Anna+Liddane


 * // Albino murders in Tanzania //**

On Monday, Tanzanian courts convicted four men for the murder of a 50 year-old albino man, and were sentenced to death. Since 2007, there have been over fifty people murdered in mainly Tanzania and other bordering countries, but many of the killings have been unreported. The reason for the albino killings is because people believe that the body parts and blood of albinos will bring wealth and good luck. The organs and limbs of the murdered are sent to witchdoctors who sell the parts from $500 to $2,000. People are eager to earn this amount, because the per capita income of Tanzania is around $450 a year. It is unlikely that the men will be executed, because no one has been executed there in fifteen years, even though there are hundreds of people on death row.

Sources: Aljazeera: [] ABC News: []

My opinion on this issue is that these barbaric acts are the result of superstition. I think that this belief in magic is a consequence of lack of education and it is the albino people and their families who suffer. It is unfortunate that people care more about being wealthy than caring about other people to such an extreme. I believe that the death sentence of the murderers should be carried out and not just set aside.

The two articles were very different. The Aljazeera news was presented with many quotes that were coming directly from albino people and their organization. This article also gave more information as if one had never heard of the issue before. The ABC piece was interesting because it was covered in first person. It gave the story of a reporter that investigated the topic. There were not any quotes though, which made the reader feel less engaged. But, both news articles had the same information on the comparison of the income of people and the cost of the parts of albinos. The articles were both well written, but I feel Aljazeera had more information.