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Sunday, 1 February 2015

Albinos fetch plenty cash for witch doctors

Tanzania Standing Voice


These graphic images show how albinos living in Tanzania are being attacked and often hacked to death for their limbs in widespread witchcraft practices.
Referred to as 'White Ghosts' in their communities, many believe their body parts bring good luck and wealth.
And the rich are willing to pay for such superstitions, with some forking out up to £2,600 for a limb, and as much as £50,000 for a whole body.
The sick trade has seen families turn on their own loved ones with witch doctors using body parts in their rituals and turning them into charms and potions.
Many of those attacked are children, who are 'hunted down like animals', with suspicion often turning on family members.

There have also been cases of husbands turning on wives due to the lure of making money. Many are so badly mutilated they die from their injuries.

Officially, 72 people with albinism have been brutally murdered in Tanzania over the past five years and many others left mutilated. But charities fear most murders go unreported and it is impossible to know how many babies are killed at birth.

According to the charity Standing Voice, which is working to stop human rights violations against marginalised groups, the stigma that surrounds albinism has been ingrained in society for generations.
Those involved in witchcraft also operate under a 'code of silence', which has made it even more difficult for authorities to investigate.
A spokesman said: "Seen as a curse from God, albinos are believed to bring bad luck to the households they are born in to.

"Many are killed at birth or rejected by their families. Judged by their skin colour alone they are continually dehumanised and ostracised within their communities.
"This stigmatisation has reached an unimaginable new level.

Harry Freeland / www.standingvoice.org Tanzania Standing Voice
Hereditary: Albinism affects one Tanzanian in 1,400

"This practice has been fuelled by witchcraft. Witch doctors say the magic charms are more powerful if they contain body parts from people with albinism, which has led to a lucrative criminal trade in these body parts.
"In a society where poverty is rife, this horrific practice is becoming more widespread. To date only five people have been convicted in Tanzania for these crimes despite 100 confirmed attacks."
Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition which causes a total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes.
According to experts it affects one Tanzanian in 1,400, often due to inbreeding in remote areas. There are approximately 17,000 people with albinism in Tanzania.
The shocking treatment of albinos in Tanzania led Harry Freefold to create a documentary.
In the Shadow of the Sun tells the story of two albino men as they attempt to follow their dreams in the face of prejudice and fear.
It was filmed over six years and shows first hand how albinos are living in fear for their lives. One of the men who features is Josephat Torner, who was born the only albino child out of 35 siblings.
He has spent his life campaigning for albino rights.

Tanzania Standing Voice
Superstitions: Albinos are targeted by witchdoctors

He said: 'People with the albinism are being hunted and killed for our body parts. It is because people want to become rich.
'We are still living in danger. It is because people, they have different ideas. Some people, they are thinking they should get our body parts and sell to different places."
Josephat believes it could be rich businessmen and politicians behind the trade in body parts, but is determined to help those with albinism live normal lives.
"We can't be refugees in our own country just because of our colour."
But the attacks have led to segregation, with hundreds of albino children being moved to live in special government schools surrounded by high walls and guarded by police. Yet it still hasn't stopped the sick trade continuing.
The most recent case is that of four-year-old Pendo Emmanuelle Nundi who was abducted from her home in December.
Despite promises of rewards and her father and uncle being arrested in connection with her disappearance, she has not been found.

Mr freefold, who was also one of the founders of standing voice, added: "We are holding a press conference in Tanzania next week, but are expecting the worst."

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