Gambians Reveal Horrors of 'Witchcraft' Purge - by Nampa-AFP
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MAKUMBAYA - Victims of a purge on witchcraft in the secretive west African state of Gambia have told of horrific ordeals including rape after being force-fed potions inducing hallucinations.
According to Amnesty International and anonymous police sources in Gambia, as many as 1Â 000 people have been kidnapped and held by so-called witch hunters backed by armed men carrying out orders from the Gambian authorities.
There are reports that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh blames witchcraft for the death of an aunt earlier this year, and villagers have now told how the idyll of their traditional life was shattered last week.
"We were arrested on Monday in our village by armed men accompanied by so-called witch hunters and taken to Kololi," a 63-year-old man told AFP in Makumbaya, a collection of rundown huts and houses some 50 kilometres from the capital Banjul.
"We were forced to drink concoctions and after drinking the liquid that night, most of us who were abducted fell down and went into trance and did not know what was happening," added the man, who asked not to be identified.
Visibly weak, he was held for five days and later released, none the wiser as to why he was targeted.
Witnesses and victims said instructions to cure sick minds by inducing trance-like states were used as cover for rape.
"I personally saw three women who were undressed by the witch hunters and raped by them at a time when they were unconscious," the villager told AFP.
A 34-year-old market vendor from the same village angrily recounted her own ordeal.
"I was raped by a very young man during the second day of my detention," she said, close to tears.
"While I was in detention, this young man who was so rude asked me to take a bath and while I was taking the bath, he stood and watched me.
"When I went to the toilet, he would insist that he accompany me. One of these times, he wrestled me to the ground and raped me, with force," the woman told AFP.
Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, has been ruled by Jammeh since he grabbed power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
In recent years it has come increasingly under fire over its poor human rights record.
Jammeh's opponents, real and perceived, also find themselves subjected to daily rights violations including torture and unlawful arrests, human rights organisations say.
In Makumbaya, many residents did not want to speak to journalists for fear of reprisals.
The Gambian media, which is under heavy government scrutiny, has barely mentioned the witch-hunt.
Only the opposition weekly Foroyaa reported the Makumbaya abductions.
Its political editor Halifa Sallah, who is also the leader of Gambia's biggest opposition party, was arrested March 9 on charges of spying and seditious acts for reporting about the events in Makumbaya.
Charges against him were dropped last week.
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According to Amnesty International and anonymous police sources in Gambia, as many as 1Â 000 people have been kidnapped and held by so-called witch hunters backed by armed men carrying out orders from the Gambian authorities.
There are reports that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh blames witchcraft for the death of an aunt earlier this year, and villagers have now told how the idyll of their traditional life was shattered last week.
"We were arrested on Monday in our village by armed men accompanied by so-called witch hunters and taken to Kololi," a 63-year-old man told AFP in Makumbaya, a collection of rundown huts and houses some 50 kilometres from the capital Banjul.
"We were forced to drink concoctions and after drinking the liquid that night, most of us who were abducted fell down and went into trance and did not know what was happening," added the man, who asked not to be identified.
Visibly weak, he was held for five days and later released, none the wiser as to why he was targeted.
Witnesses and victims said instructions to cure sick minds by inducing trance-like states were used as cover for rape.
"I personally saw three women who were undressed by the witch hunters and raped by them at a time when they were unconscious," the villager told AFP.
A 34-year-old market vendor from the same village angrily recounted her own ordeal.
"I was raped by a very young man during the second day of my detention," she said, close to tears.
"While I was in detention, this young man who was so rude asked me to take a bath and while I was taking the bath, he stood and watched me.
"When I went to the toilet, he would insist that he accompany me. One of these times, he wrestled me to the ground and raped me, with force," the woman told AFP.
Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, has been ruled by Jammeh since he grabbed power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
In recent years it has come increasingly under fire over its poor human rights record.
Jammeh's opponents, real and perceived, also find themselves subjected to daily rights violations including torture and unlawful arrests, human rights organisations say.
In Makumbaya, many residents did not want to speak to journalists for fear of reprisals.
The Gambian media, which is under heavy government scrutiny, has barely mentioned the witch-hunt.
Only the opposition weekly Foroyaa reported the Makumbaya abductions.
Its political editor Halifa Sallah, who is also the leader of Gambia's biggest opposition party, was arrested March 9 on charges of spying and seditious acts for reporting about the events in Makumbaya.
Charges against him were dropped last week.
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