In early 2005, Human Rights Watch investigators traveled to camps along Chad-Sudan border housing refugee men, women and children from Darfur. During interviews with these refugees, Human Rights Watch investigators gave children paper and crayons to keep them occupied while they gathered testimony from the children’s parents and caregivers. The images presented below are images of violence they drew without any instruction — pictures of Janjaweed on horseback and camel shooting civilians, Antonovs dropping bombs on civilians and houses, an army tank firing on fleeing villagers. Read more about Human Rights Watch’s efforts in Darfur on their Web site.
The names of the children have been changed for their protection.
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- Abd al-Rahman, Age 13 -- “I am looking at the sheep in the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. I see Janjaweed coming—quickly, on horses and camels, with Kalashnikovs—shooting and yelling, ‘kill the slaves, kill the blacks.’ They killed many of the men with the animals. I saw people falling on the ground and bleeding. They chased after children. Some of us were taken, some we didn’t see again. All our animals were taken: camels, cows, sheep, and goats. Then the planes came and bombed the village.” At the bottom right of the first page is a rocket. Arabic script reads, “Janjaweed and soldiers in West Sudan and other areas.”
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- Taha, Age 13 or 14 -- “In the afternoon we returned from school and saw the planes. We were all looking, not imagining about bombing. Then they began the bombing. The first bomb [landed] in our garden, then four bombs at once in the garden. The bombs killed six people, including a young boy, a boy carried by his mother, and a girl. In another place in the garden a women was carrying her baby son—she was killed, not him.... Now my nights are hard because I feel frightened. We became homeless. I cannot forget the bad images of the burning houses and fleeing at night because our village was burned…” The Arabic script reads, “Targeted homes”.
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- Doa, Age 11 or 12 -- This drawing shows Janjaweed on horses and camels, a woman flings her arms in the air as she is targeted for sexual violence or execution. A soldier takes a woman to be raped. She has a cell phone next to her head: “She wants to call the agencies for help.”
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- Musa, Age 15 -- Musa drew this picture of Antonovs bombing his village. His mother, father, and brothers were all killed. His uncle told his family’s story: “It was July 2003. At 6 a.m., the Sudanese government soldiers and Janjaweed came by car, tank, horse, camel, and on foot. There were three or four villages in our area, with a total population of maybe 1,200. Men, women, and children were killed—some by bombing, some by shooting. Some ran away. All our livestock, property, and food were taken. Then the village was burned: Some huts were set on fire by the Janjaweed. Later a plane came in the evening and burned the village. All the people who were still hiding in their huts—the old, the weak, the blind—were rounded up by the Janjaweed and shot. One hut was set on fire with someone still inside. I saw them with own eyes. I was then chased by Janjaweed but not caught. My family slept that night in the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. We returned the next day. I counted around 80 or 90 bodies: men and children, a few women. We made a grave for all the people, 10 or 20 people to a grave, five or six graves in total.”
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- Leila, Age 9 -- Human Rights Watch: What is going on here? Leila: My hut burning after being hit by a bomb. Human Rights Watch: And here? [Pointing to the drawing of what
looks like an upside-down woman] Leila: It’s a woman. She is dead. Human Rights Watch: Why is her face colored in red? Leila: Oh, because she has been shot in the face. Human Rights Watch: What is this vehicle? Who is this in green? Leila: That is a tank. The man in green is a soldier.
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- Mostafa, Age 8 -- “We were running. From soldiers. Janjaweed. Planes. They were chasing us. These are men. These are women. We ran to the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. Then we ran to Chad.”
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- Nur, Age 9 -- 'Nur: This is my brother. He is hiding in Sudan. He is not happy. Human Rights Watch: Why? Nur: He wants to learn, to go to school, but he has nothing. Our school was burned.' Arabic script reads, “books”.
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- Magda, Age 9 -- “We were running from the burning houses. Janjaweed and soldiers with guns and planes and bombs came, all together, quickly. They were shooting…my uncle was shot. I saw them taking women and girls away. All of us—my family—we were screaming and running from the Janjaweed to hide in the wadi [riverbed or oasis]…holding each other by the arms to keep together. Here in camp we are safe, but my father…he was lost.”
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- Magda, Age 9 -- “There was a plane. This is the village burning. We took some water and were running. This Janjaweed came and took our camel away. I saw him. We ran to the wadi [riverbed, or oasis], and we climbed into a tree to hide. Then we ran in the night.” Magda’s mother, Khadijah, added, “If we can go back to Sudan, that would be good, but we have no home. Our village was burned to the ground.”
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- Jamil, Age 12 -- “The Janjaweed came on camels and horses, very fast. Sometimes two on one camel, with guns. Many soldiers, with guns. This one is a machine gun. They were shooting us.” In the same exercise book, Jamil had drawn a man with a radio transmitter, drawn larger than the man: “We needed help. There was no one to protect us.”
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- Ala‘, Age 13 - Like many other children, Ala‘ witnessed conflict between rebel groups and the Janjaweed. This drawing depicts a rebel soldier first shot in the arm, then executed by gunshots to the groin. Ali, a teacher in a refugee camp, said the rebels are killed this way to emasculate them. “They [the Janjaweed] know what they are doing,” he said. “They are doing it with purpose.”
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- Saleh, Age 13 -- “There were soldiers from Sudan, Janjaweed, and planes and bombs. I saw the Janjaweed take girls and women. The women were screaming. They seized them, they took them by force. The pretty ones were taken away…Girls were taken, small girls too, I think 5 and 7 and 14. Some came back after four or five hours…some we haven’t seen again.”
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- Mahmoud, Age 13 -- Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: These men in green are taking the women and the girls. Human Rights Watch: What are they doing? Mahmoud: They are forcing them to be wife. Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: The houses are on fire. Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: This is an Antonov. This is a helicopter. These here, at the bottom of the page, these are dead people.
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- Gamal, Age 12, Anwar, Age 10 -- Mohammed, 8, could not draw. He had never been to school. He could not read or write his name. These drawings were made by his brother and cousin. In the smallest voice, he said, “I am still scared of the Janjaweed. I remember the guns and the planes.” The last thing he said to Human Rights Watch researchers was, “darigi jugi”—“I need to go back home.”
Human Rights Watch does not endorse, and does not necessarily share, the views and opinions expressed in the film “Worse Than War” or other work contained or referenced therein. Human Rights Watch takes no responsibility for the accuracy or currentness of any information contained in the film “Worse Than War” or other work contained or referenced therein.
