Amnesty International urges​​ Malawi to step up action to end ritual murders of people with albinism

The Malawian authorities must step up action to protect people with albinism who are being targeted for ritual murders, Amnesty International said after another attack in the country’s capital Lilongwe.

On Thursday night four men attempted to drill through the wall of the home of Gilbert Daire, former president of the Association of the People with Albinism, as he slept. They fled the scene after his neighbours intervened, Amnesty International regional director for Southern Africa Deprose Muchena said.

One of the suspected perpetrators was later arrested after community members turned him over to police.

“This brazen attack happened in the middle of the country’s busiest city and sends a chilling message about the lack [of] protection, safety, and security of all people with albinism,” Muchena said.

“In the past two years we have seen an alarming surge in attacks on people with albinism. We have documented dozens of individuals being hunted down like animals for their body parts, but these brazen attacks seem to continue unabated. Malawian authorities must end this cycle of impunity of perpetrators of these crimes.”

Since the beginning of 2017, two people with albinism had been murdered, while three others had survived clearly targeted attacks, including two stabbings, Muchena said.

People with albinism in Malawi have come under increased risk of being abducted or killed in murders associated with witchcraft in recent years, with a surge since November 2014.

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