When Magic Was a Murder Defense: The Legacy of Papua New Guinea's Sorcery Act

From 1971 to 2013, Papua New Guinea's Sorcery Act legally recognized magic, allowing it as a defense for murder. Those who killed alleged sorcerers could claim self-defense against a supernatural threat, often receiving reduced sentences for vigilantism.

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For over four decades, the legal landscape of Papua New Guinea contained a paradox that baffled outsiders: a law that simultaneously condemned black magic while offering it as a defense for murder. The Sorcery Act of 1971 was a post-colonial attempt to reconcile traditional Melanesian beliefs, or kastam, with a Western-style criminal justice system. In a country where belief in the tangible power of sorcery—both for healing and harming—was and remains widespread, the law acknowledged that for many citizens, a magical curse was as real a threat as a physical weapon. The Act criminalized the use of “forbidden sorcery” but, in a fateful move, it also created a legal shield for those who took matters into their own hands.

The 'Good Faith' Defense

The core of the controversy lay in a clause that allowed a “good faith” belief in being targeted by sorcery to be used as a mitigating factor in court. If a defendant could convince a judge that they killed someone because they genuinely believed that person was a sorcerer responsible for death or illness in their family, a murder charge could be reduced to manslaughter. What was intended as a culturally sensitive provision was often interpreted on the ground as a legal loophole, and in the worst cases, a license to kill. It inadvertently placed the state’s authority behind the idea that certain individuals, if deemed to be sorcerers, were legitimate targets for violence.

From Law to Lawlessness

The consequences were devastating. The Act became linked to a surge in what is now termed Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV). Across the country, particularly in the Highlands, accusations of witchcraft became a common pretext for settling personal disputes, land grabs, or explaining away misfortunes like sudden illness or crop failure. The ensuing violence was extraordinarily brutal. Victims, disproportionately women, were often publicly tortured for confessions and then killed, sometimes by being burned alive. The 2013 case of Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother accused of sorcery and publicly tortured and burned, captured global attention and created immense pressure for legal reform.

Repeal, Not Resolution

In response to the outcry, the Papua New Guinean government repealed the Sorcery Act in May 2013. In its place, it amended the criminal code to define sorcery-related killings as willful murder, removing the 'good faith' defense entirely. To underscore the new zero-tolerance policy, the government also reinstated the death penalty for the most extreme cases. While this was a critical step in aligning the nation's laws with international human rights standards, it did not solve the underlying problem. Repealing a law is one thing; erasing a deeply ingrained cultural belief is another. Violence continues, now driven underground and treated unequivocally as murder, but it persists because the beliefs that fuel it remain powerful. Activists and authorities face the immense challenge of prosecuting these crimes in remote areas and, more importantly, changing the mindsets that lead to such horrific accusations in the first place. The story of the Sorcery Act serves as a stark reminder of the dangerous and unpredictable territory where law and ancient belief intersect.

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