Journalists Testimony: Survivor of the Fighting in Genaina

By Anam Al-Noor

I was residing and carrying out my journalistic work in the city of Genaina, West Darfur state.

On May 23rd, at around 9 a.m., unidentified individuals abducted me at gunpoint in front of a bakery in Al-Tadamun neighborhood.

At the moment of the abduction, the kidnappers forcefully pushed me into a four-wheel drive vehicle and struck me on the head, causing me to lose consciousness. When I regained consciousness, I found myself alone in an abandoned place, locked inside a room.

In the evening, eight masked individuals arrived with my personal laptop and cameras, which they looted from our destroyed and burned-down house in Al-Tadamun.

They interrogated me about the reports I was working on regarding war violations. When they couldnt find what they were looking for on the computers and cameras, they smashed them and proceeded to severely beat me before leaving and locking the room again.

They didnt return until two days after my confinement in the room. The same individuals came and beat me again while speaking through a device called Thuria. I couldnt discern their words as they were outside, and my health condition was deteriorating. When they entered again, they insulted me and my family and beat me on the head.

On the night of May 27th, I found myself in the neighborhood from which I was kidnapped, in the house of a family. After regaining consciousness, I was transferred to my brothers house.

During the days of my abduction, I endured severe torture. After I was directly targeted, my father managed to rescue me at night with the help of a friend. However, 11 members of my family, including my brother, were executed, and our house was looted and burned.

During the escape operation, we were raided, and even my few remaining clothes were stolen. Now I am alive, breathing, but my situation is extremely difficult. I am receiving medical treatment at the home of relatives.

From her Facebook page.