
The burning of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan. December 12, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The burning of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan. December 12, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Janjaweed divided among their families the loot they had collected from the village of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan. December 12, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The burnt village of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan. December 12, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The burnt village of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan. December 12, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

A man who was shot in the back of his arm by a government soldier upon returning to his village. He did not know that his village had been attacked because he had been out farming during the time of the attack. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Mihad Hamid, a year old girl, whose mother had attempted to escape an attack from helicopter gunships and Janjaweed marauders on their village, Alliet, in October 2004. Mihad had been hit by a bullet, puncturing her lungs. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Individual killed in Amaka Sara by helicopter gunship attack. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Impacts from the helicopter rockets are evidence of the aerial attack on Amaka Sara. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Another individual killed in Amaka Sara by helicopter gunship attack. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

A government soldier who looted a store after the attack on Amaka Sara in Darfur, Sudan. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

A government soldier who began burning the food storage of the villagers in Marla. December 17, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Outside the burning village of Marla in Darfur, Sudan. December 17, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The burning of the village of Labado in Darfur, Sudan. December 19, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The burnt village of Labado in Darfur, Sudan. December 30, 2004. Brian Steidle for US Holocaust Memorial Museum
In September 2004, former US Marine Brian Steidle was invited to serve in Darfur as an unarmed military observer and US representative to the African Union.
The African Union monitoring force Steidle joined was tasked with investigating and reporting on breaches of a never-honored 2004 ceasefire agreement between rebels and the Sudanese government.
Steidle witnessed systematic attacks against civilians carried out by the Sudanese government and its allied militias, the Janjaweed. He and his fellow members of the monitoring force were not mandated to protect civilians but to issue reports.
After six months, Brian's conscience would no longer allow him to remain a silent witness to genocide. He returned to the US convinced that he could do more to help Darfurian civilians by publicizing what he had seen. He began a speaking tour, wrote a book, and produced a documentary about his experiences in Darfur. Today, he remains an activist against genocide.