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Malawi police told to 'shoot' criminals attacking albinos for body parts

Body parts of those who suffer from albinism are prized for their black magic properties in certain regions of East Africa

Thursday 09 April 2015 14:57 BST

(REUTERS)

Police in Malawi have been ordered to shoot anyone attacking or abducting albinos in a bid to curb the killing of those affected by the condition.

At least 15 albinos, mainly children, have reportedly been wounded, abducted or killed in East Africa over the past six months with a marked increase seen in Malawi, Tanzania and Burundi.

Their body parts are desired by witch doctors for use in black magic potions and spells, said to bring love, luck and wealth.

UN officials said that at least six attacks on albinos were reported in Malawi in the first 10 weeks of 2015 compared to four incidents over the past four years. They warned gangs have begun roaming the southern district of Machinga on the hunt for victims.

Albinism is a genetically inherited condition that leaves the body unable to produce melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes.

The order to shoot attackers came from Malawi’s Inspector General of Police Lexen Kachama.

He instructed police to "shoot every criminal who is violent when caught red-handed abducting people with albinism.

“We cannot just watch while our friends with albinism are being killed like animals every day. We do realise that these people are ruthless, have no mercy and therefore need to be treated like that.”

In pictures: How Africa's young photographers have reclaimed lens from the west

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1/8In pictures: How Africa's young photographers have reclaimed lens from the west

In pictures: How Africa's young photographers have reclaimed lens from the west

Adolphus Opera, 'Husk Mountains of Abakaliki'

Abakaliki in Nigeria is known for its production of rice. The ‘mountains’ are husks from processed rice that have piled up for many years. Poor local villagers come daily to sieve out grains to eat, but the mountains contain a health hazard of which they are mostly unaware: ‘It has been medically proven that, over a long period of time, exposure to the dust from the husks results in severe pulmonary ailments,’ explains Opara

In pictures: How Africa's young photographers have reclaimed lens from the west

Justin Dingwall, 'Albus: Three Marys'

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Ade Adekola, 'Street Hawker Montage'

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In pictures: How Africa's young photographers have reclaimed lens from the west

Mario Macilau, 'Taking a Shower'

The Mozambican photographer was determined to give the opportunity to the street children of Maputo to tell their own story through his work. To this end, he befriended a group of children, who invited him into their living spaces, where they fend for themselves, unsupervised, living in the shadow of the constant threat of hunger, violence and even death

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Malick Sidibé, 'Portrait of two men and a woman'

By covering the city's social events, Sidibé captured the energy and excitement of the social and cultural shift taking place in Mali in the late 1950s through to the mid-1970s. 'Music liberated African youth from the taboo of being with a woman,' he said. 'At these parties… a young man could dance with a young woman close up. We were not used to it.'

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Lakin Ogunbanwo, 'Standing Man (Clothed/Nude)'

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Patrick Willocq, 'Asongwaka Takes Off'

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Patrick Willocq, 'I Am Walé, Respect Me: Epanza Makita, Batwalé'

Willocq grew up in Democratic Republic of Congo and was always fascinated by its Ekonda pygmy population. The Walé ritual of first-time mothers is a tribute to fertility and femininity - and Willocq asked five Walés to participate in visual representations of a personal song they will sing on the day they return from the seclusion they enter into after the birth of their child (they stay with their parents for anything up to five years, to learn their new place in society). Here Walé Epanza Makita compares herself to a bat - for pygmies, these are unique creatures, half-animal, half-bird.

The order follows a UN statement last month which condemned the killing of albino and warned of the sharp increase of murders.

Tanzania banned witch doctors in January 2015 following accusations of killing albinos and the country also sentenced four people to death for the killing of an albino woman.

200 witch doctors have since been arrested.

Albinism is a condition that effects around one in 20,000 people. However rates are much higher in sub-Saharan Africa (PIETER HUGO. COURTESY OF MICHAEL STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND YOSSIMILO, NEW YORK)

Albino rights activists have called for greater protection of albinos but said that killing suspects was unlikely to deter criminals offered large sums of money for securing body parts as they were likely to still take the risk for the promised reward.

Witchdoctors have been known to pay as much as $75,000 for a full set of albino body parts, according a report by the Red Cross.

Vicky Ntetema, executive director of Under The Same Sun, a Canadian non-profit organisation that defends albino rights told Reuters that, though the organisation wanted justice for the people kidnapped, mutilated and killed, killing the attackers was not the answer:

“We have to remember that all those goons caught red handed are small-fish agents and executors of the big sharks out there.

“Killing them on the spot is not going to help us catch the inducers, those with money to hire these gangs who continue to terrorise innocent people with albinism and their families.”

According to the UN report and police figures the plight of those with albinism in East Africa has worsened in recent years and there are fears that an election in Tanzania later this year will prompt more attacks as politicians seek luck at the ballot box.

Last month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged African governments to combat impunity for those who commit crimes against people who suffer from albinism.

Albinism affects around one in 20,000 people worldwide. It is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and affects around one in 1,400 people in Tanzania.

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