Freedom of fear is a human right
Rule of law an obligation of the state

1. The Organization Fighting Ritual Murders Breaks Its Silence ^new
   (in French: Le coup de gueule de l'Association de Lutte contre les Crimes Rituels, ALCR)
   Summary in English:
   The wave of ritual murders in the country forces the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders in Gabon to speak out.
   Meeting with non-governmental organizations (...) the ALCR leader, Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo revealed that from January till May his organization counted 32 cases of ritual killing in the country, 10 children, 7 women and 15 men, and that not a single person was arrested for these crimes.
   (...)
   May 11, 2012
    
2. Olivier Herviaux's blog Africamix - La case à palabres ^new
   Le blog d'Olivier Herviaux, journaliste au Monde
   Olivier Herviaux writes for the French newspaper Le Monde
   Gabon: the horror of ritual killings continues
   (in French)
   Summary in English:
   After mentioning the May 12, 2012 murder of Chantal, a 15-year young albino girl in Burundi, Olivier Herviaux focuses on the practice of ritual murders in Gabon. Presumably his post was written in 2010 or 2011.
   (...)
   On March 3, 2005 the mutilated bodes of two children were found on the beach of Libereville, the capital. The father of one of the deceased, Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo then creates the 'Organization Fighting Ritual Murders' ('Association de lutte contre les crimes rituels', ALCR)
   (...)
   In 2010 37 cases of ritual murders were reported.(....) In 2009: 42 reported cases (....) in 2008 44 cases.
   (...)
   Notably elections cause a carnage, politicians and would-be politicians sacrifice relatives, often children, or resort to the kidnapping of (also) innocent citizens.
   (....)
   July 16, 2011
   
   Also reported by the Senegalese daily Direct Info:
   May 10, 2012
    
3. Accusation: Complicity of the State in ritual killings
   (in French) ^new
   Summary in English:
   By Joël Mbiamany-N'tchoreret
   The author accuses the State of Gabon of not taking any action against the wave of ritual killings terrorizing the population and of not protecting its citizens because of the involvement of high-ranking members of the ruling political party, the 'Democratic Party of Gabon' ('Parti démocratique gabonais'). In particular the author refers to a case of ritual killing in the town of Booué in January 2011. He also refers to a statement of the presdent of the country, Ali Bongo, who reckognizes that for ambitious politicians it has become normal to resort to juju and make use of human organs. As a result, elections and important political changes are nearly always accompanied by a wave of ritual killings.
   (....)
   In the past, these crimes and related practices of cannibalism were carried out anonymously and were hidden but since the 1960s perpetrators have increasingly acted in the open, leaving at times the mutilated bodies of their victims before elementary and secondary schools and other public places.
   (...)
   The author blames the President for the culture of impunity existing in the country.
   (...)
   April 13, 2012  
    
4. President Ali Bongo denounces ritual murders!
   (in French) ^new
   Summary in English:
   Yesterday, President Ali Bongo Ondimba in a meeting bringing together cabinet members and officials of the judiciary discussed the wave of ritual killings in the country, both in the capital Libreville and in the interior. He told those present he was outraged and urged them to immediately take action. His reaction followed widespread unrest under the population confronted with these murders in the streets as well as in the press.
   
   Warning: Article contains a graphic picture of the mutilated body of a ritual murder victim.
   
   April 11, 2012
    
5. Olivier Herviaux's blog Africamix - La case à palabres ^new
   Le blog d'Olivier Herviaux, journaliste au Monde
   Olivier Herviaux writes for the French newspaper Le Monde
   Gabon: the horror of ritual killings continues
   (in French)
   Summary in English:
   After mentioning the May 12, 2012 murder of Chantal, a 15-year young albino girl in Burundi, Olivier Herviaux focuses on the practice of ritual murders in Gabon. Presumably his post was written in 2010 or 2011.
   (...)
   On March 3, 2005 the mutilated bodes of two children were found on the beach of Libereville, the capital. The father of one of the deceased, Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo then creates the 'Organization Fighting Ritual Murders' ('Association de lutte contre les crimes rituels', ALCR)
   (...)
   In 2010 37 cases of ritual murders were reported.(....) In 2009: 42 reported cases (....) in 2008 44 cases.
   (...)
   Notably elections cause a carnage, politicians and would-be politicians sacrifice relatives, often children, or resort to the kidnapping of (also) innocent citizens.
   (....)
   July 16, 2011
    
6. Gabon election raises fears of ritual killings
   (...) Every week, mutilated bodies are discovered in the capital Libreville, despite police patrols, and streets quickly empty after nightfall. Anxious parents are keeping a close watch around schools to prevent children from being snatched.
   
   The head of an association against ritual crimes, Frederic Ntera Etoua, said 290 killings had occurred since 1986 in the thick jungles of the Ogooue-Ivindo province in the northeast, where Ralph Edang N'na was killed.
   
   Philippe Ndong, a psychology teacher at Libreville university, traces the rise in ritual crimes to 2001.
   
   "As legislative elections approached, mutilated bodies were discovered around the country," said Ndong. "An 8-year-old girl was snatched in Ndolou department and killed in Mouila. The man allegedly responsible was a candidate to parliament who entered the government after this crime."
   
   Ndong cites other ritual murders. In 2002, a man in his 20s, Lucien Bigoundou, was killed in the Digoudou forest of central Gabon while on a hunting trip with companions who cut off his genitals and other parts of his body.
   
   In March 2005, the bodies of two 12-year-old boys were washed up on a Libreville beach -- one was Ebang Ondo's son. A month later, six-year-old Warlys Igor Mboumba was found dead in a Libreville gutter, his body drained of blood.
   
   In January 2006, the bodies of three children under four were discovered in the trunk of a car in a private yard.
   
   And last April, two men suspected of sodomising a 3-year-old boy and draining his blood in a ritual killing were lynched.
   April 16, 2008
   
   Children mutilated and drained of blood in ritual killings 'by African politicians hoping for election luck'
   Politicians in the central African nation of Gabon have been accused of ritually killing children in the belief that it will increase their chances of election. When the body of 13-year-old Ralph Edang N'na was found drained of blood and with gaping wounds last month, many in Gabon thought it was politicians who had ordered his killing. The murder of children and young adults, whose organs are eaten or used to make magical amulets, has increased in recent years in the oil-rich central African nation.
   April 16, 2008
    
7. Gabonese Eat Children’s Organs for Good Luck
   As elections are getting closer, more and more children disappear and sometimes are found massacred, said a fighter against the ritual.
   
   When in Gabon a 13-year-old child was found without organs, genitals and with his blood drained, the public started to be worried that these are politically ordered sacrifises which the presidential candidates use to have luck at the elections.
   
   This oil rich African country, where 1.6 million people live, has recorded many similar murders in the past, and now they started to appear again. In fact, a person who eats the organs of a young boy will see his/her dreams come true, and the person who wears them around his/her neck will be protected by calamities and evil spirits which could afflict luck.
   (...)
   As the elections are getting closer, more and more young children disappear and it happens that they are found massacred, therefore we believe that the politicians are the ones who order the murders – said a member of an organisation against the killing ritual, pastor Francois Bibang, and added that the police does nothing to stop this.
   (...)
   Even the UN reacted to these accidents, but they have no power to persecute or investigate the leading members of the society, therefore murders of this kind are not reduced, despite their presence.
   (...) a member of parliament, Guy Nzouba Ndama, is convinced that the murders are actually a work of organ dealers (...) "This is a very organised crime, and it is very well screened by ritual murders, especially now during the elections. The whole public is watching the politicians, and human organs dealers kill young children and no one even has any suspect", said Ndama.
   
   Data show that since 1986, 290 children under 14 years of age have been murdered in this brutal way.
   April 16, 2008
    
8. Ritual murder seen as way to local power in Gabon
   Pre-election ritual killings in Gabon are on the rise, carried out by secret networks, scavenging for blood or body parts in pursuit of boundless health, wealth, success and power. "Unfortunately, this practice seems to be spreading again in Gabon," said Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo, founder of the ALCR, the Association to Fight Ritual Crimes, since his 12-year-old son was kidnapped, killed and mutilated in 2005.
   The ALCR and the Gabonese media claim such killings become more common in the weeks ahead of local elections, because candidates encourage sacrifices on their behalf. Ebang Ondo says there have been 12 ritual murders since February.
   Mar 27, 2008
    
9. When the body of 13-year-old Ralph Edang N'na was found drained of blood and with gaping wounds in his genitals, chest and neck last month, many in Gabon thought it was politicians who had ordered his killing.
   April 16, 2008
    
10. Kofi Akosah-Sarpong discusses a Gabonese teacher’s campaign against human sacrifice and its wide-spread implications Africa’s progress
    June 6, 2007
     
11. Libreville - A three-year-old in Gabon was killed after having been kidnapped, raped and burnt with an iron as part of what may have been a ritualistic ceremony, family members and others said on Wednesday.
    The head of the Gabonese Association for the Fight Against Ritual Crimes said the murder carried the marks of a ritual, a recurring practice in the country. The rituals often involve kidnapping young people and mutilating
    April 4, 2007
     
12. After a series of suspected ritual kiling cases that had occurred early this year, in April another victim was found in the oil-producing central
    African state. Gabon's government (...) appealed to the public not to take justice in their own hands following the lynching of two men suspected of sodomising a 3-year-old boy and draining his blood in a ritual murder case.
    April 13, 2007
     
13. At the twentieth century’s end, religion and magic constitute one of the most powerful rhetorics of political culture in Equatorial Africa. Public rumors depict sorcery as the most common way to achieve personal success, wealth, and prestige in times of economic shortage and declining social opportunities.
    Undated
     

GABON: Déclaration de Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, Président de l'Association de Lutte Contre les Crimes Rituels
Publié par Mapane_Gaboma
le 9 mai 2012
May 12, 2012
(in French - spoken)
Statement by Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, President of the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders', Gabon. 

Communiqué de l'Association de Lutte contre les Crimes Rituels au Gabon
Publié par Gabonlibre
janvier 2012
(in French)
January 2012
Statement by the President of the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders, Gabon

L'église s'engage dans la lutte contre les crimes rituels - á la demande de l'' Association de Lutte contre les Crimes Rituels au Gabon
Publié par La-Croix.com
le 30 janvier 2012
(in French)
January 30, 2012
The Church joins the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders in its fight against ritual crimes in Gabon.

Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, Président de l'Association de Lutte contre les Crimes Rituels (ALCR) répond aux questions de Christophe Boisbouvier (RFI)
(in French - spoken)
Worldpeace:
le 15 juillet 2011
July 15, 2011
Interview RFI (Christophe Boisbouvier), Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, President of the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders', Gabon.

'La période électorale est fertile en crimes rituels', Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, Président de l'Association de Lutte contre les Crimes Rituels (ALCR)
Publié par the Gabonese daily 'Ogooue Infos'
(in French)
le 29 août 2009
August 29, 2009
'Election time comes with ritual murders', Interview, Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, President of the Organization Fighting Ritual Murders', Gabon. 

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