Bearing Witness

All around town houses were burning. We heard gunfire all the time. On the 5th of September [1999] the police came to us and said that if we wanted to stay alive, we had to come to the police station. We went. It was packed with people, hundreds were there. We just wanted to stay alive. We stayed there for three days. Then we left and went to a nearby town to stay with my husband’s relatives. Soon, though, the militia came there too.

On the 13th of September, the militia came to the house and said my husband needed to go to the house of the Liurai [a village leader]. We thought he would be safe there. It was dark and I didn’t want him to go by himself, so I went with him. When we arrived, there were so many people. My husband’s brother was there too. They told me they only wanted men, not women. They said I had to leave. I said I wouldn’t go, that I wouldn’t leave him. One man threatened to stab me. I had to go, but I was so afraid for him.

I waited all night, awake. Each hour I kept telling myself he’d come home. He must be on his way now. At four in the morning, I was shaking, I could not stand waiting anymore. I went back to the house, back to where the militia were, where I had last seen my husband...