SHATTAYA:Sudanese farmer Suleiman Yakub vividly remembers the day he was hung from atree and left to die by Arab militiamen who attacked his village in Darfur,killing, looting and burning. "Villagers were executed in front ofme," said Yakub, 59, a resident of Shattaya village, which was attacked bythe notorious Janjaweed militia in February 2004 when the conflict in Sudan'swestern region of Darfur was at its peak.
"I was handcuffedand hung from a tree with a rope around my neck, but I survived," he said,showing the scar on his neck. "We still don't feel safe." Thefighting in Darfur erupted in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up armsagainst Khartoum's then Arab-dominated government of now-ousted leader OmarAl-Bashir, alleging racial discrimination, marginalization and exclusion.Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, a group of mostly Arab raidingnomads that it recruited and armed to create a militia of gunmen who were oftenmounted on horses or camels.
They have beenaccused of applying a scorched earth policy against ethnic groups suspected ofsupporting the rebels, raping, killing, looting and burning villages. Thecampaign earned Bashir and others arrest warrants from the InternationalCriminal Court (ICC). About 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 milliondisplaced in the conflict, the United Nations says. Thousands of peacekeepingtroops from a joint UN-African Union mission were deployed in 2007 to curb theconflict, but their numbers have been gradually reduced since mid-2018 as theconflict has subsided.
Many Shattayaresidents, like Yakub, have tentatively started to return to their homes, madeof mud brick and thatch, after living in run-down camps for years. Theirvillage was one of those that faced the brunt of the attack unleashed by theJanjaweed in the early years of the conflict. Residents say about 1,800villagers were killed when gunmen on horses, camels and motorcycles torethrough the village, firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Vow to bringpeace
The Hague-basedICC has charged Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidefor abuses in Darfur, including for atrocities committed in Shattaya. Bashirwas ousted by his army in April after months of nationwide protests against hisiron-fisted rule of three decades. But tensions remain over land ownership inDarfur, and those responsible for the war's darkest years have not been broughtto justice.
Sudan's newauthorities who came to power after Bashir's overthrow have vowed to end theconflict in Darfur as well as in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.They are holding peace talks this week in Juba, the capital of South Sudan,with three rebel groups who fought Bashir's forces in these regions. After morethan 15 years, the brutality unleashed on Shattaya, whose residents are mainlyfrom the African Fur tribe, is still evident.
Most houses inShattaya are severely damaged and charred, with residents who have returnedliving in make-shift shelters, an AFP correspondent who visited the villagereported. The road to Shattaya is unpaved and dusty, and riddled with pools ofmuddy water. Villagers complain that armed men are still in the area, and thatlands confiscated by Arab pastoralists have not been returned. "We havenot got back our farm," said Mohamed Izhak, 29, who claims his familyowned a lemon and orange orchard on the outskirts of the village. Izhakreturned to Shattaya last year, after living in a camp for years alongside tensof thousands of people displaced by the conflict.
'We are scared'
Izhak said hisfather, two brothers and three uncles were killed in the 2004 attack. "Wedon't feel safe, even now... we are unable to build proper homes, we are livingin small shelters made from plastic and dry grass." Haj Abdelrahman, 63,lives in a room that survived the destruction of his home. When he returned toShattaya, he found Arab pastoralists occupying his family's farm.
"The farm isdestroyed, they have cut the trees," Abdelrahman said, adding that he waswary of talking to the pastoralists "because they are armed"."They are not stealing our livestock anymore, but if they are not disarmedwe will not feel fully secure. We also want our land back." Many villagersare planting vegetables just outside what is left of their houses, hoping thatone day they will get their farms back. "I have my farm outside thevillage, but I cannot go there because I don't feel safe," Siddiq Yousseftold AFP. "If those militiamen are not disarmed, then we can't have peace.We are scared even now when we see them." - AFP