Hunting for humans: African albinos live in fear - CNN.com

For Agness Jonathan, every day is a gamble with her children's lives.

Simple questions like whether they should go to school carry an unimaginable risk of death and dismemberment to satisfy a barbaric demand. 

 

This is because her daughters are living with albinism, a genetic condition resulting in little or no pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. And this makes them a target.

It is children like Agness' who, according to a newly released Amnesty International report, are being hunted like animals in Malawi where their bones are sold in the belief the body parts bring wealth, happiness and good luck.

The report chronicles the day-to-day lives of those living with the condition, and details the extent of a recent surge in killings of albinos living in the landlocked country in southern Africa. 

 

The bloodiest month was April this year, when Amnesty says four people were murdered, including a baby.

Hunting for humans: African albinos live in fear - CNN.com

African Witchcraft Victims Treated After Limbs Were Cut Off | NBC 10 Philadelphia

Kabula Nkarango Masanja returned home to Tanzania with a new American prosthetic arm replacing the limb that was chopped off with a machete by followers of African witchcraft.

She's one of Tanzania's children with albinism, a condition that leaves people with little or no pigment in their skin, hair or eyes. Their severed body parts are used in potions witch doctors believe bring wealth and good luck. The soft-spoken 17-year-old Kabula is now one of the lucky ones.

Doctors at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia recently created new artificial limbs for Kabula and four other youngsters. And New York City resident Elissa Montanti provided housing about two hours away in the borough of Staten Island and organized all their daily, medical and travel needs.

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Lacking natural pigmentation, people with albinism look almost white - ghosts of departed humans, according to witch doctors who order body parts to be hacked off: hair, nails, teeth, tongues, hands, feet, even genitals. More than 200 witch doctors have been arrested so far in the killings of Tanzanians with albinism. The government outlawed witch doctors last year.

Still, attacks continue; at least eight were recorded in Tanzania in the past year.

There's another, even more cruel twist.

Some parents are collaborators because "they still believe their children are cursed," says Ester Rwela, a social worker who accompanies the children and translates their Swahili language.

African Witchcraft Victims Treated After Limbs Were Cut Off | NBC 10 Philadelphia

Tanzania Police Arrest Man Who Tried to Sell Albino Niece for Body Parts | VICE News

Tanzanian authorities have nabbed a 44-year-old man in an undercover sting aimed at curbing the selling of people with albinism to witchdoctors and others who would use their body parts in black magic.

People with albinism, also known as albinos, have an extreme deficiency of melanin pigmentation that makes their skin and hair very pale. The condition generally results from recessive genes carried by parents. Albinism in Africa brings with it an increased chance of developing fatal skin cancer, and the lack of pigment to protect eyes against the bright sun can cause sight problems.

Morbidly, in some areas where superstitions prevail, there are those who believe that the body parts of people with albinism bring wealth and luck when used in charms.

The suspect arrested in Tanzania was allegedly trying to sell his six-year-old albino niece, but did not know that he was actually dealing with security officials as part of an operation to put a halt to the illegal body part trade, Reuters reported.

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One child in 3,000 is born with albinism in East Africa, compared to one in 20,000 in the United States. Advocacy groups estimate that there are more than 100,000 albinos in Tanzania. The targeting of this group in abductions and killings has become common — more than 76 albinos have been murdered in the country since 2000 and various others mutilated in some way.

Tanzania Police Arrest Man Who Tried to Sell Albino Niece for Body Parts | VICE News

Ritual Killing and Skepticism in Zambia

Zambia has just recorded its ‘first case’ of albino killing. Suspected ritualists butchered a 37 year old albino woman in the eastern district of Lundazi. They cut off her right hand and extracted the teeth from her mouth. In Zambia, ritual murder is on the rise.

Mutilated bodies of persons suspected to have been killed by ritualists were found in many parts of the country. Some body parts - arms, tongues, genitals or skin - were missing. The bodies of a 19 year old boy and a 70 year old woman with missing organs were discovered in Lusaka and in the Western province. Some suspected victims of ritual murder in the Central province had their hands and legs chopped off. Ritual killing is a common practice across countries in sub Saharan Africa including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Tanzania and Malawi. Why are Zambians – and many people across Africa still murdering people for rituals?


The belief in Zambia is that these body parts can be used to perform sacrifice which can fortify people spiritually or bring good luck and success. People harvest these body parts which are sold or sent to local medicine men who use them to perform rituals. The sale of body parts for ritual sacrifice accounts for the thriving market in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, etc

Unfortunately many Zambians have not bothered to ask : Can ritual sacrifice really make one rich?

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Zambians should begin to challenge claims associated with ritual killing and human sacrifice because if these underpinning misconceptions are not debunked, these vicious practices will not disappear. They will not stop. Definitely, it is not all Zambians that believe that money or success can be achieved through ritual sacrifice. There are skeptics and critical thinking people in Zambia. The issue is this: What are they doing? Why are they not speaking out? Why are their views and perspectives not captured in the discourse on ritual killing? What are they saying about the claim that ‘albino eyes, genitals and limbs can make somebody rich? Why are they not providing Zambia with skeptical fortification for people with albinism as against the supposed spiritual fortification which Zambia derive from ritual sacrifice of human body parts? Skeptics in Zambia may not want to speak out because they fear being attacked or persecuted. They fear being branded ‘atheists’ and stigmatized.

Ritual Killing and Skepticism in Zambia