Jean Burke Australian Catholic University

Motivated by profit and witchcraft beliefs: East African networks target people with albinism

East Africans with albinism

What can we learn from the media about the illicit networks targeting Tanzanians with albinism?

• 391 articles: 206 Swahili, 183 English• Using court reports of trials of arrested suspects• And police reports of attacks on people with

albinism

Cases – albino murders/ attacksCases by name

Number articles

Age of victim

Date of attack

Network size

Location

M E 11 5 Jan 21 , 2008

3? Mwanza

E C 10 9 Oct 2009 5+ Kahama

M D 38 13 Dec 1, 2008

6+ Shinyanga

L W 41 51 4 Dec 2008 7+ Shinyanga

R M 2 20 Aug 2010 1 Mwanza

A N 6 26 June 2009

10+ Mwanza

A R 11 14 14 Oct 2011 4+ Geita

Cases and convictionsCases Suspects Arrests Released Dates of

trialConvictions Sentences

M E 3 2 1 Mar 3 2012

1 Death byHanging

E C 5 5 1 2 Death by hanging

M D 6 5 1 Nov 3 2009

3 Death by hanging

L W 7 5 1 Nov 3 2009

4 Death by hanging

R M 1 1 Aug 19 2010

1 Jail & fine

A N 10 3 1(died) 0

A R 4 3 0

P 2 2 0

Key players

“a dreadful tripartite network” consisting of “traditional healers, their customers and contract killers” (Citizen 2011 December 21)

Out of 172 arrested in March 2008, 71 confessed they “had been told by witchdoctors to bring albino body parts” (BBC 2008 April 30)

Role DescriptorTraditional healers, witchdoctors

Specialists in prescribing and making potions, instruct attackers on removing body parts and provide them protective medicines

Customers Buy custom-made medicines, provide funds

Attackers,Assassins

Contracted to attack persons with albinism and remove their body parts

Scouters Collect information about potential victims

Sellers Persons close to victim, including kin, who receive money to facilitate access for attackers

Dealers Negotiate deals and coordinate between other actors

Transporters Store and/or transport body parts

Corrupt officials

Work in official positions and receive bribes for corrupt behaviour or concealing information

Node Roles

Node characteristics

Males Aged 21-60 years Professions stated as traditional healer,

businessman, village chair. Traditional healers also took on roles of

scouting, attacking and transporting Some nodes took on multiple roles Data rarely includes details of customers

Network operationPreparation stage Witchdoctor recommends special potion to customer Scouters may build trust and observe victim’s habits or dialogue

with them Meetings held to plan and negotiate deals Witchdoctor may provide protective medicine to attackers

Action stage Attack or murder carried out, and body parts removed

Fulfilling contracts After attack, body parts are stored temporarily or transported. Payments finalised

Exchanges

Tangible Intangible

Money Information

Body organs knowledge

Medicine skills

Meetings protection

Written information plans

Enduring networks

Same village

MD

Close relative

Same district

Convicted of murder

Names suppressed

Case MD

Enduring networks

Same village

Same region

EC Close relative

Same players in MD’s murder

Case EC

Opportunistic sellers

‘Friends’ from same tribe, village

Case RM

Interventions

Guardian October 2014

Interventions

Banning licences of traditional healers– Targets profession of key players with specialised

skills Campaign to anonymously inform on suspects

– Due to fear of reprisal – 97,736 people named in this poll. 11 cases of

suspected albino killers brought to trial, with 27 ongoing investigations (Citizen 2010 Feb 3).

Community policing, supported by community education, symbolic actions and moral voices

Opportunistic sellers – forming networks

Imposters of criminals

Case RM

Opportunistic sellers

Arrests made in sting operations by police: 1. traditional healer posing as a witchdoctor, when

approached by seller from Kenya 2. Police posing as customers, after community

informed police Relied on “community policing” In context where anyone might be a customer, and

only some traditional healers are diviners (witchdoctors)

Vulnerable chain while in state of forming links

So what? In resource-poor nations, media can be a legitimate

source of data for network analysis. A UN official stated the media “reports have assisted

the authorities to have a clearer picture of what is going on” (Guardian 2009, February 10)

Mixed networks of ideology/ profit motive = vulnerable dense clusters with more secure chain tails, with brokers as key finger-pointers

Opportunistic sellers, close to victims, seeking to connect to networks, may be vulnerable to disruption when community is co-operative and networked with law enforcement.

ReferencesBright, David A., Hughes, Caitlin E. and Chalmers, J. (2012)

Illuminating dark networks: a social network analysis of an Australian drug trafficking syndicate. Crime Law Social Change. 57: 151-176

Burke, J. (2013). Media framing of violence against Tanzanians with albinism in the Great Lakes region: a matter of culture, crime, poverty and human rights. The Australasian Review of African Studies, 34(2), 57-77.

Labuschagne, G. (2004) Features and investigative implications of muti murder in South Africa. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 1: 191-206

Morselli, C., Giguere, C. & Petit, K. (2007) The efficiency/security trade-off in criminal networks. Social Networks, 29: 143-153

Under the Same Sun (2012) Children with albinism in Africa: murder mutilation and violence, A report on Tanzania. Under the Same Sun