Papua New Guinea possesses a diverse tribal society of more than 800 languages and 7 million people who are mostly subsistence farmers. A wealth of mineral resources and natural gas has transformed the nation's economy into one of the world's fastest growing over the past decade.
"Jealousy is causing a lot of hatred," said Helen Hakena, chairwoman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee. "People who are so jealous of those who are doing well in life, they resort to what our people believe in, sorcery, to kill them, to stop them continuing their own development."
Miranda Forsyth, a lawyer at Australian National University who has studied the issue said recent cases in Papua New Guinea don't appear to be motivated by a genuine belief in the occult, but instead are a pretext under which the wealthy can be attacked by poorer neighbors, and, many times, get away with it.
She and other experts on witchcraft in the Melanesia region believe Papua New Guinea's new found prosperity and the growing inequality in its traditionally egalitarian culture is a significant cause of the violence. Neighboring Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, where belief in black magic is also widespread, haven't seen the same level of extreme violence against accused witches. The difference, they say, is that Papua New Guinea has had the fastest economic growth. The Asian Development Bank reported last year that Papua New Guinea has one of the highest levels of inequality, if not the highest, in the Asia-Pacific region.
These socio-economic problems have inevitably played into a cultural landscape that includes a belief in witches and black magic, said Kate Schuetze, a regional researcher for Amnesty International. "There is always a reason for the accusation, whether it's jealousy, wanting to access someone else's land, a personal grudge against that person or a previous land dispute."
Accused families abandon their small farms in a hurry, usually taking only what they can carry in a bag. The villagers must then decide who occupies the vacant land. "That's where the jealousy and the greed can come in," said anthropologist Philip Gibbs, a sorcery specialist and Roman Catholic priest who has lived in the wilds of Papua New Guinea for the past 41 years.
"Jealousy is causing a lot of hatred," said Helen Hakena, chairwoman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee. "People who are so jealous of those who are doing well in life, they resort to what our people believe in, sorcery, to kill them, to stop them continuing their own development."
Miranda Forsyth, a lawyer at Australian National University who has studied the issue said recent cases in Papua New Guinea don't appear to be motivated by a genuine belief in the occult, but instead are a pretext under which the wealthy can be attacked by poorer neighbors, and, many times, get away with it.
She and other experts on witchcraft in the Melanesia region believe Papua New Guinea's new found prosperity and the growing inequality in its traditionally egalitarian culture is a significant cause of the violence. Neighboring Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, where belief in black magic is also widespread, haven't seen the same level of extreme violence against accused witches. The difference, they say, is that Papua New Guinea has had the fastest economic growth. The Asian Development Bank reported last year that Papua New Guinea has one of the highest levels of inequality, if not the highest, in the Asia-Pacific region.
These socio-economic problems have inevitably played into a cultural landscape that includes a belief in witches and black magic, said Kate Schuetze, a regional researcher for Amnesty International. "There is always a reason for the accusation, whether it's jealousy, wanting to access someone else's land, a personal grudge against that person or a previous land dispute."
Accused families abandon their small farms in a hurry, usually taking only what they can carry in a bag. The villagers must then decide who occupies the vacant land. "That's where the jealousy and the greed can come in," said anthropologist Philip Gibbs, a sorcery specialist and Roman Catholic priest who has lived in the wilds of Papua New Guinea for the past 41 years.
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