Ritual attacks and killings of Albinos are on the increase in Tanzania and United Nations human rights officials are calling for greater protection for them in the run-up to 2015 general elections there.
Five new attacks against people with albinism occurred over an 11-day period in Tanzania last month, making the number of such attacks since 2000 151, including 74 murders.
Albinos are people who ordinarily should be black but who because of a genetic error lack the necessary pigmentation, and therefore look whitish.
Consequently there is a belief in certain parts of Africa that “their body parts” have “magical powers” which bring power and fame” when used properly.
A U.N. human rights official, Ms. Alicia Loudono, after a recent visit to Tanzania, expresses great concern over the marginalization, discrimination and persecution which Albinos suffer in Africa, saying they are often portrayed “as ghosts, as devils, as people who bring bad luck, death or sickness.”
“The worst form of discrimination is the ritual attacks. These are rooted in superstition… Body parts of persons with albinism are used for witchcraft purposes. There is this belief in certain countries that body parts have magical powers and if used in potions produced by witch doctors it will bring wealth and power,” said Loudono.
The result is that Albinos “mutilated for their body parts”, with a limb earning the ritualist thousands of dollars on the black market and that those whose arms or legs get cut off are usually left to bleed to death.
According to non-governmental organizations there have been 328 attacks since 2000 in 24 different countries, including Burundi, Ivory Coast and Swaziland, with most attacks occurring in the rural areas.
Early in 2013, there was a rise in the number of ritual attacks. Loudono says on her trip to Tanzania, everyone linked the recent attacks to the presidential election set for October 2015.
“There is this common knowledge of people with albinism, that attacks increase when there is an election. One of the reasons they say is that there are some politicians that use witchcraft for gaining power. This is part of their belief… for winning elections, for being richer, etc.,” she said.
While in Tanzania, Loudono visited several centres for children with special needs where children with albinism are warehoused, pointing out that though the centres were originally intended as temporary, they have now become a long-term solution.
She says the conditions in which these children are kept are appalling. They are overcrowded and unhygienic, and the children are subject to corporal punishment, threats and sexual abuse.
Instead of segregating the unfortunate children from their communities, Loudono urged the Tanzanian authorities to make every effort to integrate them back into their homes and societies.