Ruyigi, Burundi - Richard Ciza was alerted by neighbours last week that a posse was looking for him. He ran and hid for two days in the forest of eastern Burundi.

The 19-year-old is an albino and knows exactly the kind of death he would have suffered if the marauding horde had caught up with him.

"Some neighbours came to warn me that a group of killers was after me and so I ran like the wind, completely terrified," said Ciza who lives in Ruyigi province.

In recent weeks, Ruyigi has seen a gruesome string of murders and mutilations of albinos, whose body parts are sold to witch doctors.

"People say that the body parts taken from albinos are sold in Tanzania. They put them on gold mines and that brings the gold to the surface, then you just need to collect it," said Ciza, fear evident in his pale blue eyes.

"Some fishermen also use the parts to bait large fish they think have gold in their bellies."...

Police have established that the limbs, organs and blood of the albinos were smuggled into neighbouring Tanzania and sold to local sorcerers who use them to concoct lucky charms.

Northern Tanzania has been plagued by grisly incidents involving witchcraft. The phenomenon has reached such proportions that the country's president has had to launch a special protection programme.

Demand is such in Tanzania that albinos across the region now feel threatened.

Albinos in Ruyigi province, where witchcraft is deeply entrenched, are more at risk than others.