Swaziland Tries to Protect Albinos From Witch Doctors

Swaziland police will keep a registry of every albino in the country to help protect them from witch doctors who wish to use their body parts for rituals, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The move comes after the killing of an 11-year-old albino girl, which many fear is the first in the expansion of a deadly superstition already prevalent in eastern Africa.

Some are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the body parts of albinos—which they believe will cure diseases or bring political power—on the black market. “Swaziland, which has been identified as a destination, source, and transit point for human trafficking, which also occurs for trade in body parts, is clearly no longer exempt of this type of crime, where young albinos are being targeted,” says an abuse group.
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