07/28/2004

Two weeks ago, in the early morning hours of July 12, hell descended upon the village of Donki Dereisa in South Darfur.  Shortly before sunrise, Fatima Ibrahim, a 28-year old woman of noble features and simple ways, awoke from her sleep to the deafening sound of exploding ordnance falling from the sky and the rattle of automatic weapons fire.  As she emerged from her mud hut with her ten year old daughter, she saw fires blazing all around and scores of heavily armed men on horseback attacking the village from every direction.  With bullets whistling passed them, Fatima and her daughter ran for their lives before ducking into a nearby ravine, where they would hide without food or water for the next two days.

From the ditch, Fatima witnessed a horrific avalanche of violence that will haunt her for the rest of her life.  With Sudanese foot soldiers at their side, the mounted warriors shot the panicked and unarmed villagers in cold blood, reaping a path of destruction that took the lives of approximately 150 people, including ten women.  But the worst was yet to come.

Among those who were captured during the assault on Donki Dereisa were four of Fatima’s brothers and six young children, including three of her cousins.  As Fatima watched in abject terror, several of the attackers began grabbing the screaming children and throwing them one by one into a raging fire.  While this was happening, one of the male villagers ran from his hiding place to plead for the lives of the children.  It was a fatal error.  In no mood for mercy, the fighters quickly subdued the man, who was subsequently beheaded and chopped into seven pieces.  All six of the children, including an eight-year old girl, a five-year girl and a three-year old boy, were burned alive.  Fatima’s four brothers have not been heard from since.

This attack occurred about 10 days after the Government of Sudan committed to Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that it would halt the reign of terror of the militia in Darfur and provide security to the population throughout the region. The Government continues to demonstrate a lack of will at the highest levels to ensure that attacks on civilians cease. Refugees International continues to press for a UN Security Council resolution that contains the threat of tough sanctions on the Government of Sudan unless it stops the militia operations and protects the civilian population of Darfur from further atrocities. The human rights monitoring mission of the African Union in Darfur also needs to be greatly expanded and strengthened.

Refugees International has a three-person team, Fidele Lumeya, Shannon Meehan, and Daniel Wolf of the George Wolf Operating Foundation, assessing the human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur.