A/HRC/31/63 campaigns. Similarly, the Committee on the Rights of the Child,5 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,6 the Committee on the Right of Persons with Disabilities7 and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 8 in reiterating the right to life and non-discrimination, have called for immediate action to end such attacks. In their resolutions, the Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have also called for immediate action to stop attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism.9 19. The Independent Expert intends to address the impact of witchcraft on the human rights of persons with albinism as a harmful traditional practice and as one of the root causes of ritual attacks. This will require careful understanding, definition and delineation of the practice, the form it takes and the effects it has on persons with albinism. 1. Attacks 20. The appearance that ensues in albinism, in particular the lack of melanin in the skin, eyes and hair, exposes tens of thousands of persons to stigma and discrimination across the world. It is reported that, in Africa, attacks directed at persons with albinism are usually carried out with machetes, resulting in severe mutilation or death. In most cases, the persons attacked are dismembered; body parts such as fingers, arms, legs, eyes, genitals, skin, bones, the head and hair have been severed from the body and taken. In several of those cases, body parts have been hacked off while the person was alive. Reportedly, there is a corollary witchcraft belief that it is preferable to harvest body parts from live victims because screams increase the potency of the potion for which the parts are used.10 Possible human sacrifices of persons with albinism have also been reported, including through immolation. 21. Since 2007, civil society organizations have reported hundreds of attacks against persons with albinism in 25 countries. All of those physical attacks appear to be, at least in part, related to the erroneous beliefs and myths linked to witchcraft practices. 22. The large number of cases reported by civil society no doubt represents a fraction of the attacks against persons with albinism. The secrecy that often surrounds ritual attacks, the complicity of family members in certain cases, the difficulty in accessing data owing to the fact that most attacks occur in rural environments, as well as the low response to such attacks may serve as hindrances to the reporting and visibility of attacks. Moreover, discrimination against persons with albinism and significant impunity may also have an impact on the reporting of such cases. Impunity was also highlighted by OHCHR, which had received information that persons with albinism faced significant difficulties in having their cases brought to justice.11 In a similar vein, the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral on Violence against Children has stated that the human rights violations committed against children with albinism are of the highest severity. Discrimination, harassment and violence, including cases of mutilation and murder, are often met with passivity and rarely reported, as they often take place in remote areas and because such children are perceived as 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 See, for example, CRC/C/BDI/CO/2, paras. 30 and 34; CRC/C/TZA/CO/3-5, paras. 25-26 and 29-31; CRC/C/OPSC/TZA/CO/1, para. 20; and CRC/C/GNB/CO/2-4, paras. 28-29. See, for example,CEDAW/C/COD/CO/6-7, paras. 35 (c) and 36 (b); CEDAW/C/TZA/CO/6, paras. 45-46; CEDAW/C/SWZ/CO/1-2, paras. 22-23; and CEDAW/C/MWI/Q/7, paras. 20-21 and 44-45. See, for example, CRPD/C/KEN/CO/1, paras. 19-20. See, for example, E/C.12/COD/CO/4, paras. 19 and 28; and E/C.12/TZA/CO/1-3, para. 5. See Human Rights Council resolutions 23/13 and 24/33; and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights resolution 263. Simon Fellows, Trafficking Body Parts in Mozambique and South Africa (Mozambique, Human Rights League, 2010). See A/HRC/24/57, para. 53. 7