At least 18 people were killed in Madagascar on Monday when police opened fire on a crowd of angry protesters over what authorities believe was the kidnapping of a boy with albinism.
The case took place in Ikongo, a city in the southeast of the island country in the Indian Ocean, 350 kilometers from the capital Antananarivo. According to the head of the main hospital in the region, the death toll could increase. Tango Oscar Toky told AFP that nine people had died at the scene and another nine in hospital and that there were still 34 injured, nine of them in a serious condition.
“We are waiting for a government helicopter to take them to the capital for treatment,” he said. Malagasy police have so far admitted the death of 11 people in the episode.
The case began last week when the boy with albinism disappeared. On Monday morning, a crowd estimated at 500 people protested in front of a police station where four suspects in the alleged kidnapping were being held. Many of the protesters were armed with bladed weapons and machetes, according to police.
The group insisted on taking justice into their own hands, asking for the suspects to be handed over to this kind of improvised court of justice, as deputy Jean-Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa told AFP. Another source said that there was a beginning of negotiation, but, with the insistence of the crowd, the police decided to launch gas bombs and shoot in the air to try to disperse the concentration.
Finally, around 11:00 am local time (5:00 am Brasília time), the protesters reportedly tried to force their way into the police station, which caused the agents to shoot at them.
In Madagascar, as in large swathes of Africa, people with albinism live in particular vulnerability and are often subjected to violence. There is still a false belief in countries like Tanzania, Burundi, Mozambique and Ethiopia that body parts of people with this genetic condition are magical and can be used in rituals to bring luck and protection.
Albinism is a genetic condition characterized by a lack of melanin synthesis. It is more prevalent in black populations, and in some regions of Africa 1 in 2,000 people is albino.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than a dozen albinos have been kidnapped, beaten or killed in Madagascar in the past two years, in events similar to what took place on the island this week.
A 2016 UN report pointed out that limbs of an albino person have a price list of sorts, starting at $2,000, with a dead body costing $75,000. Experts suspect criminals of trafficking bodies between countries in the region. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world.
In March of this year, the body of a mutilated child was found in the city of Amboasary, prompting the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to ask local authorities to take urgent action to protect this population. Impunity involving these cases of violence is also widespread.
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