Death penalty not a solution for sorcery killings: Dame Carol Kidu
~~By Canberra correspondent Karen Barlow, ABC
~~By Canberra correspondent Karen Barlow, ABC
Long-serving Papua New Guinea parliamentarian, Dame Carol Kidu, says the death penalty will not help solve the problem of sorcery-related violence in the country.
PNG's government last week voted to enforce the death penalty for a number of capital offences in an attempt to deal with the problem.
Dame Kidu has told Radio Australia's she is horrified by the recent sorcery-related killings in the country, which have mainly targeted women.
"There's a mass hysteria around it. What appears to be almost a reluctance of people to intervene, which would indicate that they also are afraid of sorcery and its implications," she said.
"Traditionally, in the few societies that I know about, whenever a sorcerer was killed, it was normally done by maybe a group of three people who would go out and kill them in the night in secrecy.
"It wasn't a public event ... that is completely new in the way that it's happening."
Dame Kidu says she is concerned about the impact public killings have on children in the communities.
"Children run to see the witch being burnt," she said.
"It's very worrying because that's their socialisation process, and that's why we have to find ways to counteract this as quickly as possible."
However, she believes re-introducing capital punishment is the wrong way to tackle violent crime.
"I, personally, do not support the death penalty as a solution to this, or as a solution to crime," she said.
"Global experience and research has shown it is not a solution to crime, and state-sanctioned killing does not, in my opinion, help bring us into a society for peace, prosperity, for the future.
"There is enormous scope for people being wrongfully killed because of the limited capacity for investigation in Papua New Guinea."
Dame Kidu is backed by human rights groups and the United Nations, which say any resumption of executions may affect PNG's international standing.
Dame Kidu believes in educating the public to recognise the killings as a crime.
"We've got to work in early childhood, too, in ensuring that we influence the educational processes into ... rejecting [their belief in sorcery] being manifested in this way," she said.
"This is wilful, premeditated murder and it has to be recognised as such."
Dame Kidu says it is also necessary to work on "transformative processes" to move the communities forward.
"I believe very strongly that we've got to introduce community conversations right throughout the country, and get communities taking control of these types of situations ... with very responsible structuring of the community conversations," she said.
Sorcery in PNG can be a force for good
A three-day conference addressing witchcraft and sorcery killings in Melanesia is taking place at Australia's National University in Canberra.
Jeffrey Buchanan from UN Women in PNG says there is concern that the death penalty may push sorcery and witchcraft related attacks back behind the veil of silence.
"I have concerns about woman who are raped that ... [it] may lead to their murder," he said.
"The perpetrator may think [about] the evidence and he will kill the woman ... there is evidence internationally that that has happened where there is the death penalty."
Sorcery and witchcraft are mostly seen as a negative force, but not all of the beliefs are bad for society.
PhD candidate Salmah Eva-Lina Lawrence from the female-focussed matrilineal society in Milne Bay Province says there are fewer cases of violence in the region and women hold great knowledge.
"On traditional method of contraception or how to control their fertility, of course, this allows women to control their bodies so they have an enormous amount of freedom in that respect," she said.
"So to talk about sorcery and witchcraft only having negative connotations it is completely untrue where I come from."
Dame Carol Kidu agrees sorcery can be a force for good and she even employed one during her political life when she lost her voice while campaigning.
"I had to find someone to lift the blockage that had been put on me," she said.
"So I found someone who mixes Catholicism and traditional sorcery and he mixes both together ... and the blockage got lifted.
"Obviously the blockage got better for some reason ... whether it was the man who assisted in lifting the blockage ... my campaign team and manager had said, 'you have got no choice, you have got to do it'."
The forum has already heard that the growing level of inequality is fuelling the increase in the number of attacks, especially in PNG's highlands where there are hundreds of incidents a year.
PNG's government last week voted to enforce the death penalty for a number of capital offences in an attempt to deal with the problem.
Dame Kidu has told Radio Australia's she is horrified by the recent sorcery-related killings in the country, which have mainly targeted women.
"There's a mass hysteria around it. What appears to be almost a reluctance of people to intervene, which would indicate that they also are afraid of sorcery and its implications," she said.
"Traditionally, in the few societies that I know about, whenever a sorcerer was killed, it was normally done by maybe a group of three people who would go out and kill them in the night in secrecy.
"It wasn't a public event ... that is completely new in the way that it's happening."
Dame Kidu says she is concerned about the impact public killings have on children in the communities.
"It's very worrying because that's their socialisation process, and that's why we have to find ways to counteract this as quickly as possible."
However, she believes re-introducing capital punishment is the wrong way to tackle violent crime.
"I, personally, do not support the death penalty as a solution to this, or as a solution to crime," she said.
"Global experience and research has shown it is not a solution to crime, and state-sanctioned killing does not, in my opinion, help bring us into a society for peace, prosperity, for the future.
"There is enormous scope for people being wrongfully killed because of the limited capacity for investigation in Papua New Guinea."
Dame Kidu is backed by human rights groups and the United Nations, which say any resumption of executions may affect PNG's international standing.
Dame Kidu believes in educating the public to recognise the killings as a crime.
"We've got to work in early childhood, too, in ensuring that we influence the educational processes into ... rejecting [their belief in sorcery] being manifested in this way," she said.
"This is wilful, premeditated murder and it has to be recognised as such."
Dame Kidu says it is also necessary to work on "transformative processes" to move the communities forward.
"I believe very strongly that we've got to introduce community conversations right throughout the country, and get communities taking control of these types of situations ... with very responsible structuring of the community conversations," she said.
Sorcery in PNG can be a force for good
A three-day conference addressing witchcraft and sorcery killings in Melanesia is taking place at Australia's National University in Canberra.
Jeffrey Buchanan from UN Women in PNG says there is concern that the death penalty may push sorcery and witchcraft related attacks back behind the veil of silence.
"I have concerns about woman who are raped that ... [it] may lead to their murder," he said.
"The perpetrator may think [about] the evidence and he will kill the woman ... there is evidence internationally that that has happened where there is the death penalty."
Sorcery and witchcraft are mostly seen as a negative force, but not all of the beliefs are bad for society.
PhD candidate Salmah Eva-Lina Lawrence from the female-focussed matrilineal society in Milne Bay Province says there are fewer cases of violence in the region and women hold great knowledge.
"On traditional method of contraception or how to control their fertility, of course, this allows women to control their bodies so they have an enormous amount of freedom in that respect," she said.
"So to talk about sorcery and witchcraft only having negative connotations it is completely untrue where I come from."
Dame Carol Kidu agrees sorcery can be a force for good and she even employed one during her political life when she lost her voice while campaigning.
"I had to find someone to lift the blockage that had been put on me," she said.
"So I found someone who mixes Catholicism and traditional sorcery and he mixes both together ... and the blockage got lifted.
"Obviously the blockage got better for some reason ... whether it was the man who assisted in lifting the blockage ... my campaign team and manager had said, 'you have got no choice, you have got to do it'."
The forum has already heard that the growing level of inequality is fuelling the increase in the number of attacks, especially in PNG's highlands where there are hundreds of incidents a year.
Courtesy: Yahoo.com
