Young Girls targeted, burned, and beaten as 'witches' in African Congo

The Republic of the Congo in Africa, land where babies get raped by grown men because shamans tell them it is the only way to 'cure' themselves of HIV, is now practicing 'witch hunts' against young adolescent girls. Women's eNews reports that one girl, Chance Chubaka, was accused of being a witch after her father and grandfather died.

"Her uncle agreed. He tied her hands together with plastic bags and burned them, a common technique in the Democratic Republic of Congo to illicit confessions from children tagged as witches. The scars on Chance's hands remain. Her uncle also burned her legs, she says, and finally kicked her out of the house..."

Most of the thousands of children living on the streets in the nation's capital city of Kinshasa have been accused of witchcraft (According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.) Earlier this year, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child found that in the Congo violence against children accused of witchcraft is on the rise. And most of this violence is against girls, not boys.

Children who are accused of witchcraft often experience horrific abuse at home and in revivalist churches that perform 'exorcisms.' This can include burning, starvation and severe beatings.

Maj. Honorine Munyole, Bukavu's police commander in charge of children's protection, women and sexual violence against women, says that because girls are traditionally responsible for housework more than boys, and are therefore at home more, they have greater interactions with family members. This makes them targets of witchcraft accusations more frequently.

Accusations of witchcraft used to be directed primarily at elderly women, according to a 2009 report released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But since the early 1990s children, especially those in urban centers, have increasingly become the focus of such allegations."

Behavior considered unusual, such as bed wetting, aggressive behavior, sleep walking, nightmares or simply sharing food with neighboring children, can trigger sorcery accusations. Children who suffer from chronic or severe mental and physical illnesses are also sometimes singled out."

After being recused and placed in a children's home, Chance herself said, "I would tell people that it's a false concept...It is only a way to mistreat people and deprive them of their rights."

For more information:

"What Future? Street Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo" report, Human Rights Watch:
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2006/04/03/what-future

United Nations brief on witchcraft accusations:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Witches21stCentury.aspx