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Containing Occult Practices: Witchcraft Trials In Cameroon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Cyprian F. Fisiy
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Abstract:

Postcolonial authorities see the belief in witchcraft and other occult forces as creating a basic impediment to development initiatives in Africa. Consequently, the state in Cameroon has sought to use all sorts of instruments—including legal instruments—to contain, if not eradicate, witchcraft. However, the institutionalization of the crimes of witchcraft, magic, and divination has been fraught with evidential problems of proof. The vigorous pursuit of witches by the postcolonial courts has led to rather perverse outcomes whereby the witch-doctors, witches par excellence, have emerged as expert witnesses in the courts. By relying on these expert witnesses, the courts are caught in the witchcraft logic, blurring the line between the accused and the accuser. The standard of proof in the courts has become that of the “L'intime conviction du judge,” at best a subjective standard.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Les autorités post-coloniales considèrent la croyance en la sorcellerie et en d'autres formes de forces occultes comme un frein aux initiatives de développement en Afrique. De ce fait, l'état camerounais a cherché à utiliser tous les moyens–y compris des moyens légaux—pour contrôler, sinon éradiquer la sorcellerie. Cependant, la criminalisation de la sorcellerie, de la magie et de la divination n'a pu reposer sur aucune preuve évidente. Dans ce cas, la poursuite vigoureuse des sorciers par les tribunaux a plutôt mené à des situations cocasses où des guérisseurs, eux-mêmes sorciers par excellence, ont comparu pour servir d'experts-témoins dans les tribunaux. En faisant recours à ces experts-témoins, les tribunaux, pris dans la logique de la sorcellerie, confondent accusés et accusateurs. Dans les tribunaux, “l'intime conviction du juge”, un critère tout au moins subjectif, est devenue le seul critère de preuve.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , December 1998 , pp. 143 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1998

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