UP TO 1,000 Gambians have been kidnapped by “witch hunters” and forced to drink hallucinogenic potions at secret government detention centres, according to Amnesty International.
The purge, sanctioned by the country’s controversial president, Yahya Jammeh, has already caused two deaths, while hundreds have fled to neighbouring Senegal.
Victims say the police, army officers and members of Mr Jammeh’s presidential guard have been accompanying witch hunters from village to village in recent weeks. The alleged witches, many of them elderly, were abducted for up to five days, made to drink hallucinogenic substances, and forced to confess to witchcraft. Some were severely beaten.
The witch hunters are reported to have arrived in Gambia from Guinea after the death of Mr Jammeh’s aunt. He is said to believe witchcraft was used to kill her.
The Gambian government has not commented on Amnesty’s report of its involvement in the purge.
The latest incident is reported to have occurred in Sintet village in the Foni Jarrol district on March 9th. One witness told Amnesty that paramilitary police armed with guns and spades had surrounded the village at 5am, forcing 300 men and women on to buses that took them to Mr Jammeh’s farm in nearby Kanilai.
“Once there, they were stripped and forced to drink dirty water from herbs and were also bathed with these dirty herbs. A lot of these people who were forced to drink these poisonous herbs developed instant diarrhoea and vomiting whilst they lay helpless.”
Belief in witchcraft is not uncommon in parts of rural Africa. Alleged witches may be hounded out of villages or even killed, but rarely is the state involved.
The director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen, said the campaign was “spreading terror throughout the country” and should be stopped immediately. – (Guardian service)