Amnesty renews call for passage of Anti
Amnesty International is urging the Ghanaian government to pass the Anti-Witchcraft Accusations Bill following the anniversary of a high-profile lynching. The organization argues that current laws are insufficient to protect vulnerable women from abuse and displacement.
Why it matters
The bill addresses systemic human rights abuses against elderly and marginalized women who are frequently targeted by superstitious accusations.
Amnesty International has renewed its call on the government to pass the Anti-Witchcraft Accusations Bill, six years after the lynching of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the Savannah Region.
The organisation said the continued delay in passing the bill meant that authorities had failed in their duty to protect hundreds of victims of witchcraft accusations across the country.
Akua Denteh was beaten to death on July 23, 2020, after she was accused of witchcraft. Disturbing footage of the incident showed two women assaulting her. The pair were later convicted and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in 2023 for manslaughter.
In a statement copied to The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, Amnesty International noted that many other women accused of witchcraft had been forced to flee their communities for fear of their lives.
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