Witchcraft accusations in New Guinea: is it correct to call this a
"highly modern phenomenon" and say it is not a practice from "ages
past"?
I think that is a false choice, and that it is part one and part the
other.
It may be true that an accusation of witchcraft nowadays typically
results from conflicts related to modern society and the precarious
economy. I have no reason to doubt that. It would result from whatever
tends to cause strong conflict.
However, the choice to handle the conflict by accusing someone of
witchcraft surely comes out of cruel traditions, and so does the
choice to deal with that accusation by torturing the alleged witch.
The fact that in some regions it is usually males that are accused of
witchcraft, while in other regions usually females are accused,
supports the idea that the traditional culture of each region is
responsible. New Guinea traditional cultures varied greatly in their
customs and religious beliefs, including their beliefs about
witchcraft.
Whatever the explanation, the idea of witchcraft is a plague of
irrationality that leads to persecution of many innocent people.
One thing secular humanists do, in many countries, is campaign for an
end to persecution of "witches". I see articles about this
occasionally in the secular humanist magazine, Free Inquiry.