A/HRC/40/62 Underreporting and monitoring of cases 49. There are indications that there are more attacks against persons with albinism than are formally recorded. According to information received from civil society organizations in Zambia most of the attacks and violations against persons with albinism are perpetrated by friends and close relatives, and are rarely reported. Incidents of non-reporting are also due to fear related to witchcraft beliefs. In Southern Africa, attacks often go unreported and undocumented due to the code of silence surrounding such crimes. 41 50. Underreporting has also been attributed to the location of such attacks. In instances where attacks occur in remote settings that are a considerable distance away from law enforcement offices, they are likely to remain unreported; it often takes a long time for the public to learn about the violations, if they ever do. 51. Particularly notable in the submissions was the fact that data on attacks against persons with albinism remain largely unconsolidated. A stakeholder from Benin stated that the police have no precise data on cases of attack. Similarly, a respondent organization from South Africa stated that between 2009 and 2016, it was unable to obtain extensive public reporting on these cases by the South African Human Rights Commission and to date the situation has not changed. This makes it difficult to determine the exact nature of the problem and to identify the type of measures that would be most effective in dealing with it.42 52. The foregoing demonstrates that significant challenges and gaps remain in ensuring protection for persons with albinism and their families as a constituent element of their right to access justice. These challenges and gaps persist owing to existing barriers in the legal system, as well as to the deep and historical disenfranchisement of persons with albinism and their families, who remain ill-equipped to access the justice system even where laws and policy may provide opportunities to do so. VI. Specific measures Protection of victims and relatives 53. In order to ensure protection from human rights violations, the State assumes a three-fold duty: the duty to prevent human rights violations; the duty to investigate alleged human rights violations; and the duty to provide domestic remedies, including the duty to prosecute those suspected of having committed such violations and to punish those found guilty, as well as the duty to provide restitution or compensation to victims of human rights violations.43 54. The duty to prevent human rights violations involves a primary duty on the State to secure the right to life by putting in place effective criminal-law provisions to deter the commission of offences against the person, backed up by law enforcement machinery for the prevention, suppression and punishment of breaches of such provisions. It also extends in appropriate circumstances to a positive obligation on the authorities to take preventive operational measures to protect an individual or individuals whose life is at risk from the criminal acts of another individual.44 55. However, civil society organizations for persons with albinism have pointed out that efforts by law enforcement are more reactive than proactive, despite the increased 41 42 43 44 M.M. Masanja and others, “Albinism: awareness, attitudes and level of albinos’ predicament in Sukumaland, Tanzania”, Asian Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, vol. 3, No. 4 (2014), pp. 382–395. See also M. Mswela, “Violent attacks against persons with albinism in South Africa: a human rights perspective”, African Human Rights Law Journal, vol. 17, No. 2 (2017), pp. 114–133. Mswela, “Violent attacks against persons with albinism in South Africa”, p. 124. See OHCHR, Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers, Professional Training Series No. 9 (United Nations, 2003), in particular chapter 15, sect. 3 – Protection and redress for victims of human rights violations, pp. 773 ff. European Court of Human Rights, Kaya v. Turkey (application No. 22535/93), Judgment of 28 March 2000, para. 85. 11