LHRC: More people been killed on witchcraft beliefs

By Waryoba Yankami

LHRC executive director Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba (L), gives clarifications to journalists in Dsm yesterday as she released the centre's bi annual report on human rights for the year 2014.

The number of people killed due to superstitious beliefs has increased from 303 last year to 320 this year, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has said.

 

The figures were availed in the LHRC’s Bi-Annual Human Rights report released yesterday in Dar es Salaam.

 

Titled: The Human Rights Situation Analysis – 2014, the report said the rights of women and old people in the country continue to be violated as a result of witchcraft related beliefs.

 

The LHRC researcher, Pasience Mlowe, said between January and June 2014 a total of 27 old women were brutally killed in Butiama among other places on suspicions of practicing witchcraft. It noted some other ten women killed in Mara region also as a result of witchcraft beliefs.

 

The report also indicated that two people with albinism (PWA) were killed in the last six months while others suffered grievous bodily harm and torturous pain. This is in contrast with 2013 when only four PWA were attacked and one was killed while in 2012 there were no zero cases reported, report said.

The LHRC report went on to reveal that killings due to mob violence are still ongoing across the country.

 

 It said in a period of six months 473 were killed, although the number decreased compared to 597 killed in 2013 and 563 in 2012.

 

As for access to justice, the report showed that the main deterrence to improved access to justice is poor infrastructure that limits access to the law courts. 

 

Another factor is that there are only 4,334 advocates and of these 200 are reported deceased up to the release of the findings, the report noted highlighting the fact that there is a considerable number of non-practicing lawyers in the country.

 

Further, most of the available advocates are based in towns but it also acknowledged that the trend is changing and a few of them have opened sub-offices upcountry.

 

According to the report, another challenge is that poor citizens cannot afford representation fees and suggested the need for free legal aid provision. 

This is especially being the case in land matters as revealed in several districts visited by LHRC, like Mbarali, Mvomero, Kilosa and Kyerwa, observes the report.

 

It is also recommended in the report that human rights education be incorporated in the country’s education system because low understanding of human rights issues undermines delivery of justice.

 

The center recommended that the government implement the National Human Rights Action Plan and to in the process, involve state and non-state actors to address human rights challenges facing the country.

 

Also to enhance the fight against corruption, the LHRC suggests the need to have a law defending those whistleblowers.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN