{"id":68943,"date":"2016-04-29T13:25:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T11:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/malawi-people-with-albinism-face-total-extinction-un-expert-calls-for-urgent-response\/"},"modified":"2016-04-29T13:25:55","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T11:25:55","slug":"malawi-people-with-albinism-face-total-extinction-un-expert-calls-for-urgent-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/malawi-people-with-albinism-face-total-extinction-un-expert-calls-for-urgent-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Malawi: People with albinism face total extinction \u2013 UN Expert calls for urgent response"},"content":{"rendered":"

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29, 2016\/APO (African Press Organization)\/ — <\/span><\/p>\n

The United Nations Independent Expert on the rights of persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, today warned that the atrocities faced by persons with albinism in Malawi render them \u201can endangered people group facing a risk of systemic extinction over time if nothing is done.\u201d
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\u201cPersons with albinism, and parents of children with albinism, constantly live in fear of attack. Many do not sleep peacefully and have deliberately restricted their movement to the necessary minimum,\u201d the human rights expert said at the end of her first official visit* to Malawi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe frequent involvement of close relatives in cases of attacks is highly disturbing, and persons with albinism are unable to trust even those who are supposed to care for and protect them,\u201d Ms. Ero noted. \u201cConsequently, persons with albinism in the current context of attacks are locked in a spiral of fear and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN Independent Expert described the situation as \u201can emergency, a crisis disturbing in its proportions.\u201d According to the police, 65 cases have been recorded since late 2014, and at least two further critical incidents reportedly occurred during her visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the relatively small population size of people with albinism in Malawi – reported to be a little less than ten thousand – attacks against a few of them constitutes a danger to all of them,\u201d she stressed.
\u00a0 \u00a0
\u201cIt is clear that an urgent and coordinated response from the Government, civil society and development partners working in strong partnership with each other is required,\u201d she noted while stressing the principle of \u2018nothing about us without us\u2019, which includes the involvement of organizations of persons with albinism at every step, where the process cannot be led directly by them.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ero welcomed the launching of the Government\u2019s Response Plan of 2015 and commended its content. However, she noted, \u201cthe absence of resources attached to this plan has drastically delayed its implementation and such an emergency situation needs an emergency response.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCourt sentences as handed down to convicted criminals do not always reflect the gravity of the crime,\u201d she said. \u201cAs pointed out by various stakeholders during my visit, stealing a cow may attract a higher penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early return of suspects to their communities \u2013 whether due to the use of bail, fines or low judicial sentences – increases the fear in which persons with albinism live, sends a message of impunity to affected communities and increases the risks of mob killings,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The expert recommended \u201ctraining for police, prosecutors and magistrates to increase knowledge of the current legislative framework applicable to these cases, cooperation between the police and the Department of Public Prosecutions,\u201d as well as \u201cadequate resources for the newly appointed special prosecutor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Ero pointed out that, although the amendment of relevant legislation is required, more immediate measures are also necessary such as a judicial direction that cases be handled only by professional magistrates and through the ongoing revision of the Sentencing Guidelines.<\/p>\n

She also commended the protection measures adopted by community police and some traditional authorities as well as the support provided by communities to their members with albinism. \u201cThe quick intervention of neighbours during attacks has in various cases led to the rescue of persons with albinism and to the arrest of perpetrators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAddressing the root causes of attacks, in particular why they are happening, is indispensable to eradicating them. It is worrying to note that witchcraft beliefs and practices are widespread in Malawi, although often a taboo topic,\u201d Ms. Ero stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalawians have been taken by surprise by the recent increase of attacks against persons with albinism,\u201d she said. \u201cYet, discrimination against persons with albinism has a long history in the country and is well rooted in beliefs as well as harmful traditional and cultural practices, including that persons with albinism do not die but simply disappear, and the practice of infanticide at birth on the pretext that the baby was stillborn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Independent Expert will produce a full report and recommendations to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017.<\/p>\n

(*) Check the Independent Expert\u2019s full end-of-mission statement: http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19903LangID=E<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29, 2016\/APO (African Press Organization)\/ — The United Nations Independent Expert on the rights of persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, today warned that the atrocities faced by persons with albinism in Malawi render them \u201can endangered people group facing a risk of systemic extinction over time if nothing is done.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cPersons with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[428,4585,830],"class_list":{"0":"post-68943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-africa","8":"tag-apo","9":"tag-news","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}