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Breaking the spell: responding to witchcraft accusations against children

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Introduction

Witchcraft allegations against children have become the focus of increased international attention in recent years. Recent reports by Phillip Alston, Gary Foxcroft, Jill Schnoebelen and Alexandra Cimpric representing respectively, the United Nations, Stepping Stones Nigeria, UNHCR and UNICEF have all highlighted increasing concerns regarding violence and abuse towards children accused of witchcraft.

Accusations of witchcraft cause direct violations of children's rights. Children are isolated or even rejected from their family and community, end up living on the streets, become victims of different forms of trafficking, suffer from physical and mental health problems and trauma due to the abuses they have experienced (AFRUCA, 2009). Already vulnerable children become even more vulnerable as a result of witchcraft accusations. Cases of children being harmed, abused or killed due to accusations of being a witch or for the purpose of witchcraft have been documented in many countries around the world, though the vast majority of cases investigated to date have been African. This paper focuses on African case studies.

There is growing concern within UNHCR around the issue of children being accused of witchcraft within the refugee and IDP communities which fall under the UNHCR mandate and the abuse that they receive as a consequence. UNHCR's Policy and Evaluation section therefore asked the authors of this report to research the issue in more depth and to provide recommendations based on the results of their findings.

This research involved a thorough review of both academic and grey literature, individual interviews with key stakeholders - primarily professionals involved in international and national level NGOs working in child protection related fields - and a review of pertinent international human rights treaties which could provide a normative framework to guide international responses to the issue.

Additionally, a questionnaire was developed and sent to UNHCR field offices where reports of accusations of witchcraft had occurred. Responses from UNHCR offices were extremely limited. Information specific to UNHCR was therefore mainly retrieved through document review and not through personal or phone interviews with UNHCR field staff. It is important to recognize that this placed a significant limit on the process of data collection.

After offering a general overview on the role of children in witchcraft, this paper turns to consider UNHCR's growing concern with accusations of witchcraft against children identified as persons of concern.

Next, the authors analyse witchcraft accusations and children within a human and child rights framework, including refugee law, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). The document then covers UNHCR responses and the response of civil society to date. It concludes with recommendations for future action, suggesting how UNHCR can better formulate policy and practice to address the growing concern of child victims of witchcraft accusations.