Alex Neve's Chad mission diary

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Widowed women in Tamajour, eastern Chad, November 2006. © Amnesty International

Sunday November 19: The Lay of the Land

It is late in the day. We have been working in and around the town of Goz Beida in eastern Chad for two days now.

There are many, many different stories to be told here of attacks, of death, of destruction.

We've heard of numerous attacks launched by Janjawid fighters dressed in Sudanese military uniforms carrying Sudanese arms. We have heard of many attacks involving Arab groups, well armed and often known to the victims, and we have also heard of many disturbing stories of attacks involving local non-Arab groups, fighting alongside the Janjawid.

We have gathered a growing and harrowing list of names of the dead. They were killed as village after village in this region came under attack in a renewed wave of violence that started in October, soon after the rainy season had ended.

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Today we stopped by the roadside and heard the details of a terrible attack on the village of Djorlo less than two weeks ago.

The attack left 40 dead - shot or burned to death - including three babies and one crippled elderly man. Seven women were abducted during the course of that attack and held for several hours during which time they were gang-raped by Janjawid fighters.

Now the entire village has fled and perches, displaced, on the outside of Goz Beida with no security, no assistance. Among the displaced: 166 orphans and 52 widows.

		DECEMBER 2006 ENEWS • December's homepage • Alex Neve's Chad mission diary • Helen Berhane released in Eritrea • 2007 Human rights calendar

We have heard often, from many, how important, how reassuring it is that groups like Amnesty International come here to eastern Chad to gather the truth, to tell the world and press for change.

The people of this region have lost faith that their government has either the ability or the interest to provide them with the protection they crave and deserve. They are looking beyond Chad for action that will restore their rights and bring safety and stability back to this forgotten corner of Africa.

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