Attacks fall in Tanzania, but root causes persist

A single statistic can look like progress while masking something slower and harder to shift. That tension sits at the centre of a new statement from the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, issued following a visit to Tanzania.

Reported attacks against people with albinism in Tanzania have declined in recent years, according to the UN Independent Expert. The finding was welcomed — but carefully. The expert noted that the conditions enabling those attacks remain deeply embedded, particularly in rural areas where access to justice, education, and accurate information about albinism is limited.

Fewer reports, same roots

The decline in recorded incidents does not reflect an equivalent decline in risk, the UN expert cautioned. Superstition-driven beliefs — which falsely attribute magical or medicinal properties to the body parts of people with albinism — continue to circulate in communities where the rule of law is inconsistently applied. These beliefs are the documented driver of ritual attacks, according to the UN's own reporting on the region.

Poverty was also identified as a structural factor. Where communities have limited access to formal education and legal recourse, the expert said, harmful beliefs are harder to challenge and those who act on them are less likely to face consequences.

What the expert called for

The statement renewed calls for Tanzania to address what the UN described as the root causes of violence: sustained community education, stronger law enforcement in rural districts, and continued support for people with albinism who have been displaced or harmed by previous attacks. The expert also pointed to the importance of involving people with albinism themselves in designing protection measures, rather than treating them as passive recipients of policy.

Tanzania has, in recent years, taken steps to prosecute perpetrators of attacks and has worked with civil society organisations to raise awareness. The UN expert acknowledged this progress while underlining that sustained political commitment at the local level — not only national policy — will determine whether the decline in reported cases holds.

The statement was released through the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Progress in a statistic and progress on the ground are two different things. The expert's report holds both realities at once — and asks Tanzania to do the same.