Activists task govt to provide tougher laws to protect Albinos
Ms Lillian Byarugaba, the Executive Director of FIDA mediating with persons living with Albinism at FIDA headquarters during the launch of 16 days of activism on Sunday. PHOTO | KARIM MUYOBO
What you need to know:
- The legal officers say the ambiguities in laws relating to witchcraft and traditional health practices have perpetuated weak prosecution of violence against persons with albinism
Legal aid providers have urged the government to formulate stern policies and review the laws that seek to address the safety and security of persons living with albinism. They say the existing legal framework does not have adequate measures to protect people with albinism from physical and mental abuse.
The legal officers say the ambiguities in laws relating to witchcraft and traditional health practices have perpetuated weak prosecution of violence against persons with albinism.
According to the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Uganda), a membership-based feminist non-governmental organization, current laws against assault and murder tend to provide persons with albinism with minimum protection of their rights to life and security of a person.
Speaking at the launch of 16 days of activism on Sunday, Ms Elizabeth Kemigisha, an advocacy manager at FIDA Uganda said that there are legal and policy instruments on most of the human rights violations faced by women, and persons with albinism are a unique group whose human rights issues have generally gone unnoticed for centuries.
“The complexity and uniqueness of their condition mean that their experiences significantly and simultaneously touch on several human rights issues including, but not limited to, discrimination based on colour, discrimination based on disability, special needs in terms of access to education, enjoyment of the highest standards of health, harmful traditional practices, violence including killings and ritual attacks, trade and trafficking of body parts for witchcraft purposes, infanticide and abandonment,” she said.
According to the recent World Bank report on population, Uganda is estimated to have around 20,000 persons living with albinism, with 60 per cent of them being children.
Ms Grace Nayiga, Executive Director of Uganda Network on Law (UgaNet) said: “We ask the government to enforce the law and such policies that protect women and girls from any form of violence and discrimination.”
Mr Paul Ssemogerere, the Albinism umbrella administrator said, that in his early years, he was denied access to education because of the discrimination and stigma created around the person with albinism.
“Albinos are some of the most marginalized groups in the country. There are also several myths associated with them, the most common being that they do not die but rather simply disappear. It is such a myth that forces some albinos to keep to themselves,” he said.
