Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Evil thrives when 'good' people do nothing

Evil thrives when ‘good’ people choose to be quiet

I was recently confronted by the plight of a young Iranian Christian woman who was refused permission to stay in the Netherlands by the Netherlands Immigration authorities. Having been a victim of oppression and a refugee myself I reflected on what this means for me as someone with a Netherlands nationality.

We live a world marked by serious economic inequalities, ruthless and irresponsible pursuit of personal gain, sexual abuse, political oppression, armed conflict, psychological abuse, violence, pollution, ecological disasters and so on. In such an unsafe world we seek to protect our fragile cultural and national identities in our collective pursuit for peace, harmony and happiness. Unfortunately we often do so to the exclusion of others who have a different cultural, social or national background. Many rich European nations therefore make it very hard for poor citizens of other nations to settle in Europe.

The legitimate desire to protect our collective interest often results in human rights abuses. Of course when we send oppressed minorities back to their home countries such as Christian Iranians back to the religiously oppressive Islamist context of Iran, or Zimbabwean democrats back to the politically oppressive context of Zimbabwe we do so in agreement with the national, international laws we largely designed ourselves. However, we must be aware that there is a world of difference between morality and legality. Not every law we have designed is morally just and not every application of the law is morally justifiable in the light of the moral values and ethical assumptions behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.(1)

We have a moral obligation in our collective pursuit of happiness not to inflict harm on those coming from a different culture and national background. After all as a society we have agreed to ratify this declaration which includes:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.”

And

“Everyone is entitled to a social and international order which protects the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration.” (2)

This is not just a matter of refraining from unjust exploitation of the natural resources, and the siphoning of the wealth of economically and politically weaker nations as is currently done by many powerful nations.(3)Though we certainly bear a collective responsibility to protest against, and stop this injustice inflicted by our societies and companies on weaker nations as they are actively and wrongly harmed by a system of global political and economic arrangements that is disproportionately shaped by and for the benefit of wealthy Western societies. (4)

In the same way we have a moral obligation to ensure that the same human rights are accorded to refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants who have come to us for help. Not only if we have a historical responsibility due to our colonial past, or because we have contributed to their current woes by means of neo-colonial exploitation. Regardless of what our historical or contemporary involvement has been in exploiting weaker nations, it is also morally unjustifiable to send back Iranian Christians to an oppressive Islamist context, or Zimbabwean democrats to an oppressive political context, or a Saudi Arabian feminist activist back to an oppressive sexist context. We must not allow our governments to hide behind terms of ‘illegal’ migrants because in a democracy we collectively are the law-makers and if the law is unjust, or its application is unjust and violates the moral principles behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we must hold government and all those involved accountable lest we become ‘not so innocent’ bystanders and condemn others to a live of oppression and abuse if not death. Or we can say as many Germans did after the horrors of the NAZI death camps ‘we didnt’ know’ but the indifferent masses cannot claim innocence as their silence perpetuates the context in which the abuse can happen.(5)

(1) Thomas Pogge 2007. Recognized and Violated by International Law: The Human Rights of the Global Poor: p. 2. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/poverty/expert/docs/Thomas_Pogge_new.pdf (Revised version of article originally published in Leiden Journal of International Law 18/4 (2005), 717–745).

(2) Thomas Pogge 2012. Poverty, Human Rights and the Global Order: Framing the Post-2015 agenda. CROP.

(3) Project at Yale Led by Professor Thomas Pogge, the Global Justice Program at Yale is an interdisciplinary group that works on the assessment and reform of global institutional arrangements. http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/globaljustice/DirtyMoney.html

(4) Thomas Pogge: World Poverty and Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2002.

(5) Hannah Arendt, The origins of totalitarianism (San Diego: Harcourt, 1951), 305-307.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Presentation at Maastricht University in the Course Global justice and Human Rights

Are Pogge’s and Singer’s approaches to Global Justice and Human Rights mutually exclusive?

1. Introduction

1.1 Problem statement

In this presentation I am looking at whether Pogge’s and Singer’s approaches to Global Justice and Human Rights should be understood as mutually exclusive or whether some form of integrated approach is possible drawing on the work of both scholars.

1.2 Limitations

At the onset I must state that this presentation reflects a very limited study of the literature by Pogge and Singer and therefore my evaluation and conclusion are preliminary and incomplete and only provide an indication of what could be possible.
In discussing Singer and Pogge I mainly refer to the issue of world poverty and hunger but this is simply to illustrate the differences between the two approaches and not because I consider other issues in Global Justice and Human Rights as less important.

1.3 Disclosure of personal bias

Let me also indicate what my biases are in as far as I am aware of them. First of all I am committed to a Christian worldview which for me is not so much a matter of organised religion but a matter of adopting a lifestyle and approaching all issues in life from the perspective of love for oneself and one’s fellowman.
Love in this sense does not refer to a feeling but to a way of life whereby you try treat others in the way you would like to be treated. Practically this means to pursue personal happiness and what is good for myself while at the same time seeking to contribute to what is good for other people and to their happiness. I realise that in praxis this brings me close to the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill although my underlying faith in the existence of God as the source for my moral beliefs brings me closer to Emmanuel Kant.


2. A brief overview of Pogge’s and Singer’s approaches to Global Justice and Human rights

I now would like to describe briefly the two approaches of Singer and Pogge to the issue of Global Justice and Human Rights.

2.1 A brief overview of Singer’s approach to Global Justice and Human Rights

2.1.1 Peter Singer’s utilitarian ethic

Peter Singer is an Australian Jewish philosopher and a utilitarian ethicist who is currently professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Utilitarianism in this sense being the proper course of action is the one that maximizes overall "happiness". It is a form of consequentialism whereby something is morally right if it will produce a good outcome, or consequence, if it does not then it is morally wrong . The preferred outcome or consequence in theory being happiness for all, but in praxis it means for as many human beings as possible.
In his essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality", Singer applies his utilitarian ethic to the question of world hunger and poverty and concludes that “suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad.” They are bad because they cause unhappiness on a gigantic scale. It follows therefore, that if some people living in abundance while many others starve this is morally indefensible from a utilitarian point of view.

It then follows logically that anyone who had the resources to help the poor has the moral responsibility, the duty, to donate at least part of their income to aid poverty relief and similar efforts.
It is from this perspective that Singer states that it is morally imperative for citizens of developed countries to give more to charitable causes that help the poor. The fact that we live near or far from people does not change our moral obligation nor does the fact that our own individual impact on world poverty in any way diminish our obligation to do about it what is in our power to do.
In discussing starvation Peter Singer builds his conclusion on the following premises:

P1. If we can prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, then we ought to do so.

P. 2 Death by starvation is bad.

P. 3 We can prevent many people from dying of starvation by sacrificing our luxuries, which are not as important.

His conclusion:

C1: We ought to prevent people from dying of starvation by sacrificing our luxuries.

2.1.2 Other considerations concerning Singer’s approach

Some people have pointed out that Singer’s reasoning while very logical at the same time comes across as too demanding. But we must not misunderstand or misrepresent him: He actually does not ask us to sacrifice so much of our comforts that we become unhappy ourselves. He does not mean that the poor should become happy at the expense of our happiness. Singer simply wants to us to give more so that more people enjoy happiness in the world. He also points at various studies which have demonstrated that when people give to others they experience more happiness. In order words we do not just give to make others happy, it also makes us more happy.
It can be easily understood how this must appeal to the utilitarian: Happiness galore!!!

Singer does admit that this principle entails radical conclusions—for example, that affluent people are very immoral if they do not give up some luxury goods to donate the money for famine relief. In line with his ethic Singer says that we ought to give where our money does the most good, in other words where our donation contributes to the most happiness. Finally, Singer himself does not only theorise about this but puts his belief into practice by donating 25 percent of his salary to international relief agencies such as Oxfam.

2.2 A brief overview of Pogge’s approach to Global Justice and Human Rights
Thomas Pogge is a German philosopher and is currently Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs as well as Adjunct Professor of Law at Yale University. Thomas Pogge stands in the tradition of Emmanuel Kant, John Rawls and others who believe that there are guiding universal principles, pre-existing moral principles many of which are reflected in the universal declaration of Human Rights. Where Singer starts with morality and ethics from the perspective that whether something is moral depends on its consequences whether it contributes to the greater good of maximizing happiness for as many people as possible, Pogge takes the position that moral principles already pre-exist.

2.2.1 Thomas Pogge and Global Justice

When it comes to the issue of Global Justice and Human Rights, Pogge takes a human rights approach and focuses in particular on Articles 25 and 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which state:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.”

And

“Everyone is entitled to a social and international order which protects the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration.”

However, his concern is not so much international law but rather the assumed universal morality which inspired the UDHR. Pogge’s approach is therefore not so a legal approach as that it is a moral approach. He stresses the widespread recognition of moral human rights is important as it forms the basis from which an independent critical assessment is possible of existing international law.

Interpreting article 28 in the light of article 25 of the UDHR Pogge concludes that any institutional design is to be assessed and reformed principally by reference to its relative impact on the realization of the human rights of those on whom it is imposed as compared to conceivable alternative designs.

From this in the follows that an institutional order and its imposition are human-rights-violating if and insofar as this order foresee-ably gives rise to a substantial and avoidable human rights deficit.

2.2.2 Evaluating current global institutional world order

Pogge has evaluated the current global institutional world order represented by agencies such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO and has come to the conclusion that the current order is actually violating the human rights of the poor as in they are becoming poorer and more marginalised.

He argues that it is probably the largest human rights violation ever committed in human history. He admits that those who commit it do not intend the death and suffering they inflict either as an end or as a means but their wilful indifference to the enormous harms they cause in the course of advancing their own ends while going to great lengths to deceive the world (and sometimes themselves) about the impact of their conduct.

2.2.3 Examples of how the current global institutional world order is flawed

2.2.3.1 Misrepresentation of figures and interpretation by the World Bank

Pogge in a book which is about to be published this year demonstrates how the world bank has been shifting goalposts, and has been playing around with numbers in creative accounting, so that it looks like global poverty is decreasing when in fact it is not. In the media they portray as if the millennium goals are being met while in fact inequality and the plight of the worlds poorest is worsening.

2.2.3.2 Two additional illustrations

Besides the dissemination of misinformation and falsehood at a global level Pogge gives various other examples how the current institutional world order harms the poor of which I just want to highlight two:

2.2.3.2.1 Local corruption is facilitated and exacerbated by global institutions

The world’s global institutions facilitate and exacerbate corruption perpetuated by national institutions. Pogge is especially critical of the “resource” and “borrowing” privileges which allow illegitimate political leaders to sell natural resources and to borrow money in the name of the country and its people. In the long term the ordinary citizens suffer as their governments sooner or later have to pay back these debts with interest on top which means less funds are available for education, health and development.

2.2.3.2.2 Global institutions allow the unrestricted flow of illegal money

According to Pogge Global institutions are turning a blind eye, if not facilitating the unrestricted flow of illegal money from the developing world to the developed nations of the world.

The figures are staggering:

Every year, $1 trillion is spirited out of developing countries through corruption, smuggling, money laundering, and corporate tax evasion. These illicit financial flows out of developing countries dwarf the flow of development assistance going in. Illicit financial flows removed $10 for every dollar spent on overall development aid, and $80 for every dollar spent on basic social services.

Multi-national corporations

This flow of money does not just refer to funds transferred by corrupt dictators into bank accounts in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands but also refers to profits illegally transferred by multi-national companies so that they avoid paying revenues and taxes in the developing countries where they operate.

The current global economic and financial system allows these injustices to happen and actually maintains an unequal and unjust global environment where such things can happen. The world’s poor are not merely suffering because we are doing too little to help. They are being actively and wrongly harmed by a system of global political and economic arrangements that is disproportionately shaped by and for the benefit of wealthy Western societies.

2.3 Pogge and other forms of interventions on behalf of the poor
Pogge is not opposed to individual or collective action to alleviate the burden of the poor by means of charity and relief work. His point is that this may have little effect in the long-term if the global institutional side of things is not addressed:

It makes little sense to pour in development dollars and lots of energy into charity and relief work if the global system is so flawed that for every dollar given in development, 10 dollars disappear.

The long-term solution according to Pogge is to call for institutional reform of the global institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO and the like so that they will no longer foster inequality and the trampling of the rights of the poor but can be harnassed to promote pro-poor policies, genuine equality and address global human rights violations instead of facilitating them.

HOW CAN THI BE ACHIEVED?

How this can be achieved practically is best expressed in Pogge’s words:

This will require international collaboration among experts, practitioners and the media. Academics can foster such collaboration by working together across academic disciplines toward building a common understanding of the world poverty problem and a common methodology for tracking its dimensions and for assessing the prospects and actual results of new policies and reforms.

Pogge himself takes a leading role in promoting institutional reform as heads of the Global Justice Program at Yale University; an interdisciplinary group that works on the assessment and reform of global institutional arrangements.

3. Evaluation

3.1 Discussion of agreements and disagreements between Pogge and Singer’s approach

From my brief descriptions of the approaches to global justice by both Singer and Pogge I think it may have become clear that both are very concerned about world hunger and poverty in the world but have very different starting points. For Singer morality is closely related to happiness and avoiding harm while for Pogge morality is a matter of conformity with pre-existing universal moral values such as the concept of human dignity. Also Singer emphasizes the duty of the individual to give more and do more to alleviate human poverty and suffering while Pogge emphasizes the need for global institutional reform to address these issues.

3.1.1 Criticism levelled at Singer

Critics of Singer have pointed out that his approach appears too demanding to the individual and as such may have little impact in encouraging them to give. Other’s suggest that Singer's “solution” to world poverty is simply a means whereby an individual can pay for the privilege of having a clear conscience, rather than a meaningful strategem for relieving poverty, and that those who follow Singer's arguments are simply adopting the ethic of anyone who believes that they can buy, with a mixture of guilt and cash, an exemption from the responsibility to focus their intellect and effort to more effective and lasting solutions.” In other words it provides an easy and lazy way out put does not provide lasting solutions.
However, Singer nowhere says that individual action is the only way to address the issue of world poverty and hunger, he would probably agree that collective action is also very important as well as global institutional reform are equally morally important if this will bring the greatest amount of happiness.

3.1.2 Criticism levelled at Pogge

When it comes to Thomas Pogge, several critics point out that institutional reform is a good long-term strategy but should not be the only strategy. Even if the WB, IMF, WTO are reformed, even if the ICC and similar institutions are democratized and harnassed in the fight against world poverty and hunger, we still have the problem of the elite’s in developing countries whose interests are so entrenched locally, even within their legal systems, that they will continue to get the lion share of available resources.

Other objections raised include that Thomas Pogge’s long-term strategy could actually take a very long time as it needs extensive international support and political willingness which is not easy to achieve.

Others argue that Pogge’s approach needs to be complemented with other approaches. Instead of just looking at the negative duty of global institutions to refrain from global injustice and human rights violations these must be complemented with positive duties such as fostering global solidarity as in the world social forum as well as individual and collective action for immediate relief and mitigation.

However, in none of his writings does Pogge object to complementary approaches, he simply points at the global economic and social world order and the major role of global institutions and says that change at that level is essential for a long term solution. It does not necessarily follow that Pogge is at the same time opposed to short-term interventions.

3.2 Pogge meets Singer

It is in short-term intervention that Pogge and Singer stand side by side. Both are both prominent members of the “Giving what you can” society who have pledged to contribute at least 10% of their income to charitable organizations such as Oxfam to where they think it will do the most to eliminate poverty in the developing world.
However, even when it comes to global institutional reform Singer would probably agree that global institutional reform is necessary if this has the potential to bring long term happiness for many more people in the world than is the case in the present world order.

4. Conclusion

Now at the end of this presentation I want to come back to my opening question:
Are Pogge’s and Singer’s approaches to Global Justice and Human Rights mutually exclusive?

My answer is no, they are not mutually exclusive. It is not a matter of ‘either-or’, but a matter of ‘both-and’, they complement each other.

Let end with illustrating this from a more personal angle:

Imagine a woman with a starving baby on her back knocks at my door in Malawi asking for some food so she can feed her child. I cannot send her away empty-handed and tell her: “don’t worry my dear, we are busy campaigning for global institutional reform so that in the future you will no longer have to face this problem.” Such an answer would not only be ridiculous and totally incomprehensible for the woman, it would actually be immoral. I therefore would stress that we have an individual duty to alleviate human suffering as well as a collective and global responsibility.
Thank you.


-------------------------
Sources used (not all):

Singer, Peter. "Famine, Affluence, and Morality." Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1972: 229-243.
Thomas Pogge. “Poverty, Human Rights and the Global Order: Framing the Post-2015 Agenda,” forthcoming in Malcolm Langford, Andy Sumner and Alice Yamin, eds.: MDGs and Human Rights: Past, Present and Future (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012).
Thomas Pogge. Recognized and Violated by International Law:
The Human Rights of the Global Poor
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/poverty/expert/docs/Thomas_Pogge_new.pdf is revised version of article originally published in Leiden Journal of International Law 18/4 (2005), 717–745
Thomas Pogge, Poverty and Human Rights “Poverty and Human Rights” (2007), Expert Comment for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; reprinted in Manoj Kumar Pattanaik, ed.: Human Rights and Intellectual Property (Hyderabad: ICFAI University Press 2008), 95–102. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/poverty/expert/docs/Thomas_Pogge_Summary.pdf
Thomas Pogge: World Poverty and Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2002.
Thomas Pogge 2012. Global Justice Program. Yale University: http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/globaljustice/index.html



Saturday, April 28, 2012


The Daily Times of Malawi published a full page report of the work we are doing among the witch children of Malawi. It is our hope and prayer that others will be inspired by our initiatives and encouraged to take positive action.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Anonymous: Thank you for your efforts to educate us Malawians on the dangers of accusing each other of witchcraft specially our children. In our village several children were burned so they would confess that they were practicing witchcraft. After confession they were taken to the chief and beaten up badly. Afterwards they were 'healed' by the witchdoctor and their families were made to pay his fees. These were the lucky ones, others have been chased away and have become streetkids or prostitutes and those who were very young died of exposure and hardship. Some have been killed by the community through hanging on a tree and it was reported as suicide.

These and other harrowing stories were told as our researchers interviewed people all over Malawi's Southern Region concerning witchcraft related beliefs and practices which affect children. Of the respondents 80% firmly believed in witchcraft and 74% believed even young children can be witches. While most of them suggested counseling and exorcism for these children a small but vocal group calls for stiff punishments, beatings and even death. For the elderly who are accused of having instructed the children in witchcraft there is far less sympathy with 18% of the respondents calling for banishment and 15% preferring execution.
As witchcraft accusations against children and the elderly are on the rise there is need to promote a change of mindset in Malawi and consequently we have agreed to extend the nation wide media campaign until the end of 2012 and continue to teach church and community leaders about constructively addressing these issues in regional seminars in Southern Malawi.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Malawi anti-witchhunt campaign update

The anti-witchhunt campaign in Malawi is slowly gaining momentum as we have joined hands with Civil Liberties Committee, The Crusade for Community Transformation, Word and Deed and even the association for secular humanism in addressing this scourge. A weekly radio advert is being aired conscientizing the nation concerning the witchcraft act and why witch-hunting is detrimental for society. An article was published in the national newspaper highlighting a Christian responsible response to witch hunting and yesterday and today 3 different media houses did radio interviews and a newspaper reporter wrote an article concerning the problem of witch hunting orphans, the disabled and the elderly.

Besides the safehouse for girls, the safehouse for boys accused of witchcraft is now well established and recognised by the Blantyre department of social welfare.


Monday, January 2, 2012

Report on Child Sacrifice in Uganda and the Church

Child Sacrifice and the Response of the Church in Uganda

30 December 2011

Introduction

The issue of child sacrifice in Uganda has been highlighted in the media over the past three years with ABC and BBC producing compelling documentaries. Also journalists for various media houses wrote about the issue. The media attention coincided with media campaigns by local Ugandan NGOs such as RACHO and ANPPCAN as well as faith based organisations such as Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM). An undercover BBC investigation made with the help of KCM shows witch doctors explaining how they can sacrifice a child and that they have done it many times before. These and other reports have put the government of Uganda under pressure and has resulted in the formation of an official government taskforce to deal with this evil in Ugandan society. Unfortunately, the taskforce consists of only one officer with a motorcycle and works without a proper budget. It appears that the gesture of the Ugandan government is more a matter of window dressing to avert local and international criticism than a genuine attempt to root out this evil.

Origins of Child Sacrifice

Human sacrifice is a common phenomenon in Sub-Sahara Africa (Akosah-Sarpong 2007; Kante 2004; Igwe 2010) as it is believed that human body parts have magical proportions, particularly the ‘life-giving’ genitals, the ‘life-sustaining’ blood, but also the heart and other body parts. Amulets, charms or traditional medicine made with such body parts are believed to make the wearer victorious in battle, provide protection against evil spirits or bad magic and/or provide health, long-life and prosperity. These beliefs are not uniform and among different tribes one may find different preferences such as the preference for albino body parts in Tanzania, Pygmee body parts in East-Congo and so on. Nevertheless, while such practices are reported throughout Sub-Sahara Africa in Uganda it has reached epidemic proportions. A scenario which given the right circumstances may be repeated in other parts of Africa as well.
While the media has been using the term child sacrifice, a better term would have been child ritual mutilations and child ritual killings. The term sacrifice suggests that a sacrifice is made to a spirit or deity which in most instances is not the case. People are ritually killed because of the belief that their body parts can provide protection, success, power, health and wealth. One could, however, argue that people are sacrificed to satisfy human greed and selfishness.

The Ugandan Context

Until a few years ago ritual killings happened occasionally in Uganda just as it does in many African countries and consequently the issue did not get much publicity. In recent years the gruesome discoveries of scores of mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at roadsides, the victims of a growing belief in the power of human sacrifice. Particularly communities that surround Uganda's capital, Kampala, have been affected and are gripped by fear. On the roadside are posters warning children of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.
A study of the Ugandan context shows great disparity between the rich elite and the average Ugandan who struggles to make ends meet. It is almost impossible for someone born in a poor family to climb up on the social ladder. The gap between the rich and the poor combined with discontent with the political status quo, endemic corruption and general feeling that the country has lost direction breeds a lot of discontent and frustration. It is in such an environment that any religion promising health, wealth and success thrives. Evidence of this abounds with the one charismatic church promising even more blessing than the other and all kinds of miracles, anointing and other spiritual quick fixes to the shared problems of poverty, ill health and lack of success in life. If the miracles fail the pastor, prophet or apostle is quick to point out that the power of the devil, demons and evil spirits are preventing the miracles from happening through curses, bewitchment and other such spiritual evils. The witchdoctors operate in a similar religious environment and are quick to attribute misfortune, poverty and illness to the work of malicious spirits who need to be appeased in order for someone to obtain health, wealth, success and prosperity. Just as some of his unscrupulous ‘Pentecostal’ counterpart , the witch doctor thrives as desperate people turn to him for a miraculous way to bridge the gap from have-not to have, from failure to success and from poverty to wealth. However, his means are way more violent and damaging than the methods employed by the prosperity preachers.

In a context where a small elite has become rich in a relatively short time during Uganda’s economic boom or enriched themselves using political patronage the witchdoctors of Uganda claim that they have aided many of the nouveau riche to gain their wealth. Such claims are likely not true at all but once such rumours are circulating they advertise the witch doctors’ skill. Some witch doctors even advertise openly in the media. Some of the poor driven by desire for wealth, health and success and looking for a quick way to achieve this may use their last resources to consult the witchdoctor. The witchdoctor in turn charges a fee and consults the spirits who via him communicate what kind of sacrifice of appeasement they want. Often these sacrifices comprise of chickens and goats but when such sacrifices fail to make the client prosper instantly ‘the spirits’ demand human sacrifices. The witchdoctor himself may believe that this is indeed a powerful magical ritual but in some cases the aim is to give the client an impossible task so that the witchdoctor does not appear to have failed. In other cases the witchdoctor actually gains a lot of wealth by facilitating and carrying out human sacrifices as the fee charged is normally very high. Young children are often the victim because they are relatively easy to abduct. The desire for instant wealth on the part of the client and greed on the part of the witchdoctor has created a ready market for children to be bought and sold at a price. They have indeed become a commodity of exchange, child sacrifice has become a commercial business (Rogers 2011).


Fact finding trip

The author of this report was requested by Across Outreach to go on a fact finding mission to Uganda. This fact-finding mission was a response to reports from Pastor John Richard Mubiru of one of the local Pentecostal churches Amen and Amen ministries that the problem of child sacrifice is a very serious issue in Uganda which is insufficiently addressed. The mission took place from 11 December to 20 December and included a consultation on the topic of child sacrifice organised for heads of Christian denominations and other church leaders. Prior to the trip I extensively reviewed all I managed to find related to child sacrifice on the internet and as a result came in contact with Peter Sewakiryanga of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries. They have been campaigning against child sacrifice in Uganda for several years and are taking care of some child survivors of ritual mutilation. I have also contacted organisations who had been involved in addressing the evil of child sacrifice in the past such as RACHO and ANPPCAN Uganda.

Besides meeting representatives of KCM, I also met with Anselm Wandega, the programme manager for ANPPCAN Uganda but I was unable to meet with representatives of RACHO due to a communication breakdown. Whereas KCM was still very active in addressing the issue of child sacrifice, ANPPCAN who were very active in 2009/2010 were now mainly focused on other child rights issues. However, Anselm Wandega expressed a desire to rekindle the campaign against child sacrifice in collaboration with the local churches.

Research

In the course of 10 days I met with various church leaders, former witchdoctors, academics, students and people from different walks of life and obtained a lot of information using semi-structured interviews with 30 people and informal unstructured interviews with another 22 persons.

Although all interviews took place in Kampala, the respondents came from various regions in Uganda. All respondents agreed that child sacrifice and child ritual killing was still a serious problem in their region and district in Uganda but that it appears to be the worst in and around Kampala. All respondent bemoaned the fact that there is little political will to root out the problem and deal with witchdoctors and their clients in a manner that would frighten off would be offenders. All respondents were convinced that police, the judiciary as well as other officials were easily bribed by witchdoctors and their clients to drop prosecution against those who committed ritual killings or mutilations. The majority of the respondent felt the church did not do enough to address the evil of child sacrifice and only a few were able to name an NGO or activist who was active in addressing this matter. I also met with some surviving victims of ritual mutilation, an experience that brought home the severity of the issue.

Consultation with church leaders

As about 80% of the Ugandans are affiliated with a Christian church it is important that the church is mobilised to address the issue of child sacrifice. With this in mind I organised a consultation with the help of my host, pastor John Richard Mubiru, and met with 15 church leaders at Namirembe Guesthouse in Kampala to discuss the problem of child sacrifice. Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga and Karen Lewis of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries showed part of the investigative documentary they made about child sacrifice together with the BBC. This compelling documentary, partly made undercover, is a very good introduction to the issue and led to a lot of discussion. The final outcome of the consultation was that an interdenominational ecumenical church taskforce should be formed to guide the church in addressing this evil in Uganda and to pressurise the government to take more action. The taskforce will be formed by Peter Sewakiryanga with the help of pastor John Richard Mubiru. In order to further equip pastor John Richard Mubiru I enrolled him at Makerere University for a short course in administration and management in order to build his capacity.

How to help

What can foreign organisations and donors do to support true transformation in Uganda and to eradicate evils such as child sacrifice, domestic violence and other forms of abuse?

* Promote international awareness as done by the Jubilee campaign (UK) and Kyampisi.

* Network with other international and local NGOs to address this evil practice in Uganda

* Lobby your government and multi-lateral organisations to exert pressure on the Ugandan government to act firmly against
child sacrifice and violence against women and children in general.

* Support local activists and organisations who are already actively fighting the evil of child sacrifice in Uganda so that
they can be more effective:

- Provide structural financial support to organizations involved in the campaign against child sacrifice such as KCM and
Across Outreach.[10]

- Capacity building of activists by facilitating further training, both formal and informal training. For example by helping
them to attend international conferences and seminars on relevant topics.

- Make the stories of victims and activists known and help to advertise their work through social marketing

- Provide technical support, assistance and advice by means of long-term volunteers or resident expatriate specialists
(anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, human rights specialists, medical personnel etc).

- Monitor and evaluate activities of local partners on a regular basis in order to promote accountability and transparency.

- Plan, organise and facilitate ongoing research in accordance with accepted international standards in order to inform,
modify and develop policy on the ground in order to improve the efficiency of the various interventions.

- Encourage international students, researchers and academics to do their research in areas relevant to addressing child
sacrifice in Uganda and help them where possible.

- Encourage reporters and other media personnel to investigate the issues in Uganda as part of documentation as well as
international awareness creation.

- Facilitate for national, regional and international consultations on the issue of child sacrifice to promote better
networking, cross-pollination of ideas and form strategic alliances.

- Facilitate for activists and experts to be given various international platforms to speak out on the issue of child
sacrifice. These may include both academic and popular platforms in Universities, colleges, churches, human rights clubs etc.

Conclusion

The issue of child sacrifice in Uganda is still a very serious problem which can easily spill over to other African countries. The issue should be high on the agenda of human rights organisations, churches and non-governmental organisations as well as the various government bodies in Uganda and the region. There is little use in blaming and accusing the Ugandan government of doing too little as some have done in the media for this may create resentment and an unwillingness to work with other stakeholders. Positive engagement with the government combined with non-aggressive pressure in the form of creating a national awareness of the problem through the media and in the pulpits as well as extensive lobbying is likely to produce more results. Bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors should also be engaged so that they make funds available to local and national government agencies including the judiciary to address this scourge. Documentation, information sharing and ongoing media attention is essential to keep up the momentum. Finally the issue of child sacrifice and other forms of ritual mutilation and violence against women and children should be addressed from multiple angles: legally, politically, sociologically, psychologically, theologically and even through the music and the arts until the practice becomes totally discredited, abhorrent and impossible to continue in the Ugandan context.

Dr. Erwin van der Meer
Africa Outreach/Stichting Afrika Zending


Sources cited:

ABC 2009. Men severed albino boy's legs in ritual killing. ABC News (23 September):
Http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-23/men-severed-albino-boys-legs-in-ritual-killing/1439848

Akosah-Sarpong, Kofi 2007. Mozambique tackles Witchcraft and Human Sacrifice. Modern Ghana (5 August):
Http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/NewsArchive/news_details.asp?menu_id=1&id=VFZSUmQwNUVRVFE9

Allen, Karen 2008. Living in fear: Tanzania’s albinos, in BBC News (21 July):
Http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7518049.stm

BBC 2004. DR Congo pygmies 'exterminated', in BBC News (9 July):
Http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3869489.stm

BBC 2008. Albino girl killed for body parts, in BBC News (17 November):
Http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7733597.stm

BBC 2010. Human sacrifices 'on the rise in Uganda' as witch doctors admit to rituals, BBC Investigation quoted in the Telegraph
(7 January): Http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/6944292/Human-sacrifices-on-the-
rise-in-Uganda-as-witch-doctors-admit-to-rituals.html

Igwe, Leo 2010. Ritual Killing and Human Sacrifice in Africa, a statement made at the African Commission on Human and People’s
Rights, 48th Session (November 10-24)in Banjul, Gambia. Http://www.iheu.org/ritual-killing-and-human-sacrifice-africa

Jonker, Kobus 2006. South African police accused of ignoring ritual murders, quoted by Stephen Bevan in the Telegraph (Mar. 26).

Kante, Sadio 2004. Mali's human sacrifice - myth or reality? BBC News Africa (20 September): Http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa
/3663292.stm

Mulondo, Moses 2011. Christianity, ancestral worship cannot mix, in Sunday Vision newspaper – Uganda (18 December): 30.

Rogers, Chris 2011. Where child sacrifice is a business, BBC News Africa (11 October):
Http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15255357#story_continues_1

USDS 2011. United States Department of State, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Gabon, (8 April ):
Http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4da56dc7c.html

Vernaschi, Marco 2010. Child Sacrifice in Uganda. Pulitzer center (April 16):
Http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/uganda-child-sacrifice-not-cultural-issue

Vernaschi, Marco 2010a. Uganda: A lawyer's brief, a mother's grief. Pulitzer center (April 25):
Http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/uganda-lawyers-brief-mothers-grief

Whewell, Tim 2010. A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda , in BBC News: Newsnight: (7 January):
Http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm

End notes:

[1] See for example Vernaschi (2010).

[2] Restoring African Cultural Harmony Organisation, a small Ugandan NGO (Vernaschi 2010).

[3] Facilitation for Peace and Development

[4]African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect, see www.anppcanug.org

[5] This view was often expressed by Ugandans in interviews and discussions with the author of this report.

[6] See for example the reports on ritual killings in West Africa: Http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/NotOnlyInLiberia_CongoGabonGambiaGhana.htm

[7] The author of this report has had the privilege of meeting the boy on several occasions at Kyampisi Childcare Ministries.

[8] Just like one may find unscrupulous clergy in for example the Roman Catholic church who abuse the system for personal benefit to the detriment of others so one can find them among African Pentecostal churches. This is not to say that all African Pentecostals are like this but as they generally have received little or no theological training they are easily swayed by such inherently non-Christian ideas.

[9] The sharp distinction found in many African cultures between the witch-doctor, as the one who sniffs out offending witches, and those who are considered to be witches, in the sense of those who are believed to cause mayhem in the community by evil magical means, appears non-existent in Uganda. The role of witch in the sense of bewitching someone by magical means and the role of witch-doctor in the sense of providing protection against bewitchment are usually fulfilled by one and the same person. This ambiguity is often hinted at in other African cultures but is very obvious in Uganda.

[10] For local organizations and activists to do their work well a consistent small donation on a regular has more impact than an occasional large donation as it enables the organization to budget and plan rather than operate on an ad-hoc basis.


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