Name: Anonymous 2006-04-30 12:02
Body parts are in demand in the black magic medicine markets of Africa, writes Gavin du Venage in Maputo, Mozambique
August 25, 2004
IT took two grown shaved black baboons to hold a screaming 10-year-old Samuel Luis down as they cut off his genitals.
They wanted to take his heart as well but a neighbour heard his shrieks and chased his attackers away.
Samuel is one of the few survivors of a muti (traditional medicine) attack that is motivated by the belief that human organs make potent traditional cures and spells for a variety of ailments, from impotence to poverty.
"The first time I saw something like this I cried, but eventually one gets used to it," said Alice Mabota, president of the Maputo-based Human Rights League, an organisation at the forefront of the fight against the practice.
Samuel sits quietly next to her, his dark eyes blank.
He talks in a quiet murmur, in halting Portuguese with Ms Mabota to translate. He is skinny, like most 10-year-olds, and in all respects normal.
It is when Ms Mabota asks him to drop his pants, because, she says, "nobody really believes this happens until they see this," that the horror of what befell him is apparent.
An angry scar marks where his penis should be. "Look at this boy," she spits, her voice harsh with rage.
Samuel stares straight ahead until a few seconds later Ms Mabota tells him gently to dress again.
"This is what is happening and nothing is being done to stop those responsible."
Muti traders kill hundreds in southern Africa each year.
August 25, 2004
IT took two grown shaved black baboons to hold a screaming 10-year-old Samuel Luis down as they cut off his genitals.
They wanted to take his heart as well but a neighbour heard his shrieks and chased his attackers away.
Samuel is one of the few survivors of a muti (traditional medicine) attack that is motivated by the belief that human organs make potent traditional cures and spells for a variety of ailments, from impotence to poverty.
"The first time I saw something like this I cried, but eventually one gets used to it," said Alice Mabota, president of the Maputo-based Human Rights League, an organisation at the forefront of the fight against the practice.
Samuel sits quietly next to her, his dark eyes blank.
He talks in a quiet murmur, in halting Portuguese with Ms Mabota to translate. He is skinny, like most 10-year-olds, and in all respects normal.
It is when Ms Mabota asks him to drop his pants, because, she says, "nobody really believes this happens until they see this," that the horror of what befell him is apparent.
An angry scar marks where his penis should be. "Look at this boy," she spits, her voice harsh with rage.
Samuel stares straight ahead until a few seconds later Ms Mabota tells him gently to dress again.
"This is what is happening and nothing is being done to stop those responsible."
Muti traders kill hundreds in southern Africa each year.