The 1999–2000 Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission accounts of witchcraft and secret societies

Record summary

Testimony collected for Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission included references to secret societies, ritual authority, medicine, prophecy, and alleged occult practices during the civil war. These accounts matter because they show how esoteric institutions were remembered within testimony about violence and political power. The commission’s mandate produced victim and witness narratives, not an independent verification of every ritual claim. Researchers should search the testimony database and report for named speakers, episodes, and local societies rather than relying on later summaries.