THREAD: In Gambia, the former president is accused of using allegations of witchcraft as a state tool. Now, the nation is conducting a wide-ranging investigation of what happened. Our story:https://nyti.ms/2X59FIT
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In 2009, according to witnesses and
@amnesty, President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia sent soldiers and police officers to places around the country to round up people he accused of being "witches."Show this thread
Once these individuals were rounded up, allegedly at the orders of the president, they were forced to drink unknown liquids and admit to witchcraft. Some were stripped naked. Some died, according to @amnesty and witnesses.
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Persecution based on accusations of witchcraft still occurs around the world. What distinguished the Gambian experience, I was told by scholar Leo Igwe, was that the president appeared to use witchcraft accusations as a state tool, and targeted people on a “mega scale.”
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What's the backstory on this? This summer, human rights activist
@BaldehF invited me to Sintet. She was hosting a wrkshp meant to help Gambians wrestle with the past. It quickly became clear that the president's so-called witch hunts had had long and lasting effects in town.Show this thread -
Most striking to me? The women I spoke with in Gambia had a strong desire to speak about what it was like to be branded a "witch" by their president. Rather than hide out of shame, they wanted the world to know their stories.https://nyti.ms/2X59FIT
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