-As Court remands Ivorian woman and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
By: SHALLON S. GONLOR
NIMBA COUNTY — The Sanniquellie Magisterial Court has remanded an Ivorian traditional herbalist to the Sanniquellie Central Prison for administering sassywood ( Trail by Ordeal) that killed four persons accused of witchcraft activities in Kwendin Township, Lower Nimba County.
Paramount Chief Robert Geleh, General Town Chief Manson Paye, and others of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were also charged with criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, criminal solicitation, and endangering another person for inviting Gwehyee Cante Jean, who is the principal defendant in the case to administer sassywood that killed several people accused of witchcraft involvement activities in the community.
The magisterial court action follows the insurance of a writ of arrest for Gwehyee Cante Jean and several other local officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs after a police investigation charged the herbalist with manslaughter for administering sassywood in Kwendin Township that reportedly caused the death of four people.
The writ also noted that the lead defendant, Gwehyee, under the supervision of local authorities of Kwendin Township, has been in the constant habit of administering sassywood or trial by ordeal to innocent individuals, thereby causing their lives to be in danger. Gwehyee was on late Thursday, 14 November 2024 evening, taken to pretrial detention at the Sanniquellie Central Prison awaiting court trial.
Trial by ordeal’ known as ‘Sassywood,’ continues to persist in Liberia and is undermining efforts to improve human rights, with the latest reported killing of an elderly woman, including several people in Kwendin Township. In April 2007, the government of Liberia, under the auspices of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, banned ‘Trial By Ordeal-TBO’ as an illegal and human rights violation. Enforcing the ban may be difficult, given the way it’s deeply rooted in Liberia’s cultural practices.
It could be recalled on Monday night, July 22, 2024, the traditional witchdoctor administered sassywood to four persons, including an elderly woman in Gblor Dialah Town who had been accused of witchcraft activities that had claimed several lives and caused suffering to individuals and other family members. Oldman, Golon Kruah, and several others accused of witchcraft involvement activities were caused to drink concoctions to justify their innocence of witchcraft as alleged.
Immediately after drinking the substance, they then vomited and later collapsed and died instantly. Gwehyee Cante Jean is an Ivorian traditional herbalist who was brought to the town by some aggrieved citizens and was granted a permit by the Ministry of Internal Affairs local authorities in Kwendin Township to cleanse the area of witchcraft activities they claimed have created a dark cloud over the community growth and development and their futures.
Sassywood is also a form of torture, which is a human rights violation under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR and Liberian domestic laws). The practice started in Liberia many generations back, and breaking this deep-rooted cultural belief remains a challenge. Traditional people love it because they believe in it.
In a Trial by Ordeal, people accused of witchcraft could be put to a painful or dangerous test to determine their guilt or innocence beyond all reasonable doubt. Sassywood rituals have regularly been practiced in Liberia despite the act being banned by the Liberian government through the Justice and Internal Affairs Ministries.
