February 15, 2013
In the last fortnight, the horrific circumstances
surrounding the death of Kepari Leniata in Mt. Hagen shocked the nation, indeed
the world. Related news items made headlines in the major media outlets around
the world. Accused of practicing sorcery, the late Kepari Leniata was tortured
in broad daylight. Onlookers witnessed the last dehumanizing moments in the
life of this young mother. Kepari’s murderers, in this apparent act of wilful
murder are being rounded up to face the full force of the law.
Unfortunately, this is not the first of such incidences, and
probably not the last. In February 2008, it was reported that a pregnant mother
who was blamed for sorcery was hanged to die alongside her husband. She
prematurely gave birth when struggling to free herself. This is just one of the
many reported cases. The gruesome nature of pay-back killing relating to
sorcery in PNG and the frequency of these incidences must be contained soon.
PNG’s history is one of trying to find consistency in the
administration justice in relation to sorcery-related cases as a law and order
issue. Earlier on the Administrator of the Territory of Papua, Sir Hubert
Murray, stated that eliminating sorcery beliefs would minimise serious crimes.
Pay-back killing was one of those serious crimes. In Sir Hubert’s time, the
fear of sorcery was also blamed for inhibiting socio-economic progress in
Papua.
Currently, media and witnesses have reported accounts of
brutal punishments meted out on suspected sorcery practitioners. Family members
or blood relatives of alleged sorcerers are unable to speak out against the
violence in fear of their lives and safety. Anyone condemning anti-sorcery
vigilantes may be branded as accomplices or knowing the agents of sorcery.
Unfortunate victims have no established venue where justice
can be impartially administered. Faced with this dilemma, some policy makers
have proposed that sorcery-related issues be dealt with under its own court
administration.
In situations where defenceless victims are under duress to
confess their roles in suspected cases of sorcery-related deaths, they will not
have the opportunity in an impartial forum. In most cases, these horrendous
pay-back killings are enforced by large groups of men whose immediate aim is to
dehumanise the victims. This serves as a deterrent to aspiring sorcery
practitioners. Given the geographical remoteness of some parts of PNG,
information on sorcery-related killings and punishments does not reach the
media or appropriate law-enforcement agencies quickly. Also, barbaric acts are
not usually reported formally.
The frequency of the incidences of these “sorcery purges”
has become a trend in some parts of PNG. Someone stated that every year, some
500 people are killed on suspicions of practising sorcery. And out of six
victims, five are women.
Women who fall victim to accusations of practising sorcery
are mercilessly punished. A former government minister stated that helpless
women are burnt at the stake, stoned, raped, axed, buried alive, electrocuted,
forced to drink petrol, or dragged behind vehicles.
What is sorcery?
Sorcery is used interchangeably with terms such as
witchcraft, “black magic”, “sanguma” or “poisin”. The Sorcery Act 1976
provides a distinction between “white” magic as opposed to “black” magic. Black
magic is the category that is associated with bad luck.
In the early colonial period, sorcery was classified as
constituting part of the custom of the people of the colonial territories.
Custom meant “the range of indigenous social behaviour considered to be
significantly at variance with Anglo-Australian (and, for a while in New
Guinea), German norms”.
The colonisers intended to control and “civilise” the
“natives”, hence, custom was defined in political overtones rather than from an
anthropological and legal-historical perspective. Under the British
administration, Papuans were introduced to the Native Board Regulations in
1889, which included sorcery as forbidden behaviour.
After World War I, under the Australian Administration, the
Native Regulations outlawed sorcery. The punishment for alleged sorcery
practitioners was six months in jail. The Australian Administration made it
official that traditional customs were allowed to continue unless they were “repugnant to the principles of humanity”.
Schedule 2.1 of the Constitution of PNG qualifies custom in this manner.
However, custom has been used as a defence in pay-back
killings. Therefore, we are faced with the dilemma that the courts may not
recognise sorcery as a fact. This has implications for sentencing in the higher
courts. In The State v Osborne Kwayawako
and Five Others [1985] the issue was whether sentencing the convicted
persons involved in a pay-back killing constituted wilful murder?
The court was to make a judgment taking into account the
belief by the men that the deceased was responsible for an unspecified number
of deaths. It was held that “customary belief in the power of sorcery” is not
permitted or encouraged under the Sorcery Act.
The court was not able to sentence the accused because any
belief in the power of sorcery by the court would be deemed contrary to the
Sorcery Act. However, the Handbook for Village Court Officials states the
various categories of sorcery, which include “making” or pretending to make
sorcery, threatening sorcery, procuring sorcery, owning “things that can be
used to make sorcery”, and paying for sorcery. Pay-back killing is a human
rights issue that is “repugnant to the principles of humanity”, and is a wilful
murder offence under the Criminal Code.
Clearing the ambiguity between the Criminal Code and the
Sorcery Act is a step in the right direction for sentencing pay-back killers.
The prominence of the Village Court in administering sorcery-related pay-back
killings can be raised, where the higher courts tread precariously on matters
of evidence and legal interpretation.
Some recommendations
Beliefs in sorcery cannot be easily erased. To intervene, a
proper analysis of areas in PNG that have general occurrences of pay-back
killings must be undertaken. Identifying the socio-cultural context of sorcery
and the settings that tolerate extreme punishments of alleged practitioners of
sorcery must be a national priority.
In 2003, Dame Carol Kidu appealed to foreign aid donors to
fund research into sorcery in PNG. Time, energy and resources must target the
places where pay-back killings are prominent. Creating a matrix of the most
vulnerable areas where pay-back killing is prone to occur can be helpful.
The state agencies such as the police or village court
officials could use this information for awareness and training of local
councillors in the areas identified. Also, health services in the problem areas
must be improved by adequately training health workers and staffing the health
centres. Community health is multidisciplinary because it involves
comprehensive delivery of primary health care services at the district level,
which is the front line of the health care system.
Many health facilities in the districts have closed down or been
destroyed in tribal wars, face drug shortages or are inadequately staffed.
Without trained medical workers to provide conclusive diagnosis of causes of
death, ill-informed people may blame sorcery practitioners for the deaths. In
PNG, it is common that when a person dies, the relatives or members of the
community seek the cause of the death. Combating misinformation among the
mostly illiterate citizens is our challenge against pay-back killings.
Also, the National Government, as it did before the 1995
provincial government reforms, could dovetail the roles of faith-based
organisations and other civil society entities that are providing health
services and other socio-economic opportunities in the remote areas. Taking human rights to the community or
village level should be supported.
In 2005, a Human Rights Based Approach to Programming
(HRBAP) was initiated with the assistance of UNICEF. This involved
incorporating human rights into village courts training and was implemented
within the Village Courts Services. Perhaps training officials to deal with
sorcery-related issues could also be undertaken by such programs.
A 2008 study undertaken by the Melanesian Institute argued
that legislating to criminalise the practice of sorcery can have the adverse
effect of reinforcing “people’s beliefs that those evil powers are real and
effective” – instead of discouraging the practice and the violence that is
meted out to alleged practitioners of sorcery. To prevent associated violence,
perhaps hearsay accusations against sorcery practitioners should be
criminalised. This would compel accusers to “look for other explanations for
misfortunes than simply to accuse other peoples”. It would therefore amount to
defamatory allegations against peoples if unsubstantiated accusations are being
made.
PNG should now collectively address the scourge of
sorcery-related violence. Our national image and the security and welfare of
the most marginalized and powerless sections of our community should be at the center
of such initiatives.
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