BURUNDI: Albino boy killed, body dismembered

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[BUJUMBURA, 17 November 2008] - A six-year-old boy was killed and his body dismembered in the east African state of Burundi, an official said on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks in the region on albinos, whose bodies are prized by witchdoctors.

"The young albino was assassinated by two men who cut him into pieces here in Kinyinya district near the border with Tanzania," said Remy Nkengurutse, a local administrator.

Albino murders are common in parts of Africa where their arms, legs, hair, skin and genitals are sold to witchdoctors.

Since last year, 30 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and four in Burundi, according to data from an albino advocacy group in Tanzania.

The Tanzania Albino Society has urged the government to use the army to stop attacks on albinos. "More needs to be done to stop these people," said Ernest Kimaya, the society's chairman.

Earlier this month, a mother in a refugee camp in western Tanzania was injured in a struggle with people who forced their way into her house seeking her albino daughter.

Police arrested a man in southwest Tanzania for planning to sell his albino wife to a businessman from the Democratic Republic of Congo for 3.6 million Tanzania shillings ($2,889).

Tanzania has more than 200,000 albinos in a population of 40 million, the advocacy group said.

Further information

pdf: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LH665532.htm

Country: 
Burundi
Issues: 
Minority or indigenous children
Attachment Link: 
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LH665532.htm

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