- It is widely believed that people seeking quick wealth and political power spend huge amounts of money contracting killers to supply albino body parts, which are ultimately used as charms.
- The killings are a cross-border business and cites the case of five-month-old Noela Neema, who was abducted in December 2010 in Ruyigi in Burundi and taken across the border to Tanzania--where she was subsequently hacked to death for her body parts
Dar
es Salaam. Assaults
on albinos have been in the media spotlight for the past seven years, yet the
only thing we know for sure is this: They are attacked, mutilated and
killed for their body parts--presumably for use in witchcraft concoctions. The
people behind these inhuman and callous acts remain unknown even though
investigators have arrested, interrogated and prosecuted many people reportedly
hired to attack albinos.
So who are contracting people
to mutilate, kill and--as a consequence--create widespread fear and insecurity
among people with albinism? Campaigners against albino attacks and those
affected believe politicians and the wealthy are the main culprits. “I have
recorded witchdoctors telling me that politicians are the main clients of those
who sell albino body parts,” says Ms Vicky Ntetema, the executive director of
Under The Same Sun, an NGO fighting discrimination against people with albinism
in Tanzania. It is widely believed that people seeking quick wealth and
political power spend huge amounts of money contracting killers to supply
albino body parts, which are ultimately used as charms.
People with albinism are living
in great fear as the country braces for civic elections in October and the
general election next year, according to Ms Ntetema. Statistics show a sudden
surge in such killings--from eight 2007 to 28 in 2008--just a year before civic
elections were held. There were 12 killings in 2009, a year before the general
election.
Campaigners against the
killings see this pattern as the link between the attacks and political
elections. Already, three brutal attacks and one attempted assault have taken
place in the 12 days since August 5, two months before a local election and a
year ahead of general elections.
The director of information and
public relations at the Tanzania Albino Society (TAS), Mr Josephat Tona, says
it has always been their stand that politicians are at the centre of the
killings. He adds: “They cannot escape blame. We have said before, and we are
saying it again, that the fact that the killings tend to rise when elections
near is a clear indication that politicians are behind them.”
The
albino community has its own doubts about the political will to save their
lives, arguing that it has always taken too long for politicians to declare a
stand against the killings and it is always too late when they decide. “We
cannot freely do anything to support our lives because we live in great fear and
frustration,” he told The Citizen on Saturday.
According to Ms Ntetema, the
rise in attacks on albinos when elections approach in some neighbouring
countries does not come as a surprise. She argues that the killings are a
cross-border business and cites the case of five-month-old Noela Neema, who was
abducted in December 2010 in Ruyigi in Burundi and taken across the border to
Tanzania--where she was subsequently hacked to death for her body parts.
In November 2008, a man was
caught trying to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo with the head of an
albino child in his luggage. He told police he was taking it to a businessman
in Congo, who would pay him according to the weight of the head.
When neighbouring Kenya held
elections in February, there were reports of “traditional healers” from
Tanzania camping there.
They
said they had been invited to that country by politicians, who apparently hoped
they could influence the results. A witchdoctor who was interviewed by The
Daily Nation in
Nairobi in June 2012 said their clients included renowned Kenyan and Tanzanian
politicians.
Between January 31 and February
15, as the elections neared, there were four attacks on albinos in Tanzania.
“There is no doubt there is a link between political elections in Tanzania and
some neighbouring countries with increasing attacks on albinos,” says Ms
Ntetema. “With the civic and general elections approaching in Tanzania, we can
expect more attacks and kidnappings.”
TAS is accusing the government
of failing to provide security to its members and shaming those behind the
attacks. “The one to blame is the government,” says TAS Secretary Ziada Nsembo.
“It has all the instruments to deal with witchdoctors, attackers and buyers of
our body parts but it seems there is no political will to do so.”
Director
of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Isaya Mngulu told The
Citizen on Saturday that
the police force has no proof linking politicians and businessmen with
attacks on albinos and challenged those making the allegations to come to the
assistance of the police. Said the DCI: “We have no proof that prominent
politicians and wealthy individuals are behind the attacks. If they know the
real culprits, why don’t they give us their names so we can take action?”
But even as the DCI says he has
yet to establish a link between politicians and the attacks, United Nations
human rights official Alicia Loudono said on her recent trip to Tanzania that
virtually everyone linked the recent attacks to the presidential election set
for October 2015.
She added: “There is this
common knowledge that attacks on people with albinism rise when there is [an]
election. One of the reasons they say is that there are some politicians
that use witchcraft for gaining power. This is part of their belief…for
winning elections, for being more rich.”
Since 2006, there have been 151
murders and attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania. But Under The Same Sun
believes that most attacks go unreported.
Only five per cent (about
eight) of the 151 cases have gone to prosecution stage in the courts so far.
“Law enforcement and the judiciary have been impotent in addressing this human
rights crisis,” says Mr Peter Ash, the founder and chief executive officer of
Under the Same Sun. Tanzania has the ratio of 1:1,400 albinos.
The
case of Swaziland
In May last year, Swaziland’s
albinos appealed to their government for protection ahead of elections later in
the year, fearing their body parts would be harvested by candidates seeking
success. “I can warn both adults and parents of albino children to take extra
care during these election days,” said Skhumbuzo Mndvoti, an albino
community leader living in the southern town of Nhlangano. As in other parts of
Africa, ritual killings are common in Swaziland--with witchdoctors using limbs or
body parts as amulets.
Mndvoti accuses witchdoctors of
misleading people into believing that using human body parts will make them win
seats in parliament or prosper in business. Aspiring Nhlangano MP Mthokozisi
Kunene admits that aspiring politicians are prime suspects in ritual attacks
and killings.
The Commission for Human Rights
and Good Governance (CHRGG) and the European Union (EU) have issued statements
condemning a recent wave of attacks.
Said EU Ambassador to Tanzania
Filiberto Sebregondi: “The occurrence of the attacks represents a disturbing
trend. I am respectfully looking at Tanzania’s leadership to address these
issues and show people living with albinism they are neither ignored, nor
abused for their condition.”
CGGHR has called on the
government to conduct in-depth investigations to identify those sponsoring and
executing the barbaric acts.
Source: The Citizen
