WITCH HUNTS AND GANG VIOLENCE IN HAITI

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches is outraged over the brutal killing of at least 110 people accused of witchcraft in Haiti. According to the report, they targeted and murdered these people after the son of a gang leader fell ill and later passed away. As usually the case, the gang leader suspected that the death was not natural; that it was mysterious. He consulted a ‘voodoo’ priest who confirmed his suspicion, blaming those practicing witchcraft for the death. In response, gang members abducted people over 60 years, shot or stabbed them to death. The report says that they burnt the bodies of some of the victims.

Unfortunately, gang violence in Haiti has taken this dimension; it has degenerated into witch-hunting, putting at risk vulnerable members of the population. 

This tragic incident illustrates the potency of a narrative that associates witchcraft with elderly persons in many parts of the world, especially in African and African diaspora communities. Old people are scapegoated and targeted as witches in communities following any suspected mysterious misfortune. This mistaken narrative, often enabled by priests and other religious actors, has persisted because of the socialization of people that sanctifies a misconception of the cause of death and illness. Witchcraft narratives have endured due to a reluctance to call out irrational beliefs and highlight witchcraft-based explanations as forms of superstition. As in this case, witch-hunting is perpetrated, and alleged witches are abducted and killed without consequences. 

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches calls for an end to gang violence and the culture of impunity in Haiti. Killing innocent people in the name of witchcraft is a serious crime; it is a form of crime against humanity. The AfAW urges the international community to take measures to bring Monel Felix, who reportedly ordered the killing, the voodoo priest, and other gang members to justice. All witch hunters, finders, and certifiers should be held accountable and made to answer for their crimes. There should be no haven for them.

In addition, there should be a public education campaign to enlighten and reason the people of Haiti out of the mistaken notion that attributes illness and death to witchcraft. The people of Haiti should realize that nobody harms or can harm another person using witchcraft, as popularly believed. That witchcraft belief is based on fear and ignorance. 

Skeptics, humanists, and critical thinkers should step forward and lead the intellectual awakening and enlightenment of Haitians. They should not resign to this horrific development, thinking that witch-hunting is a part of the culture of Haiti. It is not. Critical thinkers should rise to the challenge of reorienting the people and ensuring an end to witch-hunting in the country. As in every country, there are skeptics and humanists in Haiti. Many Haitians are against witch-hunting, but they need some international support to come out and speak out strongly against this mindless violence. People of reason and conscience beyond Haiti should explore ways to help, support, and amplify skeptical voices in Haiti. Ending witch hunts should constitute a part of the efforts to end gang violence and restore the rule of law in Haiti.

Meanwhile, the AfAW urges Haitians to abandon the superstitious belief in witchcraft and embrace science and critical thinking.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches