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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Massacre haunts CAR villagers | Massacre haunts CAR villagers |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Advertisement | Advertisement |
| Inside the village attacked by bandits | Inside the village attacked by bandits |
| By Mike Thomson BBC News, Central African Republic | By Mike Thomson BBC News, Central African Republic |
| Before the bandits came it was called Gouromo, but since that night it has become better known by a new name: "The Widows' Village". | Before the bandits came it was called Gouromo, but since that night it has become better known by a new name: "The Widows' Village". |
| It is an eerie feeling walking around the deserted huts that formed what was once a thriving farming community. | It is an eerie feeling walking around the deserted huts that formed what was once a thriving farming community. |
| All the massacre graves in Gouromo are marked with bottlesOn the village square, 13 bottles are spaced out across the open ground where you imagine people used to stop and chat to their neighbours. | All the massacre graves in Gouromo are marked with bottlesOn the village square, 13 bottles are spaced out across the open ground where you imagine people used to stop and chat to their neighbours. |
| Each bottle is a marker for a simple grave: Thirteen men and boys slaughtered in a massacre for which the survivors are still struggling to find a motive. | Each bottle is a marker for a simple grave: Thirteen men and boys slaughtered in a massacre for which the survivors are still struggling to find a motive. |
| It happened on a Sunday as the villagers were eating their evening meal outside their huts. The bandits had the element of surprise and quickly rounded up every man and boy they could find. | It happened on a Sunday as the villagers were eating their evening meal outside their huts. The bandits had the element of surprise and quickly rounded up every man and boy they could find. |
| 'Sure I would die' | 'Sure I would die' |
| One man saved his life by hiding behind the front door of his home. But the only other male survivor, 16-year-old Yamssa Ruben, was not so fortunate. | One man saved his life by hiding behind the front door of his home. But the only other male survivor, 16-year-old Yamssa Ruben, was not so fortunate. |
| The bandits chained him together with the rest of the group which included his younger brother and five other relatives.Bandits left Yamssa Ruben, 16, for dead under a pile of bodies | The bandits chained him together with the rest of the group which included his younger brother and five other relatives.Bandits left Yamssa Ruben, 16, for dead under a pile of bodies |
| Ruben remembers that as the chain gang was marched into the bush the women of the village implored the gunmen to tell them what would happen to their menfolk. | Ruben remembers that as the chain gang was marched into the bush the women of the village implored the gunmen to tell them what would happen to their menfolk. |
| But the bandits' only response was to beat them back with rifle butts and tree branches. | But the bandits' only response was to beat them back with rifle butts and tree branches. |
| "When we got to a clearing there the bandits asked one man whether he belonged to the Perl, a tribe they didn't like," Ruben remembers. | "When we got to a clearing there the bandits asked one man whether he belonged to the Perl, a tribe they didn't like," Ruben remembers. |
| "He denied this but they said he was lying. Suddenly one of them shot him dead right there in front of us. From then on I was sure I would die. We were all really shocked and several of us cried out 'Oh Lord, Oh Lord'. | "He denied this but they said he was lying. Suddenly one of them shot him dead right there in front of us. From then on I was sure I would die. We were all really shocked and several of us cried out 'Oh Lord, Oh Lord'. |
| "They ignored our cries and told us all to lie on the ground. Even before many of us had got on our knees they began to shoot. Shot after shot after shot. I thought I was dead." | "They ignored our cries and told us all to lie on the ground. Even before many of us had got on our knees they began to shoot. Shot after shot after shot. I thought I was dead." |
| "When the firing finally stopped and it was quiet I opened my eyes. The bandits were gone. They had killed everyone. All the men were dead. | "When the firing finally stopped and it was quiet I opened my eyes. The bandits were gone. They had killed everyone. All the men were dead. |
| "They certainly intended to kill all of us and they clearly believed that they had. But because they started shooting before we'd all had time to lie on the groundâ¦some people fell on top of me and I was hidden by other mens bodies." | "They certainly intended to kill all of us and they clearly believed that they had. But because they started shooting before we'd all had time to lie on the groundâ¦some people fell on top of me and I was hidden by other mens bodies." |
| Too frightened to return | Too frightened to return |
| Ruben had been left for dead by the bandits under the corpses of his male relatives. But although he had survived he was critically injured. A bullet had ricocheted off his arm into his leg. Read Mike Thomson's reports from Central African Republic | |
| Women from the village rushed him to hospital. | Women from the village rushed him to hospital. |
| "The doctors there tried to make my foot better but that failed and they had to amputate it," says Ruben. | "The doctors there tried to make my foot better but that failed and they had to amputate it," says Ruben. |
| "They did their best and even though I'm crippled. I am still alive. I try to keep this thought in my heart." | "They did their best and even though I'm crippled. I am still alive. I try to keep this thought in my heart." |
| Ruben, like the other survivors, now lives at another village several miles away. | Ruben, like the other survivors, now lives at another village several miles away. |
| They are too frightened to return to live at Goroumo as those who attacked them have never been caught. | They are too frightened to return to live at Goroumo as those who attacked them have never been caught. |
| Humanitarian crisis | Humanitarian crisis |
| In the last couple of years, tens of thousands of people in the CAR's countryside have fled their homes in terror at bandit raids. | In the last couple of years, tens of thousands of people in the CAR's countryside have fled their homes in terror at bandit raids. |
| It has created a humanitarian crisis as many are too frightened to tend their crops. | It has created a humanitarian crisis as many are too frightened to tend their crops. |
| Aid agencies have also struggled to provide supplies to families who are not only hiding from the bandits but also fear attack by government troops and rebel groups.Many bandits are veteran fighters from CAR's many coups | Aid agencies have also struggled to provide supplies to families who are not only hiding from the bandits but also fear attack by government troops and rebel groups.Many bandits are veteran fighters from CAR's many coups |
| I met one man who has been robbed and beaten in turn by the bandits, then the rebels who drove them away and finally in turn by soldiers. | I met one man who has been robbed and beaten in turn by the bandits, then the rebels who drove them away and finally in turn by soldiers. |
| So who are these bandits that plague the CAR? Many are veteran fighters from the many coups there have been in this country. | So who are these bandits that plague the CAR? Many are veteran fighters from the many coups there have been in this country. |
| Others are fugitives from neighbouring countries like Chad and Sudan. | Others are fugitives from neighbouring countries like Chad and Sudan. |
| They have been able to operate freely here as the government of President Francois Bozize has little control over much of the countryside which is divided between a number of rebel groups. | They have been able to operate freely here as the government of President Francois Bozize has little control over much of the countryside which is divided between a number of rebel groups. |
| Often the bandits are better organised and equipped than any of these other forces. | Often the bandits are better organised and equipped than any of these other forces. |
| But current peace talks between rebels and Mr Bozize offer up a slim hope of creating the stability that might allow the bandits to be defeated. | But current peace talks between rebels and Mr Bozize offer up a slim hope of creating the stability that might allow the bandits to be defeated. |
| Fatherless | Fatherless |
| For the time being, however, Gouromo will remain deserted. And for some the memories may always be too painful to bear.Widow Jeanette Sarabiro now has to raise nine children alone | For the time being, however, Gouromo will remain deserted. And for some the memories may always be too painful to bear.Widow Jeanette Sarabiro now has to raise nine children alone |
| Jeanette Sarabiro was brave enough to go back to show me the grave of her husband Yalla Andre. | Jeanette Sarabiro was brave enough to go back to show me the grave of her husband Yalla Andre. |
| Since his murder she is now bringing up nine children alone. On her back she carries the baby boy who she was pregnant with at the time of the attack. | Since his murder she is now bringing up nine children alone. On her back she carries the baby boy who she was pregnant with at the time of the attack. |
| "They killed my husband and my two sisters' husbands. Even my youngest brother," she says. | "They killed my husband and my two sisters' husbands. Even my youngest brother," she says. |
| "I only come back here now to work in the fields. What else I can do? If I did not come my children would die of hunger. But I could never live here again." | "I only come back here now to work in the fields. What else I can do? If I did not come my children would die of hunger. But I could never live here again." |