Over the past year and a half, a disturbing and violent trend has been growing in Malawi, a country often known by its nickname: "The Warm Heart of Africa".
At least 18 people with albinism, a congenital condition resulting in a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes, have been murdered, and many others have been raped or harassed. Four of the murders happened in April alone, and five more albinos have been abducted and are still missing.
A new report from Amnesty International accuses Malawian police of failing to protect the albino population, and the Malawian Government of failing to educate its citizens about albinism's natural causes.
Albinism is more common in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the world. Superstitions about the condition are rife, especially in Malawi and neighbouring Tanzania and Mozambique.
Some believe that having sex with an albino woman can cure HIV, which puts albino women at particular risk for rape. Others believe that the bones of albino people contain gold, or have medicinal or even magical properties. That demand, stemming from a ritual medicine revival in Malawi, is fuelling the spate of murders by gangs that, allegedly, can make as much as US$75,000 selling a "full set" of albino body parts, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.