(Africa) Albino people are being hunted for their body parts

[senona]

Malawi Police register albinos to end horrific trade in body parts

This is a tragic ongoing story, of albinos being targeted for their body parts, which are sold to be used in potions made by witch doctors who claim they bring wealth and good luck.

And now they are trying to 'register' albinos in order to protect them.

Malawi Police say they are registering all persons with albinism across the country in a bid to protect them.

According to police spokesperson at the National Police Headquarters Nicholas Gondwa said the process of registration of the people with albinism is going on well.

“We are yet to finish the registration exercise. As you might be aware this was ordered by our commander in chief His Excellency the President,” he said.

Gondwa said this means the police will now be using community policing structures to protect people with albinism.

The registration comes at a time President Peter Mutharika ordered the Inspector General of Police go for an education tour in Rwanda and Tanzania to learn how the authorities in the two countries dealt with the abductions and killings of people with albinism.


So far 38 people with albinism have been killed so far for their body parts.


The albino attacks is fuelled by witchcraft and locals  are swayed by promises of large sums of money. In many cases a relative has been involved.

“Some parents or relatives don’t really value a child with albinism. They get tempted by the offer of money,” says Bonface Massah, head of the Association of People with Albinism in Malawi.

How sad and tragic that is, all because of a belief  (yet, once again)


Albinos are being killed in record numbers for their body parts

Over the past year and a half, a disturbing and violent trend has been growing in Malawi, a country often known by its nickname: "The Warm Heart of Africa."
At least 18 people with albinism, a congenital condition resulting in a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes, have been murdered, and many others have been raped or harassed. Four of the murders happened in April alone, and five more albinos have been abducted and are still missing.

A new report from Amnesty International accuses Malawian police of failing to protect the albino population, and the Malawian government of failing to educate its citizens about albinism's natural causes.

Albinism is more common in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the world. Superstitions about the condition are rife, especially in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique.

Some believe that having sex with an albino woman can cure HIV, which puts albino women at particular risk for rape. Others believe that the bones of albino people contain gold, or have medicinal or even magical properties. That demand, stemming from a ritual medicine revival in Malawi, is fueling the spate of murders by gangs that, allegedly, can make as much as $75,000 selling a "full set" of albino body parts, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross.

"Their bones are believed to be sold to practitioners of traditional medicine in Malawi and Mozambique for use in charms and magical potions in the belief that they bring wealth and good luck," Amnesty said. "The macabre trade is also fueled by a belief that bones of people with albinism contain gold."

And a Mother's story of one of her son's being snatched from her grip

Cedrick, the mother of the murdered boy, recounted his abduction to The Associated Press last month while holding the murdered boy's surviving twin brother, who also has albinism. In the middle of the night, she said, she woke to the sound of people kicking down the door of the house. Her husband was away.

"Before I could understand what was happening, they sliced the mosquito net and grabbed one of the twins," the 26-year-old said, tears in her eyes. "I held on to him by holding his waist, at the same time shielding the other with my back."

When they could not overpower her, one assailant hacked her in the forehead with a machete, she said. "This dazed me, and I lost hold of my son and he was gone. I shouted for help, but when my relatives rushed to our house, they were gone."

The boy's twin keeps asking where his brother is, she said. She lies, saying he will return.


On the same day of the interview, a deadly attack was carried out in another part of Malawi on 38 year-old Fletcher Masina, an albino father of four. When his body was found, the limbs were missing.

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