Albinos Killed for Body Parts in Africa

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - More than 60 albinos in Tanzania and Burundi have been killed in the past year by witchdoctors, who make potions from the body parts of people with the condition, according to the Digital Journal .

There haven't been many convictions in the brutal killings, but earlier this month Tanzanians celebrated four men being sentenced to death for the murder of 50-year-old albino, Lyaku Willy.

The killing of albinos -- people who have little or no pigment in their eyes, skin and hair -- in this region of Africa started in August 2008, according to the Red Cross .

"In search for profit, witch doctors revived an old superstition that the limbs and genitals of an albino can bring quicker and better results to one's enterprise," Anseleme Katyunguruza, Secretary General of the Burundi Red Cross, told the Journal.

Killers are reportedly paid between $200 and $5,000 for the body parts of albinos.

Hundreds of albinos currently live in shelters, refuges and schools, fearing for their lives. Others remain trapped in their homes, unable to move around freely to work, trade or study for fear of the hunters.

Albinism is a disease that has been around since the beginning of medical literature, however, the first accurate scientific paper written about albinism was by Sir Archibald Garrod in 1908.