[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1088 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1088

   Recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa and 
                condemning their murder and mutilation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2010

   Mr. Connolly of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Mrs. Capps, Ms. 
  Baldwin, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Faleomavaega, Ms. Watson, Mr. Inglis, Mr. 
Scott of Georgia, Mr. Schauer, Mr. Payne, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Grijalva, 
Mr. Lance, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Norton, 
 Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Crowley, Mr. 
   McMahon, Ms. Granger, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Sarbanes, Mrs. Schmidt, Mr. 
Cohen, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Ms. Richardson, Ms. Harman, Mr. Murphy 
 of New York, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Schock, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Matheson, 
 and Ms. Lee of California) submitted the following resolution; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Recognizing the plight of people with albinism in East Africa and 
                condemning their murder and mutilation.

Whereas, in parts of East Africa, most notably Tanzania, shamans promote the 
        reprehensible belief that people with albinism are less than human, and 
        that their body parts can be made into potions to bring wealth or luck;
Whereas over the last 2 years, more than 50 adults and children with albinism 
        have been murdered in East Africa by mercenaries who sell their body 
        parts to shamans;
Whereas countless other people with albinism have survived these attacks, and 
        have been permanently mutilated in the name of profit;
Whereas two mothers of children with albinism were attacked by gangs who were 
        searching for the children in Eastern Tanzania in November 2008;
Whereas a 10-year-old boy with albinism, Gasper Elikana, was beheaded by men who 
        fled with his leg in October 2008;
Whereas a 28-year-old woman with albinism, Mariamu Stanford, was attacked while 
        she was asleep in October 2009, losing both of her arms and her unborn 
        child;
Whereas a 17-year-old woman with albinism from Kenya, Vumilia Makoye, was killed 
        by 2 men in her home who sawed off her legs in May of 2008;
Whereas hundreds of children with albinism are living in fear for their lives in 
        rural outposts;
Whereas people with albinism are routinely shunned by their communities and 
        often excluded from East African society;
Whereas people with albinism in East Africa are not provided with life-saving 
        information about preventing skin cancer, and have no means of 
        protecting themselves from excess sunlight;
Whereas people with albinism lack access to medical treatment for skin cancer, 
        and the average person in East Africa with albinism dies by age 30 from 
        skin cancer, and only 2 percent of people with albinism in that region 
        live to age 40; and
Whereas a number of government officials in rural areas of East Africa have 
        ignored or even colluded with local shamans in these degradations: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the murder and mutilation of adults and 
        children with albinism for their body parts;
            (2) expresses the support of the citizens of the United 
        States for people with albinism in East Africa who have been 
        the victims of such attacks;
            (3) recognizes that the murder and mutilation of people 
        because of a genetic condition constitutes a form of gross 
        violation of human rights;
            (4) urges the Governments of Tanzania and Burundi to 
        actively and aggressively prosecute and convict the 
        perpetrators of these crimes;
            (5) calls for the Governments of Tanzania and Burundi, 
        along with international organizations, to actively support the 
        education of people with albinism about the prevention of skin 
        cancer;
            (6) calls for the education of East Africans about the 
        realities of albinism, with the purpose of eliminating the 
        discrimination and treatment of people with albinism;
            (7) calls for the United States to provide humanitarian 
        assistance to people with albinism in East Africa; and
            (8) calls on the Governments of East Africa to take 
        immediate and forceful action to prevent further violence 
        against persons with albinism and to bring to swift justice 
        those who have engaged in such reprehensible practices.
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