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BRAZZAVILLE, 29 October 2003 (IRIN) - Human rights NGOs and public authorities in the Republic of Congo have denounced the continued practice of killing people suspected of sorcery in various regions of the country. "Most often, when a family has lost a loved one, a delegation is formed to consult with a fetishist, in an effort to determine the name of the alleged evil-doer, that is, who is responsible for the death," Jean-Marie Ibara, a representative of the Observatoire congolais des droits de l'Homme (OCDH - Congolese Human Rights Observatory) based in Owando, in the north-central department of Cuvette, told IRIN on Friday. "Once identified, the unfortunate individual is left to the mercy of the public, often ending in death." Ibara said that the victims were most often elderly people, or sometimes youths who had achieved some level of success and were, therefore, envied by others. "We can no longer even count the number of families who have been forced to flee because of this phenomenon," he added. "For several years now, we have been denouncing these acts of another age that constitute grave violations of human rights," Alain Oyandzi, head of the OCDH office in Ouesso, in the northern department of Sangha, told IRIN. "However, the authorities have not been able to find the means for preventing youths, for the most part, of freely taking the lives of others." Nevertheless, government authorities say that they have been trying their best to end the killings. However, they often find themselves lacking clear evidence to disprove allegations of sorcery. "The fetishists often refuse to come forward to provide evidence and identify an alleged sorcerer," Michel Miambi, president of the Ouesso court and member of the Superior Council of Magistrates, said. "There is also the problem of a lack of true independence of the judiciary: faced with a case involving alleged sorcery, it is not unusual that a high-level civilian or military authority will testify on behalf of an assassin. So many people are superstitious in this country that sometimes the order for such heinous murderers even comes from well-placed individuals in Brazzaville [the national capital]." Thus, when someone dies in Congo, relatives often believe that the true causes of the death lie among anyone who knew the deceased, despite a medical explanation regarding the cause of death. For his part, the governor of Cuvette, Gatsono Yoka Iccoulah, said that a large number of Congolese believed that there was no such thing as a natural death, leading to the widespread killing of people suspected of sorcery. He said that from 1999 to 31 August 2003, 87 murders had been documented in Cuvette because of suspected sorcery. He said of these, 22 were in Ntokou, 13 in Owando, 11 in Mossaka, 9 in Boundji, 8 in Oyo, 7 in Tchikapika, 5 in Makoua, 4 in Loukolela and 3 in Ngoko. The phenomenon has also reached troubling levels in the central department of Plateaux. During a visit to the town of Ongogni in mid-October, the first secretary of the National Assembly, Pierre Ngolo, issued a stern warning to youths of the town and neighbouring villages suspected of involvement in such killings. Speaking on the issue on 27 July during a conference of governors, the minister of territorial administration and decentralisation, Francois Ibovi, told participants that as representatives of the state they were duty bound to uphold the law, order and justice. "You have available to you the forces of public order and the justice system to prevent such crimes and to punish those responsible for such crimes," he said. A Congolese professor of sociology, Pierre Tchimanga Mameta, said the justice system needed to be equipped appropriately to tackle murders linked to alleged sorcery. "As long as these crimes go unpunished, the belief in sorcery will prevail. These murderers can no longer be allowed to operate with complete impunity," he said.