Sudan

From the Ground: Darfurian Refugees in Chad Speak Out

Amnesty International delegates who recently participated in a research mission in Chad interviewed survivors of the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. While numbers and statistics are appalling in themselves, these accounts offer a personal portrait of the horrors that these people have endured. Below, these refugees describe the brutality of the attacks, events following the violence, violence against women, and the human rights violations that occur daily within Darfur’s court and jail system.

The Attacks

“I don’t actually know what happened to us, we were looking after our animals around the village. The airplane came and bombed the area we ran from the bomb… far from the village. We found the military with the janjawid. They were on horseback and camels. They hit us… we were injured… people came to take us away but we don’t know where our families are now… we found ourselves here.” (Injured man in refugee camp, Tine, Chad)

"The village was attacked on 28 June 2003, when men on horses and camels and in cars came in and surrounded the village at midday. The Janjawid were accompanied by soldiers of the government, the latter using cars. Two hours later, an Antonov plane and two helicopters flew over the village and shot rockets. The attackers came into the houses and shot my mother and grandfather, without any word. Most of the inhabitants had stayed in their houses. The attack lasted for two hours and everything was burnt down in the village." (A 25-year old woman from Abu Jidad village, in the Abu Gamra region, now in Mile refugee camp, Chad)

"The attack took place at 6am on Sunday 29 June and was carried out by both Janjawid and the government, arriving on camels, horses and by cars - - some 150 men in khaki in all. Two Antonov planes also took part in the attack. Some 65 men were praying at the mosque. The horses, camels and cars surrounded the mosque and the shooting started. All the men in the mosque were killed." (A refugee from the village of Goz Na'ima , some 80km from Abu Gamra)
“As we left the village the military with the Arabs came… and the airplane dropped the bomb. Now I don’t know where my mother and father are… I don’t know if the military killed them, or what happened to them… Our entire village is burnt.” (Osman Haron, 19 years old)

Violence Against Women

“I was sleeping when the attack took place. I was taken away by the attackers in khaki and in civilians clothes, along with dozens of other girls, and had to walk for three hours. During the day, we were beaten up and the Janjawid they told us: 'you, the black women, we will exterminate you; you have no God.' We were taken to a place in the bush were the Janjawid raped us several times at night. For three days, we did not receive food and almost no water. After three days, the Janjawid had to move to another place and set us free. They told us: 'next time we come, we will exterminate you all, we will not even leave a child alive'." (A 20-year old woman from Dasa village in Darfur, now in a refugee camp in eastern Chad)

"I came here because the plane destroyed my house, injured my husband and I'm ill. I came to have medicine from MSF. When the plane came, I was five months pregnant. I lost my baby because of the bombing. When the plane bombed, I was outside the house, I saw my husband was inside. I ran to the house. The smoke from the bomb made me cough, then I lost my child. I came here with my husband, he came back to Kornoy now. I came here 2 months ago because I was feeling ill. My body still hurts and my stomach is still big." (A female refugee from Kornoy, currently in Chad)

Torture in Detention

"I was never charged with any crime and I never saw anyone, not my family, not a lawyer. I was frequently beaten. They also gave me electric shocks to make me tell things. We had only one cup of water a day and the food was little and very bad. I was kept with 25 others in one cell which did not have any toilets. Three persons died in the detention center while I was there. . ." (Detainee from Tina on the Chad border, who was flown to the military intelligence centre in al-Fasher where he stayed for four months)

Loss

"I have lost everything now; I have nothing but the fingers of my two hands." (A refugee in Chad)

"As long as the safety of my family is not guaranteed, I don't wish to return to home." (A refugee in Chad)