A/HRC/43/42/Add.1 persons with albinism in the country – particularly in rural areas and border provinces – in order to better gauge the reality.21 Studies on wider national challenges, such as genderbased violence and xenophobia, should factor in the compounded vulnerability to violence of women with albinism and of persons with albinism who are foreign nationals in the country, as they have not been spared from these systemic issues. 41. The right to life and security is a fundamental right of persons with albinism. Yet the reality for many persons with albinism is a life of fear and insecurity. The duty to protect the right to life requires States to take special measures of protection for persons in a situation of vulnerability whose lives have been placed at particular risk because of specific threats or pre-existing patterns of violence. This includes persons with albinism.22 Many persons with albinism have reported that they continue to live in fear of attacks and harassment, regardless of where they reside in the country. However, the killings documented in the country have mainly been in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZuluNatal. These “hotspots” are border provinces, leading many to believe that these attacks, most of which are spurred by manifestations of belief in “witchcraft”, are a foreign phenomenon imported and perpetrated by nationals of neighbouring countries. In the context of challenges around xenophobia in the country, the Independent Expert notes that the majority of apprehended and convicted perpetrators of these crimes are South African. 42. The cross-border element to these crimes, and the higher prevalence of albinism in the region, requires dedicated attention and action by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as in the meetings of regional police chiefs. The Independent Expert urges the adoption of the SADC declaration on persons with albinism and calls for South Africa to assume leadership in this regard. (c) Discrimination and stigma 43. Discrimination and stigma experienced by persons with albinism is best summarized by the names used for them in several official languages. The fact that many use these without a second thought and take them for granted is telling. Names such as isishawa, meaning a curse, and inkawu, meaning monkey, are some of the popular names for people with albinism. As one interlocutor commented: “If you are being referred to as a monkey, then your rights will not be easily protected since animals cannot have human rights. These names need to be eliminated as quickly as the word kaffir was for black South Africans.” 44. Civil society organizations representing persons with albinism can help in replacing these names with more dignified, humane and neutral variants for the official languages. The Independent Expert urged the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities to support this process. The Hate Speech Bill also provides an important avenue to humanize and effectively protect persons with albinism. 45. Discrimination also entails myths that persons with albinism are for muthi, or medicine, and that their body parts can be used in witchcraft-related rituals to generate wealth and fortune. There is a prevailing myth that persons with albinism do not die but disappear. Discrimination against persons with albinism also includes daily taunting, stares and harassment. While the intensity of this experience varies by community and region, it is not uncommon in South Africa for people to spit on the chest of a person with albinism, upon seeing such a person, as a way of protecting themselves from having a future child with albinism. Family members and intimate partners of persons with albinism sometimes face public ridicule, and persons with albinism are often socially excluded from various aspects of community life. Many persons with albinism find it difficult to have normal, healthy and sustained personal and romantic relationships, due to discrimination. Often, pressure from family members makes such relationships untenable. Given the importance of social relationships for health and well-being, it is unsurprising that the Independent 21 22 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MW/StudyInvestigationsProsecutionCasesMarch 2018.pdf. See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life. 9