Seven new albino killings in Tanzania and Burundi
Ablinos in Tanzania live in fear
Telegraph.co.uk, 06 May 2010
Seven new albino killings have been reported in Tanzania and Burundi amid signs that the lucrative trade in their body parts has not waned.
Under the Same Sun, a Vancouver-based NGO, put the toll of albino murders at 57 in Tanzania.
The group reported the killing on May 2 of a 28 year-old albino woman
and her four year-old son in Cendajuru, on Burundi's border with
Tanzania.
The two had their limbs
and organs hacked off by a gang of nine armed men, and the boy's
non-albino grandfather who intervened to stop them was killed on the
spot, the group said, citing Burundi's police chief Deogratias
Ntahompagaze.
Under the Same Sun noted another murder and four attempted murders of albinos in Tanzania between February and April.
"This brings the total in Tanzania to 57 murders and six attempted
murders, where victims lost limbs. In Burundi the total is 14 murders.
These are only the documented cases. The numbers are likely much higher -
estimates suggesting well over a hundred in the last two years," the
NGO said.
"Sadly justice has been far
too slow in coming. Of the 63 reported cases in Tanzania, a mere two
have been brought to conviction in the last two years. In sharp
contrast, 12 of Burundi's 14 cases have led to convictions," the group
said.
The wave of albino killings started in 2007, fuelled by the sale of their highly-prized body parts to witch doctors across the region who use them to concoct wealth-enhancing charms.
The Tanzanian police estimates at £50,000 "the value to witch doctors of a complete set of albino body parts, including all four limbs, genitals, ears, nose and tongue."
Albinism is a congenital lack of the melanin pigment in the skin, eyes and hair which protects from the sun's ultraviolets. Albinos are vulnerable to medical complications as well as social discrimination in Africa.
Of about 150,000 albinos in Tanzania, a country of some 35 million, some 8,000 are registered with the Tanzania Albino Society. Some families kill albino babies at birth to avoid discrimination, authorities say.
The wave of albino killings started in 2007, fuelled by the sale of their highly-prized body parts to witch doctors across the region who use them to concoct wealth-enhancing charms.
The Tanzanian police estimates at £50,000 "the value to witch doctors of a complete set of albino body parts, including all four limbs, genitals, ears, nose and tongue."
Albinism is a congenital lack of the melanin pigment in the skin, eyes and hair which protects from the sun's ultraviolets. Albinos are vulnerable to medical complications as well as social discrimination in Africa.
Of about 150,000 albinos in Tanzania, a country of some 35 million, some 8,000 are registered with the Tanzania Albino Society. Some families kill albino babies at birth to avoid discrimination, authorities say.
Albino girl, 11, killed and beheaded in Swaziland ’for witchcraft’
By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg
Telegraph.co.uk, 20 Aug 2010
An 11-year-old albino girl from Swaziland was shot dead in front of her friends and then beheaded in what police believe was a ritual murder.
Police believe children are targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions.
The child had been washing clothes and bathing at a river with friends and was returning home when she was grabbed by a man wearing a balaclava.
As her friends looked on, the man shot her in the back before dragging her away. Her headless body was found upriver a short time later.
The murder is the latest in a series of albino killings in Sub-Saharan Africa, where sufferers of the rare skin pigmentation condition are concentrated.
Earlier this year, another 11-year-old albino child was killed close to the same spot in Swaziland and her hand was removed.
Police believe both children may have been targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos - who lack pigment in their eyes, hair and skin - can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions.
Their value for black magic practitioners sees them often fall prey to human traffickers, one of whom was jailed for 17 years in Tanzania this week for abducting and attempting to sell a live albino man.
The girl murdered in Swaziland was named locally as Banele Nxumalo. A man identified as her father, Luke Nxumalo, told The Times of Swaziland that his late uncle had also been an albino.
“What happened to my child is very painful. I wonder why albinos are targeted because they are just humans like us and a gift from God,” he said.
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See also
Witchcraft in Congo: Testimonies from the Orthodox Mission in Africa
Two miracles of the Holy Cross in Africa (Congo)
Witchcraft (tag)
"They are indigenous Sierra Leoneans who happen to be albinos..."
Orthodox Tanzania
Orthodox Burundi
Orthodox Swaziland
Orthodox South Africa
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