Corpses betray the truth of Darfur as deadline passes
By Meera Selva in north-west Darfur
31 August 2004

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=556760

The men of Darfur have gone. After the Janjaweed Arab
militias and Sudanese military descended on these
villages, teenagers, youths and grown men vanished.
Many joined the rebel groups to avenge their dead
relatives but others were murdered and their bodies
left to carrion-eaters.

Some of the remains have been buried by families who
crept under cover of night to spread soil over their
husbands and brothers, but high in the hills of
north-west Darfur, there is a tangle of skeletons and
part-decomposed bodies, a testimony to the killings.

Jan Pronk, the UN special representative for Sudan,
briefed the Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday on
Darfur for a Security Council meeting on Thursday that
will decide whether the Sudanese government has kept
its promise to end hostilities. More than a million
Darfuris have fled their homes for fear of attack by
the Janjaweed Arab militia, which was mobilised by the
Sudanese government to help crush rebel forces of the
Sudanese Liberation Army.

Inside Darfur, no one believes the war is over. Human
Rights Watch say the Sudanese government is still
permitting active Janjaweed camps in western Sudan.
Then there is the hard evidence: the bodies.

There were 12. They lie on two dry river-beds, with
broken ribs, and bullet holes in their skulls. One
wore faded blue trousers, with the word "Titan" sewn
on the label. At least two bodies were those of
children.

Ahmed Yusuf Ibrahim, sitting amid the ruins of his
village, said: "I saw the horses and cars coming, so I
began running to the mountains with some women and
children. I was at the top and I looked down and saw
my brother being led away. He had his hands tied
behind his back and his eyes were covered.

"For a long time, I did not know where he had gone.
Then a month later a shepherd found bodies at the
summit of the mountain. I went to look and I saw my
brother there. We are three brothers and we always
used to buy the same clothes, so when I saw his
jallabiya I knew it was him."

This corner of Darfur, four hours' drive from the
western border of Sudan, was laid waste in an attack
by government forces and the Janjaweed in April.
Survivors tell the now-familiar story, how they heard
military airplanes circling for hours before the
bombings. And as they ran, the Janjaweed arrived on
horseback to torch the houses and shoot civilians.

Many people were led away to be shot in distant areas.
Hundreds of men have vanished, and many survivors do
not know if their families are alive or dead.

In one village, three women walked for six days to
return home from a refugee camp in Chad, so they could
plant crops and seek news of the disappeared. "None of
the women who came with me have husbands any more,"
said Amena. "My husband was at the river watering our
animals when the Janjaweed came. I took my children
and ran. I don't know where my husband is. I want to
search for him but I don't know where to look."

The government of Sudan has justified similar attacks
by saying the men arrested were suspected of being SLA
rebels, but the people of the villages say they had
nothing to do with them.

Mr Ibrahim said: "Before the attack, we did not know
anything about the SLA but after my brother died, I
went to find them. Now it is the only thing I have to
live for. I wanted to bury my brother like Muslims are
supposed to do, but the SLA commander said to leave it
to let people come and see what happened. I know my
brother died innocent, with no sins, so I am not
worried about what will happen to his soul."






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