A Lancaster University professor says a landmark ruling by the African Court of Human and People's Rights against the government of Tanzania for not upholding the rights of people with albinism is 'wonderful news'.
Professor Charlotte Baker, from the University's School of Global Affairs, was part of a small team who successfully inspired the United Nations Human Rights Council to pass a Resolution calling for action to stamp out the worldwide atrocities of witchcraft, including ritual killings.
This week the African court ordered that the government of Tanzania had violated rights to equality and non-discrimination, life, dignity and freedom from torture, education, health, and not being subject to abduction, sale and trafficking.
The court ruled that Tanzania must implement a national action plan and awareness campaigns, strengthen legal protections against violence and discrimination, pay compensation to victims of attacks, and improve access to education, healthcare and child protection services.
And the Tanzanian government must also review its witchcraft act of 1928 within two years, to clarify ambiguities in relation to witchcraft and traditional health practices.
Professor Baker, whose research into albinism led to her to help put the horrific issue on the United Nations radar, said: "I watched the judgement of the African Court on Human Rights on the case brought against the government of Tanzania for not upholding the rights of persons with albinism.
"This is certainly a landmark ruling, and wonderful news for both the albinism community in Tanzania and internationally.
"This relates directly to my research on albinism and our work on the UN Resolution on the Elimination of Harmful Practices related to Accusations of Witchcraft.
"It is a landmark ruling and sets an important precedent. It is brilliant to see things starting to change"
Albinism is a genetic condition that impairs the ability to create the pigment melanin in the body.
Professor Baker has published widely on albinism in Africa. She worked with the former UN Independent Expert on Albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, international human rights barrister Kirsty Brimelow, and Lancaster University honorary graduate and human rights advocate Gary Foxcroft, as part of a wider team, to ensure the extent of the shocking issue was heard at UN level, resulting in the successful acceptance of the United Nations Resolution.
Passed without a vote in 2021, the Resolution, which had been several years in the making, was tabled at the UN Human Rights Council by Kenya, with the support of the Africa group, comprising 54 Member States from the African continent.
Witchcraft-related beliefs and practices have resulted in serious violations of human rights including beatings, banishment, cutting of body parts, and amputation of limbs, torture and murder.
Women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities including people with albinism are particularly vulnerable.
The Resolution, in calling for the elimination of these harmful practices, affirms that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security and upholds the fundamental principles of equality, non-discrimination and human dignity that underpin human rights.
There are thousands of cases of people accused of witchcraft each year globally, often with fatal consequences, and others are mutilated and killed for witchcraft-related rituals.
In the last decade, more than 700 attacks on people with albinism have been reported in 28 countries.
Trade in body parts of people with albinism is big business in certain African countries with a 'going rate' of $75,000 for a full set of body parts.
Professor Baker and the team first brought their work to the attention of the UN in September 2017 when they organised a Witchcraft and Human Rights Expert Meeting at UN headquarters in Geneva.
More recently she called for more effective action at a faster pace and said that, while the global battle to stamp out the 'barbaric practices' was producing some results, there was still a long way to go.
