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‘Malawians born with Albinism face “total extinction”‘ they are targeted, killed for witchcraft rituals – UN

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><em>Photo&colon; Amos Gumulira&sol;AFP&sol;Getty Images<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>United Nations&&num;8217&semi; Independent Expert Ikponwosa Ero warns that people with albinism could be completely extinct in Malawi at the rate of systemic killings spread across the country&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h1><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;470909&semi;">Albinos targeted&comma; human body parts used for rituals <&sol;span><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;470909&semi;">Belief in witchcraft fuels babaric practice&comma; that puts young innocents most &&num;8216&semi;at risk&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;470909&semi;">65 deaths recorded by police since late 2014&comma; in Malawi<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;span><&sol;strong><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;470909&semi;">UN reports 40 attacks across seven countries in just last eight months<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<h2><span style&equals;"color&colon;&num;999999&semi;"><em>&&num;8216&semi;&&num;8230&semi;these countries should be taught the &&num;8216&semi;dignity of living and the sanctity of human life&period;&&num;8217&semi;  It is time for the developed world to deny aid to these countries until they show  commitment to eradicating this barbarism&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;em><&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>An African country’s albino population faces complete extinction as killers hunt down the endangered group for their mythological &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;powers&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;Malawi’s small population of people with albinism &comma; which is less than 10&comma;000 could be completely wiped out as the crisis continues&comma; with 65 deaths recorded by police since late 2014&comma; the United Nations revealed&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Persons with albinism&comma; and parents of children with albinism&comma; constantly live in fear of attack&comma;” Ikponwosa Ero&comma; the UN’s expert on albino people said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Many do not sleep peacefully and have deliberately restricted their movement to the necessary minimum&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-21587" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;05&sol;malawi27s2balbino2bchildren2bhunted2bas2bbody2bparts2bused2bin2bmagic2brituals2b3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"malawi27s2balbino2bchildren2bhunted2bas2bbody2bparts2bused2bin2bmagic2brituals2b3" width&equals;"682" height&equals;"409" &sol;><span class&equals;"irc&lowbar;su" dir&equals;"ltr">People are willing to pay as much as &dollar;3&comma;000 or &dollar;4&comma;000 for a limb&comma; or as much as &dollar;75&comma;000 &&num;8211&semi; for the &&num;8216&semi;full set&&num;8217&semi;&comma; a whole body&period;<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>In many cases&comma; it’s close relatives betraying their own loved ones with albinism&comma; turning them over to hunters who turn a lucrative profit selling body parts for witchcraft rituals&comma; potions or amulets for &dollar;2&comma;000 for a limb&comma; or &dollar;75&comma;000 for an entire corpse&comma; Ero said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The killings are especially brutal as many believe that the body parts will be more effective the more the victim screams&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-21585" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;05&sol;468x283&lowbar;malawi-albinos-feature&lowbar;002&period;jpg" alt&equals;"468x283&lowbar;malawi-albinos-feature&lowbar;002" width&equals;"648" height&equals;"392" &sol;>Two-year-old Whitney was abducted from her bed while she was sleeping in April&period; Baby Whitney’s skull&comma; teeth and clothes were later discovered in a neighbouring village&period; Her brutal murder follows that of 9-year-old Harry&comma; snatched from his home in February and found beheaded soon after&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Whitney and Harry were targeted because they have albinism&period; Thousands of people with albinism – particularly children – are at huge risk of abduction and killings in Malawi&comma; where their body parts are sold for witchcraft&period; The abductions are on the rise&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Children tend to be the majority of victims&comma; because of a belief that the more innocent the person with albinism&comma; the more potent the body parts will be for the potion&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Even after they are killed&comma; albino people’s graves are robbed as their remains are believed to possess special powers also&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;And Malawi’s justice system hasn’t helped — stealing a cow yields a harsher penalty that killing an albino person&comma; the UN expert noted in her report&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Ero&comma; who has albinism&comma; is calling for a reform in Malawi within the police&comma; prosecutors and magistrates to better handle these criminal cases before the nation’s entire albino population is extinct&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Addressing the root causes of attacks&comma; in particular why they are happening&comma; is indispensable to eradicating them&period; It is worrying to note that witchcraft beliefs and practices are widespread in Malawi&comma; although often a taboo topic&comma;” Ero said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Attacks against albino people don&&num;8217&semi;t occur exclusively in Malawi&comma; as 40 attacks have been reported across seven countries in just the last eight months — just a fraction of the real number that’s never reported&comma; Ero noted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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