The groups, 21st Century Witchcraft Accusations and Persecution and Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network (WHRIN) said the UN should to take the urgent action to curb these abuses before the situation gets out of hand.
They said: “Thousands of women and children are likely to suffer horrific human rights violations each year due to the practice of accusing them of witchcraft, killing them or offering them as human sacrifices”.
Executive Director of the WHRIN, Mr. Gary Foxcroft, on their behalf said: “209 horrific cases of witchcraft accusations, multi-killings for body parts and human sacrifice were recorded on online media in 2013.
“The cases make particularly gruesome reading and are undoubtedly the tip of the iceberg of this form of abuse. We don’t know exactly how many people across the world have suffered due to these practices. But we do know that this is an emerging issue that needs more attention and constitutes a scar on the face of humanity”.
He said: “Cases were recorded in 41 countries across all continents with India, Nigeria and South Africa recording particularly high rates of abuse. In India, high rates of human sacrifice were recorded.
“In South Africa, cases of killings of people for the use of their body parts in magic prevailed. In Nigeria, numerous cases of children being accused of witchcraft were documented.”
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