Tanzania's albinos are being 'hunted down like
animals' as greed for money and influence drives families to turn on their own
loved ones in a trade allegedly fuelled by some of the country's most powerful
people.
It is believed albino body parts will bring a
person wealth, or luck - and for that, people are willing to pay as much as
$3,000 or $4,000 for a limb, or as much as $75,000 - about £50,000 - for the
'full set', a whole body.
People with albinism are regularly attacked by
people who chop their limbs off - an act which either leaves them severely
mutilated, or dead.
Albinism, a hereditary genetic condition which
causes a total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes, affects one
Tanzanian in 1,400, often as a result of inbreeding in remote and rural
communities, experts say.
In the West, it affects just one person in
20,000.
Since people began collecting records of the
attacks, there have been 74 killings and 59 survivors of attacks. Even the
dead are not safe: 16 graves have been robbed.
And these are only the recorded cases.
The most recent case saw
four-year-old Pendo Emmanuelle Nundi abducted from her home in December.
Her father and uncle were both arrested in
connection with her disappearance, but - despite rewards offered of £1,130 and
promises of swift action from the police - she has not been found.
Charities working in the area do not hold out
much hope she will be returned safely, but - listening to survivors' stories -
it is likely her end is, or will be brutal.
Mwigulu Matonange was just 10 when he was
attacked by two men as he walked home from school with a friend.
They chopped off his left arm, before
disappearing back into the jungle with their 'prize'.
'I was held down like a goat about to be
slaughtered,' he told
IPP Media after the February 2014 attack.
In Mwigulu's case, the two men were strangers:
he had never seen them before.
But it is understood suspicion turned on
Pendo's father after he took half-an-hour to report her abduction, despite
there being neighbours who could have helped as soon as she was taken.
It is not just parents. A 38-year-old woman
with albinism was attacked with machetes by her husband and four other men
while she was sleeping in February 2013, according to a UN report.
Her eight-year-old daughter watched her father
leave the bedroom carrying her mother's arm.
Those living with albinism in Tanzania fear
the lure of making a couple of hundred dollars - three times the minimum wage
earned in the country - is placing them in danger, even from their own
families.
'Now we can see the parents who are involved
in planning the attacks. What kind of war are we fighting if parents and family
do this? Who can we trust?' Josephat Torner, who campaigns for albino
rights, asked.
Josephat, who himself is albino, added:
'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.
'The question is, why? Why now? And who is
behind the killings?'
Exactly who remains unknown.
But Jospehat - who has received death threats
for his work, and was attacked in 2012 - said: 'The big fishes are behind
the issue. It has been really a big discussion. If I say big fish, or big
people, it is those who have enough resources, enough money.
'People sell the body parts for high prices.
So it is not really small fish behind it.
'It could be politicians. It could be those
people.'
Josephat's theory is backed up by Peter Ash, a
Canadian who set up the charity Under
the Same Sun in 2009.
'In a country like Tanzania, which is the 25th
poorest in the world, the only people with that kind of cash are politicians or
wealthy businessman,' he said.
But whoever they are, those buying the witch
doctors' wares are clearly powerful.
Only 10 people have ever been brought to trial
for their part in albino attacks or murders - but not one of them was a
'buyer'.
'The only people who have been convicted are
the witch doctors and the hired killers,' said Peter.
'But they would never name the customer - even
when the witch doctor is given the death sentence. Never has a customer been
named.'
There are, campaigners know, times when more
albino attacks take place. And they know, with the general election coming up
in October, now is one of the most dangerous times to be an albino.
The UN warned political campaigners were
turning to witch doctors to help them win election back in August.
'People with albinism are hiding while there
are elections,' said Peter.
Jospehat added: 'This year we are going to
have an election. Since last year, we have been seeing attacks and
killings.'
Already, there has been a noticeable increase.
Children and adults are kept behind high walls
in special centres, hidden away from the people who want to kill and maim them
'I am asking the police to move me to a safer
place and protect me because bad men might come back to kill me,' she pleaded.
These 'safer places' are the centres set up
around the country, where large number of people with albinism are living
behind high walls for their own protection.
The camps were established after the first
high profile waves of attacks, a knee-jerk response to a terrifying situation.
'It was supposed to be a short term solution,'
Peter said. 'But there was no long term plan.'
Years later, they still exist - and now are
not just for children: adults are kept behind the camps' high walls as well.
'Children who are there, they are living there
maybe for seven years without going back to their families,' said Jospehat.
'At the end of the day, families or
communities do not want to allow them to go back. These children are growing up
without any parental care.'
'If you ask the community why now are they
forcing their children to the camps, they are saying it is where they belong.
But we are not for the camps: we are for the community.'
But the government now appears to be taking
action: after widespread criticism of its reaction to Pendo's abduction,
it moved to outlaw the witch doctors behind the killings.
They have not banned traditional healers who
use herbs, however.
Not Just a Tanzanian Problem
Attacks
and murders of people with albinism are not just confined to Tanzania.
Under
The Same Sun has recorded a total of 136 killings and 211 attacks across 25
countries in Africa since they began keeping records.
A total
of 33 reports of killings, attacks and grave robberies have been recorded in
neighbouring Burundi, with 29 cases recorded in the Democractic Republic of
Congo.
'These so-called witches bear responsibility
for the attacks against albinos,' interior ministry spokesman Isaac Nantanga
said.
But as to whether it will make a difference
for those living in fear for their lives remains to be seen.
Harry Freeland, who spent seven years
following Josephat and other Tanzanian albinos for his documentary In the Shadow of the Sun,
was cautious.
'Really, we can't jump to conclusions,' he
said. 'It means nothing until we can see tangible results.
'There is hope for strong action. But we have
heard statements like this before.'
Peter is less confident, pointing back to
2009, when President Jakaya Kikwete declared he was outlawing witch
doctors.
But the sweeping statement sparked a backlash
in a country where many people still rely on traditional medicines, and the new
law was quietly ditched.
But this time, the government is also putting
an emphasis on education.
That's something Jospehat has been doing for
years: risking his life to go into remote villages to explain to people they
are not ghosts, but human beings whose bodies will not bring luck.
He hopes to reach more people now, with the
help of Harry's documentary.
And he hopes, eventually, that he will no
longer have to leave his family behind in Dar es Salaam while he travels across
the country.
In the meantime, he will continue to
campaigning and trying to raise awareness.
'Why are we being threatened in our own
country, because of our colour?' he asked.
'We are living like refugees in our own
country because of our skin colour.
'We are being judged for our colour. We are
being punished.
'What we are demanding is a right to life.
This should be fundamental, but we are being denied it.'
'I want to live like other people, the way
they live.’
Albinos: The Ghosts Who Can Bring You Wealth, Power
and Luck
Albinos are seen as curses, or 'ghosts'
who can be wiped off the face of the earth, in many part of Tanzania, and
across Africa.
Albinism is a hereditary genetic
condition which causes a total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and
eyes, albinism affects one Tanzanian in 1,400, often as a result of inbreeding
in remote and rural communities, experts say.
In the West, it affects just one person
in 20,000.
Families are often told to kill the
children at birth. Yet, conversely, their body parts are highly prized.
But Jospehat Torner sees the two as
being intrinsically linked.
'The killings and attacks is the
outcome of the stigma and discrimination. If you respect me, you won't think of
me as a commodity,' he said.
Witch doctors claim albino body parts
are capable of bringing riches, power and success, if used in potions, while a
UN report report into the trade revealed miners used the bone as amulets, or
would bury them where they are drilling for gold.
Fishermen are said to weave the hair into
their nets to help them catch more fish.
Children are particularly vulnerable:
their innocence is highly valued, and they are not as strong as the adults
attacking them.
Most of the time, limbs are taken - but
the report notes there have been cases where victims were beheaded, genitals,
ears, and bits of skin were removed; tongues were cut out and the eyes and the
heart gouged out.
Other types of attacks reported
included rape for healing purposes.
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