Published in 2008, The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur is a memoir by Daoud Hari that recounts the author's experiences during the genocide in Darfur by the Sudanese government and affiliated militia groups (specifically made up of Sudanese Arabs). Hari is a member of the Zaghawa tribe and grew up in a village of Darfur. He has also been known as David and, while posing as a citizen of Chad, as Suleyman Abakar Moussa.
In 2003, Sudanese-government backed militias attacked the Darfur region using helicopter gunships and setting fire to villages. Among the villages destroyed was Hari's own. Hari's family was killed in the raid.
Hari escaped along with a handful of other survivors and used his knowledge of languages to to help international aid groups and reporters, risking execution. He was eventually captured by the Sudanese government along with a couple of journalists, and was beaten, starved, etc. for over a month. He was then released because the government did not want to attract more bad publicity.
Hari was granted refugee status in the United States after his release.
