Death and atrocity ride with the Janjaweed in Darfur, Sudan

In the harsh lands of Western Sudan, a region known as Darfur, the world’s worst humanitarian calamity since Rwanda is unfolding. A million or more people have been driven from their homes. Estimates of those already killed in the fighting range from 30,000 to 50,000 and the onset of disease and starvation could cost up to million lives in the months to come. The primary instrument of destruction in Darfur has been the unleashing of so-called “Arab” militia groups on “African” farmers and villagers.

Typically they come in the morning, around breakfast, as a village is still awakening. They ride in from the surrounding brush on horseback or on camels, just as desert raiders have for centuries. But these modern marauders are more deadly. They’re armed with automatic weapons and some arrive Mad-Max-style in four-wheel-drive vehicles. Sometimes they’re preceded by a military aircraft swooping low to drop high explosives. And invariably they bring cruelty, hate, rape and murder with them.

These are the Janjaweed--meaning “gunmen on horseback” or “bandits”--that have been on a brutal rampage for over a year now, and the subject of much condemnation from the international community. A recent Amnesty International report, “Sudan: Rape as a weapon of war” (see www.amnesty.org) is an unpleasant, harrowing read. But the many first-hand accounts are necessary to describe the seriousness of the situation. Here are some of the tamer stories from victims.

"The attack took place at 8am when soldiers arrived by car, camels and horses. The Janjaweed were inside the houses and the soldiers outside. Some 15 women and girls who had not fled quickly enough were raped. The Janjaweed broke the limbs of some to prevent them from escaping."

“At 7am, our village was surrounded by the Janjaweed; we heard machine guns and most of the people ran away, some were killed while trying to escape. My sister was captured. They tried to sleep with her. She resisted, I was present and could hear her: ‘I will not do something like this even if you kill me’ and they immediately killed her.”

At its heart, the violence in Darfur stems from the age-old clash between the culture of nomadic hunters and herders (loosely termed Arabs)--who have always raided their neighbors--and the sedentary culture of farming. African farming communities at once displace the nomads, as well as provide targets for their predations. Across the Sahel (the semi-arid zone just south of the sterile Sahara) this dynamic has operated for countless generations and today’s killer horsemen in Sudan are drawn mostly from traditional, Bedouin-based tribes. But in Darfur, three factors are combining to produce a level of violence that many are starting to call genocide:

• Desertification. Because of climate shifts, increased population and poor agricultural practices the Sahara is expanding each year to the south. This “desertification” process pushes nomadic tribes further into the agricultural belt, and results in a more desperate competition for scarce resources.

• Modern armaments. A generation ago, a Janjaweed raiding party might have access to bolt-action rifles and pistols. But today the black-clad horsemen ride with fully automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades making them more efficient killers.

• Government support. Although Khartoum has denied it, the Islamic government of Sudan has not only armed the Janjaweed, but also provided training, transportation, and even air support from combat aircraft.

The Sudanese government’s policy of supporting the Arab militias came last year in response to two mostly African-based rebel groups--the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), that the government sees as threats to be eliminated. Bogged down in another civil war in southern Sudan, Khartoum needed proxy warriors in Darfur.

But the bloodshed and atrocities in Darfur have risen to such a level that the U.N., the European Union, the African Union, a whole host of international aid organizations, and (most importantly) the U.S. are now pushing for sanctions, and possible intervention in Sudan unless the militias are disarmed.

In unleashing the Janjaweed, however, Khartoum has evidently lost control of the situation and is unlikely to be able to put the evil genie back in the bottle--even if it wants to. Now it remains to be seen if the U.N., or some coalition of concerned states, will forcibly intervene to stop the depredations and save tens of thousands of homeless refugees from starving. I say the chances are small. Stand by for more tragedy in Darfur.

T.T.

©2004, WestRim Digital Arts