UN committee urges Tanzania to investigate attacks on people with albinism
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Summary
Experts from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities called on Tanzanian authorities to do more to condemn and investigate ritual attacks and trafficking of body parts of people with albinism after reporting a case in which a woman suffered amputations and suspects were not prosecuted.
Top experts from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Tanzanian authorities on Wednesday to do more to condemn and investigate gruesome attacks on people with albinism, saying the state’s failure to act sends a message that such crimes are condoned.
In a statement summarized by UN News, the experts said one case before the committee involved a single mother who was assaulted by two men who cut off one of her arms and fled with it; her other arm was later amputated. An investigation was opened, but the experts said neither of the two defendants was prosecuted and a third person was acquitted.
The committee urged Tanzania to provide victims of attacks with compensation so they can live independently again and to adapt existing measures to stop attacks on people with albinism and trafficking in their body parts, the experts said.
The remarks were reported by Daniel Johnson for UN News.