No one will admit the Janjaweed are here. Yet everyone lives in fear ....

[gottaB]

No one will admit the Janjaweed are here. Yet everyone lives in fear of the men in white

The refugees of Sudan fled their villages to escape the Janjaweed. Now, they find their camps are guarded by the very Arab militia they fear so much. Kim Sengupta reports from Kass, Darfur

10 August 2004

In the morning, manning checkpoints with Sudanese soldiers, the Janjaweed in their flowing white robes were courtesy itself. In the afternoon, others in the militia, this time wearing the uniforms of the Local Defence Force, were again all smiles as we sipped cups of sweet tea. In between, I had been hearing of savagery committed by their comrades, or perhaps even them, from victims of rape.

Many of the women refugees at Kass had already been subjected to sexual violence when the Janjaweed raided their villages. Some are pregnant from the ordeal. Now, they are again the prey from the same gangs in what is meant to have been set up as a government-protected sanctuary.

No one will admit the Janjaweed are here....

[gottaB]

1. Another story about Janjaweed in the police force

Janjaweed militia recruited for Sudan police

Also filed today by Gethin Chamberlain for the Scotsman, Slaughter of Darfur's innocents

[stevedeshazer]

2. This story is horrifying and being swept under the rug

All the focus is on the election in the US.

[struggle4progress]

3. kick

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

6. another kick for later replies

:kick:

[DemBones DemBones]

4. What the Janjaweed are doing is almost beyond belief.

That so little is said about it is even worse.

[gottaB]

5. "Neglect of Sudanese, regrettably, follows historic pattern"

Neglect of Sudanese, regrettably, follows historic pattern

Hmm. Tristan offers a rather depressing perspective. So it goes.


In following events in Darfur, I value stories that stay close to the ground and don't try too hard to analyze or explain. I want to read testimonies, hear what eyewitnesses say. I think it's important for the victims too, to be able to tell their stories. Maybe because they feel it's all they have left, or they feel the need for a human connection after the most dehumanizing trauma. I don't know. It's something Jerry Fowler of the Holocaust Memorial has talked about (Stories of Refugees from Sudan's Darfur Echo Horrors of Holocaust).

I know it's not easy for the victims to speak. They have to overcome feelings of shame, hold back tears and painful memories. (Women Tell of Brutal Rapes in Secret Camp). And if they are in Sudan still and talk to foreigners, they risk being beaten, persecuted, killed, disappeared. (See Government should stop intimidation and arrests of civilians speaking to foreigners, the latest press release from Amnesty; Sudanese Refugees Told to Stay Silent On Government, Militia Abuses, and so on.) And it's of course quite ironic that the Janjaweed are hidden in plain sight, while the plain truth must be kept hidden from the authorities and smuggled out when the opportunity arises.

Journalists too have been persecuted by the government of Sudan. Notably Al Jazeerah was ejected (Press Freedom in Sudan), and recently Sudan threatened BBC with legal action. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been denied access. Aid workers must be careful about what they say, or speak anonymously (e.g. After Rwanda, the West said never again. We must act now).

I usually value news stories about ordinary people more than accounts of decision making bodies or the pronouncements of heads of state. Under the circumstances in Sudan, that goes double. These stories from the camps are precious, and I am thankful to be able to read them.

There's another dimension too, perhaps. Something like genocide I can appreciate intellectually, and international relations, the way the geopolitical world is shaping up in my lifetime. I can see it like a puzzle cube, or an atomic model. I doubt most people share my fascination that way. A story, though, people will follow. A good story moves people. If people get to the end of a story and their only response is like a cry of despair, well, that's what it is. I don't know if you can explain what's happening any better than that.

So as much as I wish the public were better informed about the world, and governments were transparent and we could talk freely about human rights and dignity and rationally agree upon what kind of world we all want to live in, I'll settle for swapping stories and cross my fingers that something good comes of it.