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Cloaked all in black, Halima Bashir was soft spoken as she talked about the atrocities that she witnessed as a doctor in Darfur, Sudan.
But though her voice was soft, there was strength and courage behind it as she urged everyone to pay attention to what is happening in the African country and put an end to it, allowing all Darfuris to someday return home.
“We crave justice and dream of someday that the master minds will face punishment for their crimes,” she said after accepting the 2009 International Community of Christ Peace Award.
“For us, for the victims, there can be no real homecoming or closure without justice being done. All we ask is for the right to go home and live in peace.”
Bashir is the 2009 recipient of the 16th annual International Peace Award. The award is the main event of the Community of Christ’s annual Peace Colloquy, which ends Sunday. This year’s theme is “Justice for Women, Dignity for All.” The International Peace Award has been given since 1993 and ranks among the highest of non-governmental international and U.S. peace awards. It includes a $20,000 grant, sponsored by Bank of America, to be donated to the charitable peace, justice or environmental organization of the recipient’s choice. Bashir chose to put the grant toward Darfur Victims Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation, based in London.
“She is alive. That is how deeply we will all treasure this moment,” said Rod Downing, 2007 Community of Christ Human Rights Award recipient, of Bashir. “She has become the voice of thousands and is not deterred in her quest for equality, fairness and basic human decency for all.”
Bashir, who was wearing a veil to protect her identify and the identities of family that remain in Darfur, was a medical doctor in the region, providing care for soldiers and civilians. After reporting an attack on a primary school by the Janjaweed – an attack where girls were repeatedly raped – she was abducted and gang-raped for three days.
She then saw her village destroyed and her father murdered. Bashir fled the country after learning the Sudanese government was seeking to kill her. She continues to speak out against the genocide, rape of women and children and the forced relocation of those in Darfur.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement accused the government of black African oppression, and instead favoring those of Arab decent. Although there is no way to know how many have been killed, the death toll is thought to be in the hundreds of thousands. More than 2 million have been displaced because of the attacks.
Cloaked all in black, Halima Bashir was soft spoken as she talked about the atrocities that she witnessed as a doctor in Darfur, Sudan.
But though her voice was soft, there was strength and courage behind it as she urged everyone to pay attention to what is happening in the African country and put an end to it, allowing all Darfuris to someday return home.
“We crave justice and dream of someday that the master minds will face punishment for their crimes,” she said after accepting the 2009 International Community of Christ Peace Award.
“For us, for the victims, there can be no real homecoming or closure without justice being done. All we ask is for the right to go home and live in peace.”
Bashir is the 2009 recipient of the 16th annual International Peace Award. The award is the main event of the Community of Christ’s annual Peace Colloquy, which ends Sunday. This year’s theme is “Justice for Women, Dignity for All.” The International Peace Award has been given since 1993 and ranks among the highest of non-governmental international and U.S. peace awards. It includes a $20,000 grant, sponsored by Bank of America, to be donated to the charitable peace, justice or environmental organization of the recipient’s choice. Bashir chose to put the grant toward Darfur Victims Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation, based in London.
“She is alive. That is how deeply we will all treasure this moment,” said Rod Downing, 2007 Community of Christ Human Rights Award recipient, of Bashir. “She has become the voice of thousands and is not deterred in her quest for equality, fairness and basic human decency for all.”
Bashir, who was wearing a veil to protect her identify and the identities of family that remain in Darfur, was a medical doctor in the region, providing care for soldiers and civilians. After reporting an attack on a primary school by the Janjaweed – an attack where girls were repeatedly raped – she was abducted and gang-raped for three days.
She then saw her village destroyed and her father murdered. Bashir fled the country after learning the Sudanese government was seeking to kill her. She continues to speak out against the genocide, rape of women and children and the forced relocation of those in Darfur.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement accused the government of black African oppression, and instead favoring those of Arab decent. Although there is no way to know how many have been killed, the death toll is thought to be in the hundreds of thousands. More than 2 million have been displaced because of the attacks.
Bashir said she is humbled and honored at receiving the award. She said she feels being the recipient of the International Peace Award has given her to chance to “speak for all.”
“Women. Children. All unarmed. All innocent. Each one is an individual and each of these people are human beings with hopes, fears and dreams just like my own,” she said. “Every Darfuris deserves justice. These children deserve to go home with their mothers and sisters to rebuild their lives in a peaceful place. I am just one voice for millions of others. I am speaking because they cannot.”
