English School, witchcraft and human rights

We had a discussion on the possibility of intervention by other states and non-state actors in relation to the case of witchcraft and human rights. 

We assumed that if the killings of those accused of practicing witchcraft gets out of hand, or evolves to a level that constitutes genocide or mass torture. Then the international community might see fit to intervene into our internal affair.

The discussion was based on the UN Experts Workshop on Witchcraft and Human Rights held in Geneva on 21-22 September, 2017.

Screenshot of article written by Forsyth and Gibbs on the DevPolicy Blog.

When I read about Fr. Philip Gibbs and his presence at the workshop, I quickly thought about the English School Theory. How can I understand what is happening using the pluralist or the solidarist approach?

We all drew the conclusion that the killings were not right. We said it was against international norms and laws. I talked about the 3 international crimes from genocide to crimes against humanity. I also mentioned the universal declaration of human rights.

However, I did not talk about the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). If you read the article by Gibbs, he states that women play a dual role. They influence their husbands to make accusations and many end up as victims of witchcraft related violence.  

Please note that PNG also joined the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 21 July 2008. Article 6 (1) states that:

"Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life."

Furthermore, on the same day and year, PNG joined the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  Article 12 (1) states that:

"The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."

Some of you mentioned that is was against our domestic laws as well. We have our constitution and the criminal code which says that such actions are not right.

Many of us grew up with stories of sanguma, posinman, tewel or masalai. We accept the fact that when we do something wrong to a member of our society either within our kinship system or outside, there will be repercussions or ramifications related to our actions.

Therefore, from a cultural point of view, we can argue that those who were killed based on sorcery related accusations got what they deserve. It is a form of justice based on our belief system.

But, is it right to kill another person or torture them based on the belief of kumo witchcraft? We believe that it is wrong to kill another person. When we kill, it is either in the act of tribal warfare or in retaliation for a course of action that we find demeaning or demoralizing.

If you read the article by Gibbs, his cases will tell you an interesting story about those who died or escaped death. Many of them were disadvantage people in the community. 

Any form of intervention by other states or non-state actors to mitigate the gruesome killing of people accused of practicing sorcery should be done with a deep understanding of our cultural mind set.

Many Papua New Guineans seem well educated but the knowledge of the spiritual realm is ingrained in us. This is evident when educated people quickly believe someone if they come up with a very good and logical sanguma narrative of how a family member got sick and died.

Rarely will you hear people ask; do you have hard evidence to prove? or is it in line with laws of the nation? We compromise our educated views with the cultural views in fear of being accused as mentioned by Gibbs. 

Although, in one of his cases, a judicial person stopped the killing of a husband and wife accused of being a kumo yagl or kumo ambu. The judicial person was not accused of anything.

According to Amnesty International, as cited in Gibbs, the type of torture used on people accused of practicing sorcery is again gruesome. Burning with red hot metal, hanging over fire, cutting body parts slowly and other methods are all in breach of the universal declaration of human rights and other cascading international laws like CEDAW and the two covenants mentioned above.

Norm entrepreneur institutions like the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), The Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network (WHRIN) and Amnesty International via their efforts could rally support from member nations. Member nations could use the UN Human Rights Council to protect the rights of those involved.

Screenshot of the WHRIN webpage.

From a pluralist point of view, we can argue that what the UN, the WHRIN and Amnesty International is doing is against the notion of sovereignty. PNG is a sovereign country and we have our unique culture and way of life that does not correlate to Western liberal values and norms. Thus, these intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations should not tell us what to do.

Finally, Gibbs said reports of these killings focus mainly in the highlands or communities of Highlanders living in coastal towns. That means the people from the coastal regions do not engage in such practices. If that is the case, then awareness should be targeted at the right audience in order to help them understand.