portrait: www.samholden.com

Peace Award Honoree Seeks Justice for Darfur

Andrew Bolton talked with Halima Bashir in London, England, on February 7. Experience audio clips of her gentle voice and devotion to justice at www.CofChrist.org/peaceaward. Halima will be honored with the 2009 Community of Christ International Peace Award at the Peace Colloquy. See www.CofChrist.org/peacecolloquy. Come to the event or watch it live via webcast, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. CST.

Tell us about your childhood.
I’m coming from Darfur, the western region of Sudan. My childhood is just like growing up in any village.… It’s a community. It’s like one unit. All the people are living together, sharing everything together, and everybody respects the others.… It was nice, but unfortunately all our lives have been turned upside down.

How did you get to medical school?
When I was five or six years old…we haven’t got school in our village. We have to travel on foot one hour’s time to find the nearby school.… [My father] decide for me to be a doctor because he noticed the lack of medical care in our area and how the people suffered, especially women.… If my father didn’t think all this up, I would never be now in this position.… This confidence I think I inherited from my father.

I studied at university in Khartoum…for six years to finish my medical degree.… Before I finish my graduation, the problem began in Darfur [2003].… We heard a group of black Africans, whom belonged to our tribes, attacked an airport north of Darfur, and they are fighting the government. They…want to bring justice…for Darfur.… We haven’t got even the [smallest] things that should be provided by the government…especially education and health services.…

The government replied by…attacking the villages of the black African tribes.… I think the war started a long time before that, because…we have been marginalized from poverty, instability.…

Tell me about going back to Darfur after your medical training.
We went [to Darfur] to help the war victims.… We used to treat all the people, regardless of their ethnicity, because people from both sides were the victims of the war.… But I felt when I am treating people who are black African region, it’s just like I can’t control my feeling—as if I am treating myself.

Because the war was recently started…NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and people from the UN [United Nations] are trying to come to Darfur to investigate.… I had been interviewed by one of the journalists. I gave my opinion very frankly.… I spoke about the marginalization, about the lack of services, and that the government didn’t provide many things…and [civilians in Darfur] are suffering right now.…

After this interview published, the government of Sudan put me on their mind, and I was interviewed by the security people.… They tried to intimidate me—trying to say, “You have to shut your mouth. You’re not to speak to any foreigners, not to speak to any UN people, and not to give any information about what is happening in Darfur.” After a while, they transferred me far away to a very small village, a small clinic.… I think it’s a punishment because I spoke out.

After a few months in that village, the Janjaweed militia, accompanied by the government soldiers, came and attacked a school of young girls. They raped more than forty girls with their teachers.… The young girls were in horrible condition, psychologically shocked, and particularly affected by wounds. We tried to treat them with the minimal resources [and] tools we have at the clinic. But I think, because…the community is like one unit, what is happening for those young children—it will never be gone.

The day after that incident…two people from the NGO came to investigate.… Because I was threatened by the Sudanese government before, I told them if somebody asked, not to give my name and not to say that I give them this information.

But after that day, [the security people] are following me I know.… They came to me and said, “You gave the information. You spoke about rape and about the sexual violence that’s happening to the children. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As a result I have been abused as well. They said, “We are teaching you a lesson about rape. Because next time, if you go to speak out, you’ll know exactly what you’re talking about because you experience it now.”

I am so sorry.
After that, I was psychologically shocked and affected. I decide just to go back to my home village, my family.… Then, our home village was attacked by the Janjaweed militia, their horses, guns, and with helicopters from the air.… Most of the [women and children] ran in different directions, just trying to find somewhere to hide.… But most of the men had been killed because they stand there trying to protect us.… Most of [the village was] destroyed completely and burned.

My father was killed. My brothers…went with [the rebels] to their camps.… Most of the people decide to flee the area and cross the border to Chad.… We stayed [in the village]. We don’t know what to do.…

One day, while I was away in the other village, helping in the clinic, the security men came to our house asking for me. They said I escaped from them, and they want me. My mom and my sister decided to run away.… They left a message for me not to stay in the country.… I managed to…go back to Khartoum.… From there they managed to bring me here to Britain. Then I seek asylum here.

Tell me what it’s like to be Muslim in all this.
Why I am talking now…stems from Islam.… We know God’s with us all the time, and he’s helping us.… We know if [the government] deals with the Islamic issue and humanitarianism as it comes in Koran, we absolutely are going to get our rights.… Islam is having our humanitarian rights. We do believe [in these rights], but it didn’t happen in our country unfortunately…because of [political] instability.

I’m still speaking out and doing campaign for people in Darfur, because suddenly I find myself here in a safe place talking to people who listen, and they are ready to help us. It is the only way I can help my people in Darfur.…

What has been taught of the people, most of it is highlighting statistical figures and not personal stories, especially women’s stories. That’s why I decide to speak out. I felt comfort in speaking out.… Sometimes I feel a little bit relief when I talk about it, as if I’m doing something, not just sitting and watching.

You are under thirty. What would you say to other young adults about standing up for justice and dignity for all people?
It takes time, but if people just continue and they do believe that one day it is going to happen—to have hope for a better future—if they just carry on and fight for their rights, they are going to achieve a positive result.

What are your plans for the future?
I’m going to do more work, more campaigning to help our people. We are now doing this organization for the victims to help them, empower them, and help them find rehabilitation and to redevelop.

I wish for the future, just peace to come. I wish all what’s happening in Darfur now to stop soon, and I can return back home, rebuild, redevelop our area, and resettle. Happy life as it was before, I wish.