Plunge your hand into hot oil: the ‘sassywood man’ and trial by ordeal

SANOYEA TOWN, Liberia – Two months ago, Peter Yah’s hand was plunged into hot oil after he was accused of stealing $10. The 22-year-old Liberian student and his brother had been previously detained over the robbery, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.

Their accuser demanded the men undergo trial by ordeal – a practice in which guilt is determined by exposing the suspects to acute pain and interpreting their reaction. If there is no injury, or if the wounds heal quickly, the accused is deemed innocent.”The sassywood man put oil on the fire, said we should put our hands inside and when I put my hand inside I touched the bottom of the pot and I burned,” Yah said.Sassywood is the name given to the man who oversaw the ordeal – a cross between a witchdoctor and a judge.”I put my hand in there four times.I was afraid and I just wanted to be free without a problem,” Yah added, his fingers still puffy and shiny pink.Weeping sores have formed around Yah’s nails and he cannot fully straighten his fingers or make a fist.He has not yet returned to school because he cannot write.Trials by ordeal have been banned in this West African country but many people do not know they can refuse to take part.In a land where the justice system is in shambles after 14 years of on-off civil war and decades of corruption, where police regularly demand bribes and remote villages are often several days journey from the nearest courts, the brutal system fills a legal vacuum.QUICK RESULT Liberia’s infrastructure was devastated by the conflict, which killed around 250 000 people.The fighting ended when former President Charles Taylor, a one-time warlord, went into exile in Nigeria in 2003.Former World Bank economist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has just been elected president in the first vote since Taylor left, becoming Africa’s first elected woman head of state.A Harvard-trained economist, Johnson Sirleaf has vowed to use her technocratic skills to rebuild Liberia.In the once-prosperous country, most people struggle to survive on less than US$1 a day and many have been traumatised by the conflict, fought mainly by young fighters high on amphetamines and marijuana.During the war, painful death and mutilation became everyday affairs.Although prisons are bursting with inmates and some people have been incarcerated without trial for years, judicial reform is low on the list of most people’s concerns and the issue was largely absent from the election campaign.Diplomats say reforming the bloated and inefficient justice system will be one of the challenges facing Johnson Sirleaf.In the meantime, many local chiefs prefer using trial by ordeal because it produces quick results.The practice is most common in central villages, like Sanoyea Town and neighbouring Jagba Town, where there were several cases last month.”More than 10 people had to put their hands in hot oil,” said Daniel Mbonah (28), who sells fuel.”If you are innocent, you will not be hurt,” he said, as bystanders nodded agreement.Around 40 per cent of Liberians are animists, with a similar proportion of Christians, many of whom would also profess beliefs in ancestral spirits.POISONOUS FRUIT At the port in the capital Monrovia, some labourers had also experienced trial by ordeal.Maxwell Clinton, a 25-year-old casual worker, said he had been burned with a hot blade by accusers who wanted to determine who had stolen their money.”They can put a hot cutlass against you, but for me it felt cool like water,” he said.The man who had stolen the money refused to undergo the test, he said, making it easier to identify the culprit.The United Nations human rights office tasked with investigating such cases said it had inadequate resources and was often unable to travel to far-flung villages to question witnesses because of bad roads or fears about security.Adam Abdelmoula, a UN human rights official in Liberia, said his office received about one report per month of trial by ordeal, although they had not yet confirmed any.”The people who do this kind of witchcraft are powerful locally, so people fear them,” he said.”It’s hard to find a victim, a perpetrator or a witness.”He said there were reports of people being forced to eat poisonous fruits, jump into fires or have a hot knife placed upon their skin.No statistics are available and the police say they have no jurisdiction over the issue.Yah, who managed to stay at school during the years of war, approached the Foundation of International Dignity (FIND), a charity which offers legal aid, after he found his injuries prevented him from resuming classes.”It is against fundamental human rights, the constitution and societal norms,” said Rosetta Jackollie, a legal adviser for the aid group.”No one can be forced to do this, but since a lot of people are illiterate, they don’t know their rights.”- Nampa-ReutersIf there is no injury, or if the wounds heal quickly, the accused is deemed innocent.”The sassywood man put oil on the fire, said we should put our hands inside and when I put my hand inside I touched the bottom of the pot and I burned,” Yah said.Sassywood is the name given to the man who oversaw the ordeal – a cross between a witchdoctor and a judge.”I put my hand in there four times.I was afraid and I just wanted to be free without a problem,” Yah added, his fingers still puffy and shiny pink.Weeping sores have formed around Yah’s nails and he cannot fully straighten his fingers or make a fist.He has not yet returned to school because he cannot write.Trials by ordeal have been banned in this West African country but many people do not know they can refuse to take part.In a land where the justice system is in shambles after 14 years of on-off civil war and decades of corruption, where police regularly demand bribes and remote villages are often several days journey from the nearest courts, the brutal system fills a legal vacuum.QUICK RESULT Liberia’s infrastructure was devastated by the conflict, which killed around 250 000 people.The fighting ended when former President Charles Taylor, a one-time warlord, went into exile in Nigeria in 2003.Former World Bank economist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has just been elected president in the first vote since Taylor left, becoming Africa’s first elected woman head of state.A Harvard-trained economist, Johnson Sirleaf has vowed to use her technocratic skills to rebuild Liberia.In the once-prosperous country, most people struggle to survive on less than US$1 a day and many have been traumatised by the conflict, fought mainly by young fighters high on amphetamines and marijuana.During the war, painful death and mutilation became everyday affairs.Although prisons are bursting with inmates and some people have been incarcerated without trial for years, judicial reform is low on the list of most people’s concerns and the issue was largely absent from the election campaign.Diplomats say reforming the bloated and inefficient justice system will be one of the challenges facing Johnson Sirleaf.In the meantime, many local chiefs prefer using trial by ordeal because it produces quick results.The practice is most common in central villages, like Sanoyea Town and neighbouring Jagba Town, where there were several cases last month.”More than 10 people had to put their hands in hot oil,” said Daniel Mbonah (28), who sells fuel.”If you are innocent, you will not be hurt,” he said, as bystanders nodded agreement.Around 40 per cent of Liberians are animists, with a similar proportion of Christians, many of whom would also profess beliefs in ancestral spirits.POISONOUS FRUIT At the port in the capital Monrovia, some labourers had also experienced trial by ordeal.Maxwell Clinton, a 25-year-old casual worker, said he had been burned with a hot blade by accusers who wanted to determine who had stolen their money.”They can put a hot cutlass against you, but for me it felt cool like water,” he said.The man who had stolen the money refused to undergo the test, he said, making it easier to identify the culprit.The United Nations human rights office tasked with investigating such cases said it had inadequate resources
and was often unable to travel to far-flung villages to question witnesses because of bad roads or fears about security.Adam Abdelmoula, a UN human rights official in Liberia, said his office received about one report per month of trial by ordeal, although they had not yet confirmed any.”The people who do this kind of witchcraft are powerful locally, so people fear them,” he said.”It’s hard to find a victim, a perpetrator or a witness.”He said there were reports of people being forced to eat poisonous fruits, jump into fires or have a hot knife placed upon their skin.No statistics are available and the police say they have no jurisdiction over the issue.Yah, who managed to stay at school during the years of war, approached the Foundation of International Dignity (FIND), a charity which offers legal aid, after he found his injuries prevented him from resuming classes.”It is against fundamental human rights, the constitution and societal norms,” said Rosetta Jackollie, a legal adviser for the aid group.”No one can be forced to do this, but since a lot of people are illiterate, they don’t know their rights.”- Nampa-Reuters