Women killed as ‘witches,’ in Papua New Guinea, in 2013

By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW

International Herald Tribune

“They’re going to cook the sanguma,” or witchcraft, “mama!”
This terrifying cry by Papua New Guinean children opens “It’s 2013, and They’re Burning ‘Witches,’ ” a long and eloquent report in the Global Mail, an Australia-based online news site.

It was published last week before news shot around the world on Tuesday that the police in Papua New Guinea, in another case, had charged two people with torturing and killing a 20-year-old mother, Kepari Leniata, whom they accused of being a witch. Ms. Leniata was “stripped, tortured with a hot iron rod, doused in gasoline and set alight on a pile of car tires and trash” earlier this month in front of a crowd of hundreds of people, including young children, The Associated Press reported.
Why?

Uncredited/Post Courier, via Associated Press Bystanders, including children, watching as a woman accused of witchcraft is burned alive in Papua New Guinea, earlier this month.

“Leniata had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who had died in a hospital,” The A.P. reported.
The year 2013 or not, such violence against women is not uncommon in Papua New Guinea, where “witches” (in reality just women, often older ones) may be blamed when things go wrong, a reflection of the powerful belief in sorcery in Papua New Guinea, a Pacific nation just north of Australia. Women are often identified as  witches and attacked  when a man, or child, dies unexpectedly.
But there may be other reasons. As the Australian international television station Australia Network reported, in a resource-rich country undergoing a boom, accusing a woman of being a witch is an easy way to take her land.
Dame Carol Kidu, a Papua New Guinean politician, told the station: “There are other things involved nowadays, like greed, acquisition of people’s properties and land, and all sorts of things might be all be tied up in all of this, using killing the sorcerers as a reason to acquire land. So it needs to be investigated and we need to work out how we can deal with it. It is a very complex issue.”
The United Nations also found that accusations of sorcery can be used to kill women for a range of motives. “The U.N. human rights agency says they’ve seen an increase in these types of killings as well as torture and rape,” United Nations radio reported recently. “They say the accusations are often used to deprive women of land and property,”
What lies behind the ferocity? Traditional beliefs, alcohol and drug use among men, and uneven development in a country that is in the middle of a mining boom where, as the Global Mail said, “the wealth bypasses the vast majority.”
It said: “Enduring tradition widely resists the notion that natural causes, disease, accident or recklessness might be responsible for a death. Rather, bad magic is the certain culprit.”
The dead person if often a man; the culprit is a woman. Or a “witch.”
“When people die, especially men, people start asking ‘Who’s behind it?’ not ‘What’s behind it?’ ” Philip Gibbs, a longtime resident, anthropologist, sorcery specialist and Roman Catholic priest,  told the Global Mail.
But in its report, the news site was careful to point out that while many Papua New Guineans believe in sorcery to some degree, that does not mean that they support the lynchings.
“City and country folk alike overwhelmingly ‘recoil in fear and disgust’ at lynch mobs pursuing payback,” it said.
The article mentions Sister Gaudentia Meier, a Swiss nun who tried to save Angela, a woman accused of witchcraft. The article includes powerful photos of accused “witches.”
Hearing the children shout that a witch was about to be cooked, Sister Gaudentia rushed after them. “Two days earlier, she had tried to rescue Angela (not her real name), an accused witch, when she was first seized by a gang of merciless inquisitors looking for someone to blame for the recent deaths of two young men.”
Angela was luckier than Ms. Leniata.
She had no male relatives to protect her (a common profile for accused “witches”) and was horribly tortured, but lived, the article says. A “sorcery survivor,” today she is in hiding with her small son.
“Those victims who lived to tell the tale owe their lives either to individual police members or to a strong church leader who intervened for them,” Father Gibbs told the Global Mail.
“In effect it means that, if sufficiently motivated to act, the power of the police and civil authorities, or the power of the church, can be enough to defend a person who is otherwise powerless,” he said.

Copra output to continue growing

Source: The National, Tuesday,  February 19, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

COPRA production, which has become a way of life in the coastal provinces of Papua New Guinea, will continue to grow despite current low prices, according to the Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK).
KIK acting industry affairs manager Alan Aku said this in light of copra prices and production hitting an all-time low last year.
He told The National that PNG last year produced 31,000 tonnes of copra compared with 46,000 in 2011, with export earnings – figures for which were still being finalised – being the lowest ever mainly because of the economic crisis in Europe.
 “The drop in production is not much,” Aku said.
“Irrespective of the price going down (to its lowest levels ever), people are still producing.
“Production is not too bad.
“Our production figures for last year have shown that although the prices have gone down, farmers have continued to produce copra, and we are still exporting.
“Some of those who have export licences have opted not to export because the prices are low, and are both buying and stocking them up, or they are selling to local processing mills like Copra Products Ltd in East New Britain or Pristine in Madang.
“These are the two mills we have operating in the country
The current major producers of copra in the country are Bougainville, East New Britain, West New Britain, Madang, New Ireland and Milne Bay.
KIK’s predecessor, the Copra Marketing Board, had depots in all coastal provinces and had a monopoly over copra buying until its demise.
“Copra Marketing Board was the monopoly copra buyer in the country,” Aku said.
“It set up depots in all coastal provinces and was buying, that’s when the provinces were interested in producing copra.
“But then, government wanted to liberate the market, so they took away the marketing power of Copra Marketing Board and made it available to the private sector.
“They made KIK to become the regulatory body alone.
“That’s when the market was opened up to private entities who wanted to go into buying and selling, it’s all private sector now.
“It happened in 2001; in 2002 KIK came into operation.
“That’s why Gulf has stopped producing copra, Central has stopped producing copra, Morobe has stopped producing copra, East Sepik has scaled down, Manus has gone down, Oro (Northern) has gone down.
“These provinces have stopped producing copra basically because there’s no market.
“Currently, copra production is centred on six provinces – Bougainville, New Ireland, East New Britain, West New Britain, Madang, and Milne Bay.”

Copra output to continue growing

Source: The National, Tuesday, February 19, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

COPRA production, which has become a way of life in the coastal provinces of Papua New Guinea, will continue to grow despite current low prices, according to the Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK).
KIK acting industry affairs manager Alan Aku said this in light of copra prices and production hitting an all-time low last year.
He told The National that PNG last year produced 31,000 tonnes of copra compared with 46,000 in 2011, with export earnings – figures for which were still being finalised – being the lowest ever mainly because of the economic crisis in Europe.
“The drop in production is not much,” Aku said.
“Irrespective of the price going down (to its lowest levels ever), people are still producing.
“Production is not too bad.
“Our production figures for last year have shown that although the prices have gone down, farmers have continued to produce copra, and we are still exporting.
“Some of those who have export licences have opted not to export because the prices are low, and are both buying and stocking them up, or they are selling to local processing mills like Copra Products Ltd in East New Britain or Pristine in Madang.
“These are the two mills we have operating in the country
The current major producers of copra in the country are Bougainville, East New Britain, West New Britain, Madang, New Ireland and Milne Bay.
KIK’s predecessor, the Copra Marketing Board, had depots in all coastal provinces and had a monopoly over copra buying until its demise.
“Copra Marketing Board was the monopoly copra buyer in the country,” Aku said.
“It set up depots in all coastal provinces and was buying, that’s when the provinces were interested in producing copra.
“But then, government wanted to liberate the market, so they took away the marketing power of Copra Marketing Board and made it available to the private sector.
“They made KIK to become the regulatory body alone.
“That’s when the market was opened up to private entities who wanted to go into buying and selling, it’s all private sector now.
“It happened in 2001; in 2002 KIK came into operation.
“That’s why Gulf has stopped producing copra, Central has stopped producing copra, Morobe has stopped producing copra, East Sepik has scaled down, Manus has gone down, Oro (Northern) has gone down.
“These provinces have stopped producing copra basically because there’s no market.
“Currently, copra production is centred on six provinces – Bougainville, New Ireland, East New Britain, West New Britain, Madang, and Milne Bay.”

Domestic use keeps coconut growing

Source: The National, Monday, February 18, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

DOMESTIC consumption of coconuts, widely used as a food ingredient in Papua New Guinea, is a multi-million kina business that is keeping the coconut industry alive, according to the Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK).
This, according to KIK acting industry affairs manager Alan Aku, was the saving grace for the coconut industry as copra prices and production hit an all-time low in 2012.
He told The National last Friday that contrary to popular belief, the industry was not “dying”.
“We estimate that about 300 million nuts are consumed in this country (per year),” Aku said.
“That’s very conservative.
“Looking at 50t per nut, you’re looking at a K150 million industry.
“Looking at this domestic industry (coconut), people don’t realise how much coconut is consumed in this country.
“That’s increasing largely because the consumption in the Highlands has increased.
“Coconuts are moving up by the thousands into the Highlands in containers
“Although we may ask ‘how much is this contributing to the economy’, it’s a domestic trade in itself.
“It’s a big, big industry.
“We (at KIK) plan to institute a market survey this year to establish how much coconut is brought up to the Highlands as a food commodity.”
Aku said the industry had so much untapped potential in other products such as virgin coconut oil (VCO), coconut coir fibre and coconut lumber, among many others.
“Some people say it’s a dying industry but there’s a lot of potential in it,” he said.
“We still believe the coconut industry is a sleeping giant.
“We really need government support to revive the industry.
“We are also looking at quality controls on the coconut products.”

Angau hospital stops services as nurse raped

Source: The National, Tuesday, February 19, 2013 

 

By PISAI GUMAR

ANGRY staff and management have stopped services at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae as the rape of a staff nurse brought to a head constant ill-treatment of staff and equipment.
The staff have given the management, police and the community, where the rapists allegedly reside, 48 hours to apprehend the four youths responsible for raping one of their colleagues.
Hospital administration lambasted the cruelty of some in the community, describing their behaviour as “animalistic”.
“Enough is enough!” hospital board chairman Benson Nablu declared.
“The hospital gates will be closed until the suspects surrender to police.”
Hospital chief executive Dr Polapoi Chalau said: “I am sick and tired of such inhuman attitude and strongly condemn their cruel attitude.”
As a result of Saturday night’s rape, the hospital had locked out some patients and closed gates to the hospital.
The hospital’s management, doctors, union executives, nurses and Lae School of Nursing teachers, students and staff are demanding justice and closed off services too yesterday.
About 500 people in all stopped work and protested at the Gware Memorial wing, highlighting the constant cruel and inhuman treatment of health workers.
They wanted the hospital management, police and the East Taraka community to bring the suspects to face the full force of law within 48 hours.
The incident took place at East Taraka at about 4am last Saturday.
Hospital union president Steven Nawik said the suspects must surrender or be apprehended and detained within 48 hours as staff had demanded.
“The admitted patients and outpatients now pay the price – being turned away from treatment due to the culprits’ cruel behaviour,” Nawik said.
Three hospital entrances were locked yesterday and were closely monitored by security guards. There were more outpatients outside and they had to resort to private clinics for treatment.
Car thefts, breaking and entering, theft and burgling of valuable items from doctors and nurses and stoning of hospital vehicles during nightshift drop-offs and pick-ups have been constantly experienced by staff.
They were simply fed up and wanted the community to take responsibility.
Warnings by the authorities to respect state property, facility and servants had fallen on deaf ears.
Nablu and Chalau appeared before the staff and workers yesterday.
“I am angry with those culprits – stupid and idiots – who have no respect for the tireless and dedicated health workers. They continue to harass them,” Nablu said.
“She (rape victim) is psychologically traumatised and physically affected; her family and relatives are devastated.
“The public in Lae continues to disrespect state properties and services such as hospital, water and electricity (supplies) that are here as services for human.
“I am sick and tired of such inhuman attitude and strongly condemn the cruel attitudes.
“The East Taraka community is responsible, they must assist police to bring the suspects to justice while families of the suspects should be evicted.
“The health workers and Lae communities are fed up of such cruel, animalistic attitudes and the behaviour of perpetrators that commit such crime on innocent humans.
“Let us rise up and tell the government enough is enough,” Nablu said.

Two charged in 'witch' murder in Papua New Guinea: report

AFP - Two people have been charged with the murder of a young mother in Papua New Guinea who was accused of being a witch and set upon by a mob that burned her alive, reports said Tuesday.

Kepari Leniata, 20, was stripped naked, doused with petrol and set alight atop a pile of rubbish on a main street on February 6 in the town of Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands.

A woman accused of sorcery is burned alive on a pile of rubbish in Mount Hagen city, Papua New Guinea, February 6, 2013. Two people, a 28-year-old woman and 33-year-old man, have been charged with the murder of the young mother, reports say.

Local media said a 28-year-old woman and 33-year-old man were charged with wilful murder after police rounded up 40 people for questioning.
The pair are reportedly relatives of a six-year-old boy whose death set off allegations of sorcery against Leniata.
"We are not finished," provincial police commander Martin Lakari told The National newspaper.
"If any evidence or reports come in later saying other people involved are still at large, we will also arrest them."
In a separate incident, a man was charged with the torture of two elderly women following the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the same town last week, Associated Australian Press reported.
The two women, alleged to have killed the girl through sorcery, were about to be set on fire when police intervened on February 11.
The witchcraft burning drew condemnation from the United Nations, the United States and Australia, while PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill branded it "barbaric".
Police have appealed to the public not to take the law into their own hands in the Pacific nation where there is a widespread belief in sorcery and many people do not accept natural causes as an explanation for misfortune and death.

Critically thinking about sorcery and magic in Papua New Guinea

By LEO IGIWE

* Leo Igwe, as a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, has bravely worked for human rights in West Africa. He is presently enrolled in a three year research programme on “Witchcraft accusations in Africa” at the University of Bayreuth, in Germany.

 

Leo Igiwe

Critical thinking is one of the powers and abilities which we humans have, can exercise and apply in our daily lives. It enables us to identify gaps in our thinking, ideas and outlook. Critical mindedness is humankind’s most potent weapon against erroneous credulous notions and superstitions. It helps us to explore new frontiers of knowledge, explode myths, debunk claims, dispel mistaken ideas and beliefs that darken and destroy our society. Critical consciousness drives our curiousity and ability to generate new ideas, renew our society and enhance human enlightenment. Most importantly, critical thinking saves- and can save- lives. Many lives are lost or wasted due to dogma, blind faith and unreason. History is replete with instances of wars waged and killings perpetrated due to irrational beliefs. In fact, right now many people around the world suffer and die or are subjected to so much suffering due to fanatical creeds and mistaken notions of the world.

As Socrates once said, an unexamined life is not worth living. Critical thinking can propel us to examine and re-examine our lives. It shields us from the terror and trauma of worthless existence. We need to spread the Socratic wisdom around the world.

Recently, Papua New Guinea has been in the news. The report of the brutal killing of a 20-year-old woman Kepari Leniata, has outraged the world. But it was not the first time such killing had taken place in the country. There have been reports in the past of horrifying abuses, torture and murder of alleged witches in PNG. So the belief in witchcraft is strong in the country. Witch belief is taken seriously. Witch hunting persists across the nation. Clearly efforts to tackle the problem over the years have not been so effective. They have yielded the desired results. As a matter of urgency, we need to critically examine the belief in witchcraft and the notions associated with it. We need to identify the gaps in witch thinking, and highlights the absurdities therein. We need to publicise the gaps, the illogicalities and absurdities of witch mentality so as to weaken the grip of witch belief on the minds of the people. Witch burning is informed by certain beliefs about witches. And those beliefs are grounded on certain notions of the world. We need to identify these notions, and the grounds on which witch belief rests, and then shine the critical light on them. We need to shake the foundation of witch-based epistemology and cosmology.

We need to promote the critical evaluation of issues and encourage people to cultivate and apply the value in all areas of human endeavour. We need to spread the message of reason and make the logic of critical thought a permanent feature of the society.

First of all it is important to stress that the belief in sorcery is not peculiar to the people of PNG. Witch belief is found in most cultures of the world. It is not only in PNG that people burn witches. Witch burning is still taking place in many parts of Africa and Asia. For centuries witches were burnt at stake in Europe and in America. Drawing lessons from societies is important in putting the case of sorcery related murder in PNG in proper perspective.

The belief in sorcery is founded on the idea that some people have supernatural powers and that these supernatural powers can be used to perpetrate evil- cause death, diseases, accidents etc. Witches are believed to be those who can kill or harm others through magic. Hence in many communities, many people attribute their misfortune- death or disease- to the malevolent magic of sorcerers.

People embark on witch hunting to identify, smell out and eliminate these ‘enemies within’.

And now let’s critically look at this. Is there any evidence that some people have supernatural powers? What does supernatural power actually mean? How do we differentiate supernatural from natural powers? Is there any prove to demonstrate that people actually exercise their alleged supernatural powers for good or evil?

If actually there are people with supernatural powers to do anything, why do we need to set up institutions to educate our children, secure our streets, carter for the needy? Why do we need to set up factories and employ factory workers? Why do we have humanitarian organisations? Why do we have infrastructure? Many people believe that witches have the powers to flying around in the night? Then why do we have aircrafts? Won’t it be cheaper or easier to travel across the country and the world using spiritual means than by boarding planes, ships and trains?

It is true that people can inflict harm on others. People can kill or harm others using knives, matchetes, guns, stick or by lynching them. But where is the evidence that people can harm others using the supernatural means of sorcery? If we cannot explain how a particular harm is done or who did it, does that mean it is witchcraft, or that the harm is inflicted through supernatural means? And if some people can really inflict harm- death or disease on- others through sorcery why do people still employ gun, bullets and bombs to kill others? If witchcraft truly exists, there will be no physical arms; there will be no need for arms. There will be no market for arms.

Witches, not the police or soldiers will be employed by the state to protect and defend it.

In most cases, people invoke the belief in witchcraft to explain instances of death or illness. But death and diseases have natural explanations and do not need supernatural agencies to take place. The imputation of spiritual agency on human experiences is no longer necessary. Supernatural explanation of misfortunes like deaths or accidents is flawed, absurd or nonsensical.

For instance, Kepari Leniata was accused of killing a 6-year-old boy through sorcery. The boy reportedly died in a hospital. If one may ask, what does killing someone through sorcery mean? What is the evidence that anybody can be killed through this means? If a human being can be killed through sorcery, can an animal or an insect be killed through sorcery too? If yes, how many insects or animals did Kepari kill using her alleged magical powers? If no, why not? And again why is it that it is often women who are accused of sorcery related crimes and it is often men who constitute the witch hunting gang or the lynch mob?

To end the wave of sorcery related accusations, abuses and killing in Papua New Guinea, people need to rethink and re-examine their belief in sorcery, magic and supernatural powers. People should have the courage to probe and inquiry into sorcery related claims. Sorcery is a belief- mere belief, a make belief. Sorcery is a belief which people entertain due to fear and ignorance. It is a scapegoating mechanism used in occasions and under circumstances where people are looking for somebody to blame for their woes and ills. So we need to get people to begin to question and demand evidence for sorcery from those who make such accusations including those who claim there are supernatural powers or that they have supernatural powers. The burden of proof lies with the claimant, so it is with witchcraft or sorcery.