One of first Darfur monitors tells what he saw in book, documentary

Published: 2007-09-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Today, most of the world knows of the horrors of the Sudanese region of Darfur: the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people; the seemingly indiscriminate killing by the Janjaweed, militia groups on horseback believed to have government backing; the refugee crisis created by the murders; the terrorizing of aid workers who have gone to Darfur to help. But those horrors weren't always known. Brian Steidle, a Catholic, was one of the first to witness them for himself. At age 27, Steidle, a former Marine captain, became a monitor with the African Union in Darfur. "A sense of adventure and good money, actually, is what brought me there in the first place," he said. He was completely unprepared for what he would see. Now 30, Steidle has been crisscrossing the United States telling virtually anyone who will listen about the situation in Darfur. His experiences led to the filming of a documentary, "The Devil Came on Horseback." Steidle and his sister, Gretchen, also co-wrote a book, "The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur."

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