Bloody hunt for albinos. Who practices ritual killings of children and albinos in Africa and why?

10.10.2019

Life is already difficult for albinos, and even more so in Africa. Over the past year, 26 people born without pigmentation, mostly women and children, were killed in Tanzania alone. Local sorcerers buy their corpses, blood and internal organs, using them to create supposedly magical drinks that can bring wealth, because in Tanzania albinos are considered a symbol of happiness and prosperity

In view of all the problems described above, international organizations are opening special camps in which albino blacks can live under guard.

A Tanzanian teenage girl is pictured sitting in the girls' dormitory of a public school for the disabled in Kabanga, a town in the west of the country near the town of Kigomu on Lake Tanganyika, June 5, 2009. The school began accepting albino children late last year after In Tanzania and neighboring Burundi, albinos began to be killed in order to use parts of their bodies in witchcraft rituals. The children's school in Kabang is guarded by soldiers of the local army, but this does not always save children from hunters for their bodies; cases where soldiers collude with criminals have become more frequent. Children cannot even take a step outside the walls of their classrooms.

What is Albinism?

From (Latin albus, “white”) - congenital absence of pigment of the skin, hair, iris and pigment membranes of the eye. There are complete and partial albinism. It is currently believed that the cause of the disease is the absence (or blockade) of the enzyme tyrosinase, which is necessary for the normal synthesis of melanin, a special substance on which the color of tissues depends.

Bloody Tanzania

In Africa, the killing of albinos has become an industry where the majority of the population cannot read or write and generally considers it an absolutely unnecessary activity, and even less understanding of medical nuances.

But there are various superstitions in use here. Residents believe that an albino black man brings misfortune to the village. The dismembered organs of albinos are sold for a lot of money to buyers from the "I'd like to notice" Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. People blindly believe that the legs, genitals, eyes and hair of people with albinism confer special strength and health. The killers are driven not only by pagan beliefs, but also by the thirst for profit - an albino hand costs 2 million Tanzanian shillings, which is about 1.2 thousand dollars. For Africans this is just crazy money!

Just recently, more than 50 people who differed from their compatriots in skin color were killed in Tanzania. They were not just killed, they were dismantled for organs, and the organs of albino blacks are sold to shamans. It so happens that those who hunt albino blacks don’t care who they kill: a man, a woman or a child. The product is scarce and expensive. Having killed one such victim, the hunter can live comfortably, by African standards, for a couple of years.

Attention, the post contains violent text material and photographs of limbs. It is necessary, even very necessary, we need to talk about it, know it and do it only correct conclusions.

Introduction

What is happening these days in Africa in the 21st century defies common sense. It is a real crime that our developed countries turn a blind eye to the terror that occurs on the territory of these seemingly small, picturesque and exotic countries. Terror perpetrated by the citizens themselves against their “dissimilar” fellow citizens. The authorities of these countries officially declare their complete powerlessness to do anything to stop the bloodbath.

What is Albinism?

The African authorities blame the village shamans for the current situation, whose opinions the population still listens to; they simply sacredly and stupidly believe them. Attitudes towards albinos are ambiguous even among the “black magicians” themselves: some attribute special positive properties to their bodies, while others consider them cursed, bringing the evil of the other world.

Bloody Tanzania

Just recently, more than 50 people who differed from their compatriots in skin color were killed in Tanzania. They were not just killed, they were dismantled for organs, and the organs of albino blacks are sold to shamans. It so happens that those who hunt albino blacks don’t care who they kill: a man, a woman or a child. The product is scarce and expensive. Having killed one such victim, the hunter can live comfortably, by African standards, for a couple of years.

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Below, Mabula, 76, squats in his dirt-floored bedroom next to the grave of his granddaughter, five-year-old Mariam Emmanuel, a small albino who was killed and dismembered in the next room in February 2008. The girl was buried right in the hut so that hunters for albino body parts would not steal her bones. Mabula says that there have already been raids on his house a couple of times, after the death of his granddaughter, hunters wanted to take her bones. The photo was taken on January 25, 2009 in one of the villages near Mwanza. Mabula guards her house day and night.

Little nine-year-old Amani sits in the recreation room of Mitido Primary School for the Blind, photographed January 25, 2009. He was admitted there after the murder of his sister, five-year-old Mariam Emmanuel, an albino girl who was killed and dismembered in February 2008.

In Europe and North America, there is one albino for every 20 thousand people. In Africa their number is much higher - one per 4 thousand people. According to Mr. Kimaya, there are about 370 thousand albinos in Tanzania. The government of the country cannot guarantee the safety of any of them.

Nature

It so happened that Africans, who by a whim of nature turned out to be white, had to flee from their own neighbors. Their life often resembles a nightmare, when you don’t know whether, when you wake up in the morning, you will be able to live until the evening. Apart from ignorant people, albinos are mercilessly tormented by the hot African sun. White skin and eyes are defenseless against powerful ultraviolet radiation. Such people are forced to rarely go outside or apply copious amounts of sunscreen, which many simply do not have the money for. Because there is simply no one there who doesn’t have them!

The picture shows small albino children at recess in the courtyard of a primary school for the blind in Mitido, the pictures were taken on January 25, 2009. This school has become a real refuge for rare albino children. The school in Mitido is also guarded by army soldiers, children feel safer than at home with their parents.

In this photo taken on January 27, 2009, Nima Kayanya, 28, makes a clay pot at her grandmother's house in Ukerewa, Tanzania, where her brother and sister, who are also albinos like her, now live. Ukerewe, an island on Lake Victoria located near the city of Mwanza, is a safe haven compared to other regions of Tanzania.

African sorcerers say that amulets made from albino blacks can bring good luck to the house, help in a successful hunt, and win the favor of a woman. But amulets made from the genitals are in particular demand. It is believed to be a powerful remedy that cures all diseases. Almost any organ is used. Even bones, which are ground and then mixed with various herbs, are used in the form of decoctions to impart mystical power.

These hunters are real bloodthirsty savages; they are not afraid of anything. So in Burundi they burst straight into the mud hut of the widow Genorose Nizigiyimana. They grabbed her six-year-old son and dragged him outside. Right in the yard, having shot the boy, they skinned him in front of his hysterical mother. Having taken the “most valuable” things: tongue, penis, arms and legs, the bandits abandoned the mutilated corpse of the child and disappeared. None of the local villagers will help the mother, since almost everyone considers her cursed.

Court and body parts

In this photo taken on May 28, 2009, human body parts, including a thigh bone, and flayed skin can be seen on display in a courtroom during the trial of 11 Burundians. The defendants are accused of killing albino blacks whose limbs were sold to healers from neighboring Tanzania, in Ruyigi. During the trial, the Burundian prosecutor, Nicodeme Gahimbare, demanded a sentence of one year to life imprisonment for the defendants. Gahimbare had sought life imprisonment as punishment for three of the 11 accused, eight of whom were in the dock for the murder of an eight-year-old girl and a man in March this year.

African albinos

Red Cross

The well-known organization the Red Cross is actively recruiting volunteers, conducting its propaganda all over the world, very often Africans themselves join it. Pictured July 5, 2009, a Tanzanian Red Cross Society (TRCS) volunteer holds the hand of an albino toddler at a picnic organized by TRCS at a government school for the disabled in Kabanga, in the west of the country near the town of Kigomu on Lake Tanganyika.

Despite the fact that we live in the civilized 21st century, the century of discoveries of “development and technology,” but despite this, in the far corners of our planet the blood of innocent people and, most importantly, small children is still being shed.

Introduction

What is Albinism?

Bloody Tanzania

But there are various superstitions in use here. Residents believe that an albino black man brings misfortune to the village. The dismembered organs of albinos are sold for a lot of money to buyers from the "I'd like to notice" Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. People blindly believe that the legs, genitals, eyes and hair of people with albinism confer special strength and health. The killers are driven not only by pagan beliefs, but also by the thirst for profit - the hand of an albino costs 2 million Tanzanian shillings, which is about 1.2 thousand dollars. For Africans this is just crazy money!

Just recently, more than 50 people who differed from their compatriots in skin color were killed in Tanzania. They were not just killed, they were dismantled for organs, and the organs of albino blacks are sold to shamans. It so happens that those who hunt albino blacks don’t care who they kill: a man, a woman or a child. The product is scarce and expensive. Having killed one such victim, the hunter can live comfortably, by African standards, for a couple of years.

Nature

It so happened that Africans, who by a whim of nature turned out to be white, had to flee from their own neighbors. Their life often resembles a nightmare when you don’t know whether, when you wake up in the morning, you will be able to live until the evening. Apart from ignorant people, albinos are mercilessly tormented by the hot African sun. White skin and eyes are defenseless against powerful ultraviolet radiation. Such people are forced to rarely go outside or apply copious amounts of sunscreen, which many simply do not have the money for. Because there is simply no one there who doesn’t have them!

Court and body parts

African albinos

Red Cross

Albinos in Africa are killed and their bodies sold on the black market. People are being kidnapped on the streets and from their own homes. To change the attitude of Africans towards albinism, the first beauty contest among people with albinism was held in Kenya.

African albinos are victims of ritual murders - their body parts are sold on the black market as “good luck charms”. Kenya decided to change the attitude of Africans towards albinos and held the Mr & Miss Albinism Kenya 2016 beauty contest on Human Rights Day. Organizers hope that the competition will allow society to integrate with albinos and stop the tide of ritual killings.

Albinism in Africa

Albinism is most common in Africans. Depending on the country, the number of albinos varies from one in 5,000 to one in 15,000 people. In 2014, 129 albinos were killed, 181 were persecuted and mutilated in Africa.

African Norbuso Kele from South Africa says that dark-skinned Africans discriminate against him for his white skin color. When an albino guy passes by, the old men whisper curses after him. He was persecuted at school and university for the color of his skin.

“We need to fight the myths about albinos,” says Norbuso. “Sex with us will not cure AIDS. You can’t be so gullible.”

Albinos suffer the most in Malawi; the UN has declared that albinos in this state are on the verge of extinction.

Malawian 17-year-old albino David Fletcher went to play football, but did not return home. He was kidnapped by four men, killed and his limbs cut off. They sold the limbs on the black market and buried the body.

Even if an albino dies a natural death, there is a high risk that his remains will be stolen from the cemetery and sold to a local sorcerer.

UN expert on albinism Ikponwosa Ero says Malawi's justice system does not punish the killing and persecution of albinos harshly enough. She called on the country's government to intervene and stop the destruction of people with albinism. In Tanzania and Kenya, killers of albinos have already been sentenced to death.

Albinos in Africa constantly live in fear, in anticipation of reprisals, physical or sexual violence.

Unusual beauty

The rehabilitation of albinism, in particular African albinism, has been going on for several years in the fashion world.

Albino models are increasingly appearing on catwalks and photo shoots of fashion magazines, and some of them are becoming highly paid “supermodels.”

The fashion world has shown tolerance towards the unusual appearance of these people and is trying to show the whole world that this is normal and cannot be persecuted for their appearance.

Among men, an albino supermodel can be called an American Sean Ross .

Born in New York, he and his family were not hunted - as happens in Africa. But in the Bronx, where he grew up, he was persecuted and bullied.

The young man studied acting and dancing, and at the age of 16 he left the theater stage for fashion catwalks. It was the appearance of Sean Ross on the catwalk that opened the doors to fashion for many unusual models - albinos, people with vitiligo (skin pigmentation disorder) - everyone who was persecuted because of their unusual appearance.

Model Chantel Winnie with vitiligo.

Model Diandra Forest also born in New York. She now works in Tanzania for an organization that protects albinos from discrimination.

Like Shawn Ross, Diandra was born in New York, in the Bronx. Because of bullying at school, she was sent to a special institution where other children with albinism studied.

Having already achieved a lot in the fashion world, Diandra devoted herself to African albinos. She works with the Tanzanian organization ACN. In Tanzania, like Kenya and Malawi, ritual killings of people with albinism are practiced.

What is albinism

Albinism is a gene mutation with a congenital absence of the pigment melanin. As a result, a person is born with a complete or partial absence of skin color, eyes, and hair.

Albinos have colorless, blue or pink eyes, very pale light skin, and are blond. Their body does not have a protective mechanism against ultraviolet radiation; in the sun they do not develop a tan, but burns and even skin cancer.

An albino child can be born to any family; he will not lag behind other children in development. An albino child will most often have children with normal pigmentation.

Albinism occurs in all living beings and in all countries of the world.

Main photo: Justin Dingwall