 2010. “False Rumors and True Belief: Memory Processes Underlying Children’s Errant Reports of Rumored Events.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 107 (4): 407–22.Google Scholar
Quarmyne, Maakor. 2011. “Witchcraft: A Human Rights Conflict between Customary/Traditional Laws and the Legal Protection of Women in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa.” William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law 17 (2): 475–507.Google Scholar
Ralushai, N. V. 1996. “Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft, Violence and Ritual Murders in the Northern Province of the Republic of South Africa.” Pietersburg, S.A.: Commision of Inquiry into Witchcraft Murders and Ritual Violence.Google Scholar
Ritchken, Edwin. 1988. Comrades, Witches and the State: Popular Mobilisation and Organisation in Mapulaneng. Durban, S.A.: Association for Sociology in Southern Africa.Google Scholar
Schärf, Wilfried, et al. 2002. “Access to Justice for the Poor of Malawi? An Appraisal of Access to Justice to the Poor of Malawi by the Lower Subordinate Courts and the Customary Justice Forums.” Lilongwe, Malawi: Department for International Development (DFID).Google Scholar
Schnoebelen, Jill. 2009. “Witchcraft Allegations, Refugee Protection and Human Rights: A Review of the Evidence.” New Issues In Refugee Research. Geneva: UNHCR.Google Scholar
Secker, Emilie. 2013. “Witchcraft Stigmatization in Nigeria: Challenges and Successes in the Implementation of Child Rights.” International Social Work 56 (1): 22–36.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Barbara J. 1991. “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” and “Probable Cause”: Historical Perspectives on the Anglo-American Law of Evidence. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Smith, K. P., and Watkins, S. C.. 2005. Perceptions of Risk and Strategies for Prevention: Responses to HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi. Social Science and Medicine 60 (3): 649–60.Google Scholar
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. 1977. Belief and History. Charlottesburg: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, P. J., and Strathern, A.. 2004. Witchcraft, Sorcery, Rumors, and Gossip. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Taussig-Rubbo, Mateo. 2011. “Pirate Trials, the International Criminal Court, and Mob Justice: Reflections on Postcolonial Sovereignty in Kenya.” Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development 2 (1): 51–74.Google Scholar
Tebbe, Nelson. 2007. “Witchcraft and Statecraft: Liberal Democracy in Africa.” The Georgetown Law Journal 96 (1): 183–236.Google Scholar
ter Haar, Gerrie, ed. 2007. Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (Radhika Coomaraswamy). 2002. “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences.” Geneva: United Nations Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights.Google Scholar
UNAIDS. 2013. “AIDSInfo Malawi.”www.unaids.org.Google Scholar
UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees). 2004. “Guidelines on International Protection: Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.” Geneva: UNHCR.Google Scholar
UNHCR. 2009. “Promotion And Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development.” Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston. New York: United Nations General Assembly.Google Scholar
UNHCR. 2011. “Breaking the Spell: Responding to Witchcraft Accusations against Children.” New Issues in Refugees Research 197. Geneva: UNHCR.Google Scholar
UNHCR and Fahamu Trust. 2012. “Witchcraft Allegations, Refugee Protection and Human Rights: A Course for Lawyers and Legal Advisers.” Geneva: UNHCR.Google Scholar
van Beek, Walter E. A. 2007. “The Escalation of Witchcraft Accusations.” In Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa, edited by Haar, Gerri ter, 293–316. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Van Gijsegem, Veerle Van. 2008. “Criminal Law of French Origin and Criminal Behavior of African Occult Origin: The Modernity of Witchcraft Trials in the West of the Republic of the Ivory Coast.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 26 (2): 191–202.Google Scholar
Veitch, E. 1971. “Some Examples of Judicial Law Making in African Legal Systems.” Modern Law Review 34 (1): 42–54.Google Scholar
Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network (WHIRN). 2013. “21st Century Witchcraft Accusations and Persecution: 2013 Global Report.” Report presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council, March 25, 2014. www.whrin.org.Google Scholar