Child Sacrifice - Uganda Police Report [5 November, 2009]

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1.0

SCOPE OF THE PRESENTATION ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2.0

Over view of the human sacrifice situation in the country The current state of child sacrifice in the country Causes and contributing factors to human sacrifice in Uganda Action taken by Police Challenges / Observations / Way forward

OVERVIEW OF HUMA.N SACRIFICE IN THE COU"NTRY

It is common belief among many communities of Uganda that shedding of blood of . ).' some kind. is necessary to celebrate success or to chase away evil spirits or to protect some one from misfortunes. In most communities such sacrifices are made in form of slaughtering chicken, goats or even cows. It is a common practice in some communities that when one buys a new vehicle or when a foundation for a brick house is made, some anirnal is slaughtered and blood sprinkled around. This' shows that the idea of sacrifice has lived amongst the Ugandan communities for generations. The biggest concern is that it has now gone to the level of sacrificing human beings. According to Police records, 03 homicide cases of suspected human sacrifice were recorded in 2007, while 25 were record{(d during the year 2008 and nlost of the dead were children. Since the beginning of this year (2009) to date, a total number 24 adults and Juveniles have been kHled under circumstances suspeeted to be linked to human sacrifice.

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THE CURRENT STATE OF CHILD SACRIFICE IN THE COUNTRY

Since the beginning of this year tQdate, there have been a total of 13 children dead under circumstances suspect~d to be linked to human sacrifice. It is possible that some of the incidents could have been ordinary homicides but which could have been disguised to look like ritual murders. The scare of human sacrifice has led to some fears amongst the general public in the country and any least suspicions of missing persons have been reported to Police. Since the beginning of this year, a total of 862 children have been reported to have gone missing and thus suspected to be possible victims of human sacrifice. However, 739 of them have been traced and confirmed alive and safe and effort are on to establish the fate of the remaining 123.

According to explanations by those who have been traced, among the reasons for their missing are:- delay to go back home after school, going for visits, getting admitted in hospitals or changing employnlents without informing others, loosing way back home from school, and elopement of some young girls with men. Based on these examples, it is highly hoped that most of those whose fate has not been established yet, are alive and safe. It is also possible that some persons were traced but Police has not been notified yet. 3.1 Statistical Summary Information at a Glance for .Jan- 31st Oct' 09 Total of Reported Missin2 Persons Adults

Juveniles

253

862

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Adults .

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Adult!

167

13

Month

01

02

Jan Feb

03

Mar

04

April

-

'jj

Juveniles 131

luvenUes Adults 739 78 --

May June

--c-Murders District Children. f--. Adults---01 mla Kampala (0 1) 03 m/a Kampala (03), Mityana,(OI), 0211} 01 f/a Kamuli(Ol), Soroti(Ol), 01 m(j Ntungamo(OI), Bushenyi (01) 0 I f/a Pader(OI), Kaliro(OI), 01mlj, 01m1a01.r!1_it Kiboga(Ol) Rhkungiri (01)

----01m1a

01'!!2 01 m/;

-

01f/a

07

July

-

08

Aug

Olmla

09

Sept

01mlj

10

Oct.

-

Total

..

Persons fate yet unknown

Suspe'cts arrested

Suspects. taken to court

111

44

Trend of Suspected RituallVlurders per Month and District.~ and Arrests l\1ade ; Taken to ,Court

Sino

06

Juveniles

11

--

05

t raced

suspected-Ritperson; murders

- 11, '.

18

07

04 06

03 05

JiI\ia(Op, Mbale (01)

10

03

Mukono(O 1) & Ovam (01) Jinja (01), Kitgum(Ol), Apac(Ol) Mpigi(OI), Mityana(OI), Ibanda(O1)

11 06

04 02

19

06

Gulu(Ol) Jinja(OI)

-

-'-'-

--

J!}m/; 01mlj Olfli 0Iji] 0Ir/;

-

L3

.. Arrests Made Court Total 06 03 27 11

04

L

111

,', 2

44

4.0

CAUSES AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS CRIME OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN: UGANDA

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Existence.of people who believe in witchcraft and dem.onic p.owers f.or wealth, enlpl.oytnents and g.o.odhealth. Existence.of traditi.onal healers and herbalists wh.o pr.ofess t.o be having such witchcraft and dem.onic p.owers that can give g.o.od luck, chase evil spirits and cure any diseases Existence .offake traditi.onal healers and herbalists wh.o ext.ort ex.orbitant am.ounts .of m.oney fr.om some people and end up demanding f.or the parts .of human b.odies t.o scare .off their victiIns.

Laxity.on the side .of some individuals and th.ose entrusted with taking care .of the children, thus making them easy preys t.o the criminal minded pers.ons.

General deteri.oration in m.orals and respect f.or humanity whi;ch tempts s.ome pe.ople t.o develop evil ideas .of selling their children .or relatives t.o wh.o ever can get them some m.oney.

5.0 ACTION TAKEN BY POLICE 5.1

Formation of Anti Human Sacrifice & Trafficking Task ]?orce

Ar.ound mid January 2009, the Inspect.or General .of P.olice, Maj. Gen Kale Kayihura instituted the Anti Human Sacrifice & Trafficking Task F.orce under the c.ommand .of ACP BINOGA MOSES. The Task F.orc'~has. membership fr.om Police, ISO, Immigrati.on, Ministries .of Educati.onand Culture. . Am.ong the functi.ons of the Task Fotce is t.o direct, .oversee hnd c.o.ordinatethe investigati.ons, intdligence c.ollecti.orl:;.liaison and m.obilization .of the general public against the crime .ofhuman sacrifice. A c.o.ordinatingdesk has been established at CID headquarters with a t.oll free line no 0800199499. Link c.ontact desks have been established at all P.olice Districts and Divisi.onal headquarters under the respective Crime Intelligence .offict~rs. The District Security C.ommittees all over the c.ountry have been advised t.o f.orm similar task teams at all the district under the respective District P.olice C.ommanders, t.o enhance the fight against hUlnan sacr!fice and a numbe:r .of them have already c.omplied.

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5.2 Enhancement of Public Sensitization A nationwide public sensitization has been enlbarked on by the p'olice to enhance public consciousness against the crime of hunlan sacrifice, through various ways, including the media. 5.3 Enhancement of Police Investigations and Intelligence Collection Investigations and intelligence collection on the crime of human sacrifice has been enhanced all over the country. ,Many reports of suspicious characters have been received and investigated. Some individuals have been put under watch by the security agencies on suspicions of involv~ment in human sacrifice. 5.4 Arrest of Suspects Since the beginning of this year, a total of 111 suspects have been arrested in connection with suspected human sacrifice offences out of which 42 have been produced in court, charged with cases of murder, abductions, kidnaps, selling children and practicing witchcraft respectively. 5.5 l\1obilization of Traditional Herbalists and Healers Using the existing leadership of the various groups of traditional healers and herbalists in the C()untry, the Police have established a link with tradition.al healers and herbalists as a way of sensitizing them against criminal acts and to be able to easily identify those who practice any criminal acts, including human sacrifice. ,~~6

," Teaming Up )Vith Some NGOs to Fight the Crime

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The Police have very oft~ri,worked hand in hand with willing partners ]likeNGOs and individuals who have offered various fOlms of assistanc~ to supplement the facilitation of Police investigations and protection of victims (witnesses). At this juncture I wish to register our sincere appreciation to some NGOs like ANPPCAN - Kampala and FEPAD - Lira for their continued support to the Police in the fight against this vice. 5.7

Training Assistance and Provision of Equip~ent by the American Government. Weare grateful to the United States Government for the sponsorship of training of over 2000 Police personnel as first responders in the investigations of human trafficking and the provision of some computers, cameras, binoculars and video/voice recorders.

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6.0

CHALLENGES

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I OBSERVATIONS / WAY FORW AJID

It is sOlnetimes not easy to differentiate certain genuine cultural practices from the criminal or fake ones until it results into death or silckness or loss of money. The biggest challenge is that belief in demonic or witchcraft plOwersis a psychological disorientation which is not so easy to detect and eliminate. Despite the above mentioned, the Uganda Police has taken the threat of human sacrifice with a lot of concern and have put in place some mechanism to contain the situation. The crime of human sacrifice can be mitigated through a number of ways which include deliberate actions by not only the Police or other relevant Government organs but also by the individuals and the entire community. The Police shall continue with the intensified investigations and intelligence mobilization coupled with public sensitization against the cnme. The Task Force has been advocating for a Government to put in place a specific law or Policy which regulates the operations of traditional healers and herbalists in the country. We hope this shall go a long way to help the Police and the communities to easily identify criminal traditional healers and herbalists. Meanwhile, we wish to call upon all melnbers of the public both individually and collectively to be security conscious all the time with themselves and the children they are entrusted to take care of; to report suspicious persons to police for hnmediate follow up; to provide the Police with any known information related to human sacrifice incident, and most of all to.desist from dernonic and witchcraft acts.

Together,We Can Defeat This Crime! ThankYoufor L-istening

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