The Agony of Darfur

It doesn't matter that diplomats have a signed piece of paper saying that there's a truce in Darfur between the warring parties.

The fact is that Darfur is still a killing and raping field that knows no end:

Officially, the cease-fire in the Darfur region went into effect last Monday.

That was three days after the government and the largest rebel group signed a broad peace agreement, creating hope for an end to the brutal assaults that have left more than 200,000 dead and have driven two million from their homes, a campaign of government-sponsored terror against non-Arab tribes in Darfur that the Bush administration has called genocide.

But the reality was on grim display in this crossroads town, where Ms. Moussa and other villagers were attacked Thursday as they rode home in an open-backed truck from Shangil Tobayi.

The Arab militiamen who attacked them killed 1 woman, wounded 6 villagers and raped 15 women, witnesses and victims said.

The attack played out like so many others in this vast, lawless region. Three men with machine guns stopped the truck on the road and fired into its cabin, shooting the driver and blowing out the tires. They ordered the passengers, about 50 men, women and children, to take the goods they were transporting — sacks of millet, two cows and five goats — to where their camels and the rest of their men were waiting in a dry riverbed a mile or two off the road. Once that labor was complete, the raiders set upon the women, raping them in turn, witnesses said.

"They told us, 'You are slaves, we will finish you,' " said Hussein Ahmed Abdulla, who stood by helpless as the women were raped. "We will not allow you to move from Menawashie, not one kilometer.' "

When the raping was done, the militiamen loaded their camels and rode off to the west. The passengers had to walk three hours in total darkness to reach here.

At least the diplomats can pat each other on the back for reaching a historic deal ending the violence. The Darfuri have to constantly look over theirs to see whether someone is going to kill or rape them.