“I was sleeping when the attack on Disa started. I was taken away by the attackers; they were all in uniforms. They took dozens of other girls. During the day we were beaten, and they told us: ‘You, the black women, we will exterminate you, you have no god.’ At night we were raped several times.”

- A female refugee from Disa, in Goz Amer refugee camp, Chad, May 2004

The History

The first genocide of the 21^st century began in one of the most remote places in Africa — Darfur, a region in the largest African nation, Sudan. In February 2003, the storm of violence went virtually unnoticed by those outside of the region. In two years, 400,000 people died from violence, disease, and malnutrition, and no one came to the rescue. In July 2004, the United States Senate and House of Representatives adopted a joint resolution declaring the atrocities occurring in Sudan to be genocide. With the term genocide made official–due to the legal definition in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment on the Crime of Genocide law—there was finally a call for all participating countries to prevent and punish these barbaric actions.

Proof’s Work

PROOF: Media for Social Justice teamed with a group of eight internationally renowned photographers to compile a book of photographs and essays called Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan. This book traces the conflict through visual dialogue to commemorate those whose lives were lost, as well as to honor those who have survived. The book gives a realistic depiction of the atrocities committed in Darfur through stirring photographs, powerful essays, and appalling testimony. The suffering human faces in the book will hopefully inspire compassion from the public to take action against the violence persisting in Darfur.

PROOF partnered with The Holocaust Museum of Houston to create a beautiful but haunting exhibition that is traveling around the United States to colleges, libraries, and other public spaces, including the Boston Public Library and University of New Hampshire. The exhibition, “Darfur: Photo Journalists Respond” includes 30 photographs taken in Darfur of those who have been affected by the genocide. These unforgettable images represent the reality of the genocide. These photographs  inform viewers and hopefully also inspire them to take action against the ongoing violence. To spread the word further, PROOF worked with Amnesty International on an educational plan that includes a curriculum for U.S. high schools.