Monday, November 2, 2009

Africa: 4 Tanzanians have been sentenced to death by hanging for killing an albino man in 2008

The court, in the northern town of Shinyanga, convicted them of murdering the man and removing his head and legs. In September 2008, three men were sentenced to death for murdering an albino boy - the first such ruling in Tanzania. Witchdoctors sell good-luck potions made from the body parts of albino people for thousands of dollars. More than 50 albino people are thought to have been murdered in the past two years in Tanzania. Analysts say thousands of albino people are now living in fear, especially in villages in the north-west where the majority of the murders have occurred. The killings have also spread to neighbouring Burundi, where at least 12 people have been murdered.

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