Tanzania's albinos hacked apart by witchdoctors who believe their body parts 'bring luck' in sick trade 'fuelled by the country's elite'
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 Josephat 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.
Possibly most shockingly, some believe the louder the screams while the limb is removed, the more potent the charm.
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.
In west Africa, cases have been recorded in the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana, while there have also been attacks in southern countries like South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique.
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