Hell itself: The Darfur conflict

Matilde González

Horrible crimes of mass rape and murder have happened in Darfur, and there is no sight
about its end.
It all began in February of 2003, after the Sudanese government brought the Janjaweed to
fight the black African population there who started to rebel against the poor conditions of
their life, while the rest from other parts of the country were directly benefited from the
exportation of oil. Just for being ethnically and religiously different, they were qualified as
inferior.
Many families have had to run away from their own homes because of the Janjaweed to
never return. They have stayed in refugees for ages. Some mothers have seen their
babies die in their arms from the lack of food or medical assistance. Girls cannot sleep in
peace at night, they never know when they might be raped and killed. This is happening
right now.
They can’t tell if tomorrow will be a new day.
The hands of the Janjaweed are covered in blood, that is clear. They are the killers, the
rapists. But what might be even more messed up is the point of this plan by itself.
The Sudanese government recruited a bunch of people who once lived in their homes and
gave guns to them to exterminate civilians who asked for a better quality in life.
On an interview from around 2008, a woman traveled all the way to this territory to meet
the Janjaweed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZMogXUA4U8&ab_channel=DarfurCenter
You might think… “So, this woman looked into the eyes of a man who led a whole military
of rapists and assassins?”
The answer is yes… and no. Apparently, they claim something else. It seems that
according to their declarations, the Janjaweed are also divided.
This is no justification for all the murder, poverty and rape that the people from
Darfur have suffered. There will never be. I am writing from their words only:
When the government wanted their help to silence the rebels, they assured them they
would be well rewarded. It seems that wasn’t true. Therefore, these men were used by the
Sudanese government to make sure everyone from Darfur was eliminated. They also
handed them guns that were confirmed to be made in China.
Once they started to realize they were being tricked, some of these soldiers went against
their own country. In fact, in the documentary I quoted earlier, it shows how these men are
reunited deciding whether is was time to officially go against the government.
They let the interviewer ask as many questions as she had to inform the rest of the world
that not all Janjaweed feel proud to have this name.
It is very confusing. Nothing is too clear in this situation apart from the fact that innocent
people are dying.