Tanzanian Witch Murders and more: Belief Has Real World Consequences

Detail of Witches feasting, featured in The History of Witches and Wizards (1720) — Source (Wellcome Library)

While recently exploring the beliefs surrounding the vampire rumors in Malawi, I ran across a Religion News Services (RNS) article on witch murders in Tanzania.

According to both researchers and human rights organizations, the victims of these witch killings are primarily elderly women. They are killed both by mobs and by their own family members. Typically, the murders spike when economic conditions are harsh. Belief that common misfortunes, such as a year of bad crops, too much or too little rain, are believed to be caused by a witch in their midst. If the witch is removed from the community, good fortune might be restored.

RNS reported that “About 93 percent of Tanzanians say they believe in witchcraft, according to a Pew Research Center report in 2012 — a higher percentage than those who say they believe in organized religion — and 60 percent of the country depends on witch doctors for treating ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft.”

Witch doctors are self-identified and have no special training; however they are often responsible for divining who the witch in the community is, and then violence will likely follow.

Katy Migiro, a writer for Reuters, says many of these killings may be explained as a land grab. Widowed women stand in the way of their children inheriting land owned by their fathers, so if a widowed woman is declared a witch, a killing may allow the children to inherit the land, explaining why some of the murders are carried out by an elderly woman’s own family.

The Tanzanian government, Tanzania human rights groups, and Tanzania based Christian churches condemn the murders, but they do continue, particularly in rural farming communities where lack of education, extreme poverty and a scarcity of land exist. Speaking out against the witch hunts is discouraged as it may indicate the dissenter is in fact a witch herself. (Men may also be declared witches but it is rare.) Some women are able to flee their villages and seek refuge with charities who support the elderly.

In addition to the witch killings, Tanzania witch doctors participate in the killing of albinos, whose body parts considered to be good luck charms. In March of 2015, 32 Tanzanian witch doctors were arrested on charges of sacrificial albino ritual killings. An albino’s body parts may fetch up to $75,000 US dollars.

The Tanzanian government placed a ban on witch doctors in 2015. Not all witch doctors participate in “witchcraft,” with some only practicing traditional medicine. However, witch killings have continued, with Africa News reporting that Tanzania witch killings claimed 479 lives from January – June 2017.

Unrelated to witchcraft but rather to cultural norms, the commissioner of Dar es Salaam announced a round-up of homosexuals who may face 30 years to life in prison. The commission asked the citizens of Tanzania to submit tips.

On November 6, 2018, Amnesty International reported that ten men had been arrested in Zanzibar on suspicion of being gay based on tips made to the police.

Amnesty International said, “The 10 men were arrested when police raided a party at Pongwe Beach, Zanzibar on Saturday night (3 November). Six others at the event fled.” Allegedly, the group was celebrating a same-sex marriage.

Amnesty International has established that the men were arrested for allegedly conducting a gay marriage, with police saying they found the men sitting in pairs “two by two”.

“It is mind-boggling that the mere act of sitting in a pair can assume criminal proportions. The police clearly have no grounds to file charges against these men in court, despite arresting them three days ago,” said Seif Magango.

In response, the US State Department issued the following statement on November 9, 2018.

The United States government is deeply concerned over escalating attacks and legislative actions by the Government of Tanzania that violate civil liberties and human rights, creating an atmosphere of violence, intimidation, and discrimination. We are troubled by the continued arrests and harassment of marginalized persons, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and others who seek to exercise their rights to freedom of speech, association and assembly. Legislation is being used to restrict civil liberties for all.

The deteriorating state of human rights and rule of law in Tanzania inhibits development, economic prosperity, peace, and security. We call on Tanzanian authorities to act decisively to safeguard the rights of civil society organizations, human rights defenders, journalists, health workers, political activists, and all people in accordance with the Tanzanian constitution, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the country’s international and regional obligations and commitments.

Vampires, Blood Suckers, Witchcraft, Resurrection and more in Malawi