Even though I've read it all a million times and even seen it before in a previous aid worker existence the real face of the conflict is still disturbingly ugly and frightening. This morning, one of our Sudanese staff tells me that he has been watching the new army recruits jog through town- among them, he has spotted the man who killed two of his brothers.

This month’s army recruitment drive in Darfur is basically a way of integrating the people responsible for Darfur's rapes and murders into official military ranks. The displaced women who walk through town to get water are literally forced to stare their rapists in the eye. Even the children recognise those who butchered their families.

The Janjaweed still hiss verbal abuse at them as they pass, and the only thing that has really changed in the eyes of the victims if that their killers have now been properly armed and uniformed. It's no wonder everyone is terrified.

Tags: Sudan, Darfur, NGO, aid worker, army, recruitment, rape