Why Fear Became So Hard to Challenge

Introduction

In The Gambia, fear became most destructive not when rumours spread on their own, but when political authority transformed supernatural claims into state action. Under President Yahya Jammeh’s authoritarian rule, beliefs about witchcraft and miracle healing were no longer simply matters of private faith or local tradition. They were reinforced by security forces, state media and a political culture in which openly questioning the president could carry serious personal risks. This combination of inherited beliefs and coercive power made public disbelief dangerous and public conformity appear widespread.

The result was not merely the spread of extraordinary claims but the creation of a system in which fear, obedience and apparent belief reinforced one another. The 2008–09 witch-hunting campaign and the Presidential Alternative Treatment Programme for HIV/AIDS illustrate how dictatorship can convert rumours and miracle claims into instruments of political control, making resistance difficult even for those who privately doubted them.[Amnesty International]amnesty.orgAmnesty InternationalThe Gambia: Hundreds accused of “witchcraft” and poisoned in government campaign - Amnesty InternationalMarch 18, 2009…Published: March 18, 2009

Why fear became so hard to challenge

The Gambian experience demonstrates an important distinction. Collective belief is often described as something that spreads naturally through communities, but under an authoritarian government belief can also be manufactured through power.

Several features of Jammeh’s rule helped create this environment:

When citizens cannot freely disagree, outward agreement becomes a poor guide to what people actually believe. Public compliance may reflect fear rather than conviction, yet widespread compliance itself creates the impression that extraordinary claims must be true. Political scientists sometimes describe this as preference falsification: individuals conceal private disbelief because they believe everyone else accepts the official story.

In The Gambia, this dynamic was especially powerful because presidential authority was combined with existing cultural beliefs about witchcraft and spiritual danger. The government did not invent these beliefs, but it dramatically increased their political force.[nih.gov]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOpen source on nih.gov.

Authority, obedience and public performance

The witch-hunting campaign illustrates how authoritarian power transformed accusation into apparent certainty.

According to the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), witch hunters travelled with soldiers, police officers, intelligence personnel and members of pro-government groups. Villagers were gathered by armed officials before selected individuals were publicly identified as witches. The presence of uniformed personnel communicated that these accusations carried state authority rather than remaining local suspicions.[Scribd]scribd.comVolume 11 2009 Witch Hunt Exercise2009 Gambia Witch-Hunt Report | PDF | Witchcraft | The Gambia…

The rituals themselves also became political performances.

Victims were removed in government vehicles, compelled to undergo public “cleansing” ceremonies and forced to consume herbal mixtures presented as removing supernatural powers. Such events created visible demonstrations of presidential authority. Observers saw neighbours submitting to the process, not because the accusations had been independently verified, but because refusal was practically impossible.

This matters because authoritarian systems often rely on visible acts of obedience. Each public ritual encouraged the impression that everyone accepted the official explanation, even when many participants were acting under duress.

How coercion created apparent belief

One of the clearest lessons from the Gambian cases is that coercion can create the appearance of genuine popular belief.

The HIV/AIDS treatment programme provides a particularly revealing example. Jammeh declared that he possessed a God-given herbal cure and used state television to broadcast patient testimonies and treatment sessions. Medical evidence supporting the programme was absent, yet repeated official broadcasts gave the impression that success was unquestioned.[PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOpen source on nih.gov.

Subsequent research and the TRRC found that many participants entered the programme because of intense political pressure rather than genuine confidence in the treatment. Patients were instructed to stop taking antiretroviral medicines, while security personnel and presidential officials helped enforce participation. Witnesses described being pressured into making public statements claiming they had been cured, regardless of their actual condition.[moj.gov.gm]moj.gov.gmMinistry of Justice Gambia REPORTVOLUME 1 (PART A) COMPENDIUM ON FINDINGS A…

The result was a self-reinforcing cycle:

Rather than demonstrating widespread spontaneous belief, the programme showed how authoritarian institutions can manufacture the appearance of consensus.

Political persecution behind spiritual claims

The spiritual language surrounding these campaigns cannot be separated from political power.

The witch hunts were presented as protecting communities from supernatural threats, yet they relied upon arrests, detention, forced confessions and intimidation carried out by state institutions. Amnesty International documented victims being transported by security forces, forced to drink hallucinogenic substances and threatened at gunpoint. Hundreds reportedly fled affected areas, while critics of the campaign also faced arrest.[Amnesty International]amnesty.orgAmnesty InternationalThe Gambia: Hundreds accused of “witchcraft” and poisoned in government campaign - Amnesty InternationalMarch 18, 2009…Published: March 18, 2009

This combination of spiritual accusation and political coercion had several consequences:

The TRRC later concluded that the campaign involved torture, arbitrary detention and other grave human rights violations, emphasising that state institutions had been central to its operation rather than merely failing to prevent it.[Ministry of Justice Gambia]moj.gov.gmMinistry of Justice Gambia REPORTVOLUME 1 (PART A) COMPENDIUM ON FINDINGS A…

Why dictatorship strengthened extraordinary claims

The Gambian experience shows several mechanisms through which authoritarian rule amplified fear and belief.

Control of information. State broadcasting repeatedly promoted presidential miracle claims while independent criticism remained limited, allowing unsupported assertions to dominate public discussion.[PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOpen source on nih.gov.

Fear of punishment. Citizens evaluating extraordinary claims also had to consider the consequences of expressing disbelief. This altered behaviour regardless of private opinions.

Symbolic authority. Presidential endorsement gave supernatural claims unusual legitimacy. Beliefs that might otherwise have remained local traditions acquired the force of government policy.

Institutional enforcement. Police, intelligence services and other state bodies converted symbolic beliefs into concrete action through arrests, transport, detention and forced participation.

Together, these mechanisms made fear appear socially validated. The apparent popularity of official beliefs often reflected political coercion more than voluntary acceptance.

Lasting lessons

The Gambian cases are best understood not simply as episodes of superstition but as examples of how authoritarian governments can weaponise belief.

Historians, human rights investigators and public health researchers generally agree that Jammeh’s government exploited both inherited cultural ideas and presidential power. Neither element alone fully explains the events. Traditional beliefs about witchcraft existed before Jammeh’s rule, but they became far more destructive when backed by armed state institutions. Likewise, unsupported medical claims became dangerous because political authority compelled participation and suppressed criticism.[nih.gov]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOpen source on nih.gov.

This distinction remains important when interpreting episodes of collective fear. The Gambian experience cautions against describing every large-scale panic as simple “mass hysteria”. In these cases, fear spread most effectively because disbelief itself became risky. The state’s coercive power created an environment in which rumours, miracle claims and supernatural accusations could be treated as official truth, making public resistance both socially and politically hazardous.

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Endnotes

1. Source: amnesty.org
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2009/03/gambia-hundreds-accused-e2809cwitchcrafte2809d-and-poisoned-government-campaign-20/

Published: March 18, 2009

2. Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6586965/

3. Source: scribd.com
Title: Volume 11 2009 Witch Hunt Exercise
Link:https://www.scribd.com/document/947739521/Volume-11-2009-Witch-Hunt-Exercise

4. Source: amnesty.org
Title: International Hundreds released as Gambian witch hunts end
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2009/04/hundreds-released-gambian-witch-hunts-end-20090408/

5. Source: gambia.dk
Title: TRR C Final Report: Ministry of Justice downloads
Link:https://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17977

6. Source: gambia.dk
Title: TRR C PRESS BRIEFING: SUBMISSION OF FINAL REPORT
Link:https://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17956

7. Source: amnesty.org
Title: Hundreds accused of ‘witchcraft’ persecuted in The Gambia
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2009/03/hundreds-accused-039witchcraft039-persecuted-gambia-20090318/

8. Source: moj.gov.gm
Title: Ministry of Justice Gambia REPORT
Link:https://moj.gov.gm/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Volume-1-Compendium-Part-A.pdf

9. Source: refworld.org
Link:https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/amnesty/2010/73417

10. Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31239630/

Additional References

11. Source: news.sky.com
Link:https://news.sky.com/story/yahya-jammeh-the-gambian-president-who-claimed-to-cure-aids-10733487

12. Source: youtube.com
Title: Bringing Down Jammeh
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpBEy9Jm31w

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: Africa Matters: The Gambia’s ‘witch hunt’ victims await justice
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1x0NjAOays

14. Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/casp.70147

15. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334065167_The_Impact_of_the_Presidential_Alternative_Treatment_Program_on_People_Living_with_HIV_and_the_Gambian_HIV_Response

16. Source: factcheckgambia.org
Link:https://factcheckgambia.org/2022/08/07/factsheet-what-you-should-know-about-yayha-jammehs-witch-hunting-exercise/

17. Source: theguardian.com
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/19/gambia-witchcraft-hallucinogenics

18. Source: theguardian.com
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/01/survivors-yahya-jammehs-bogus-aids-cure-sue-former-gambian-leader

19. Source: hhrjournal.org
Link:https://www.hhrjournal.org/2019/06/12/the-impact-of-the-presidential-alternative-treatment-program-on-people-living-with-hiv-and-the-gambian-hiv-response/

20. Source: factcheckgambia.org
Link:https://factcheckgambia.org/factsheet-jammehs-alternative-treatment-programme/