Damanga Mourns Murder of Abderhaman Gamonje

Feburary 17, 2006

On Thursday, February 9, 2006, around 12:30 a.m., members of the Janjaweed militia and the official Sudanese security force attacked and killed Abderhaman Gamonje in his home in Al-Geneina, the capital of Western Darfur. They also stole his livestock, including sheep, goats, and cattle. Damanga has communicated with three different sources in West Darfur who have direct knowledge of the murder.

The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy is appalled and saddened to learn of the murder of Mr. Gamonje, a prominent livestock merchant and member of the Massaleit community.

This killing unfortunately reflects a pervasive pattern of attacks on civilians in Darfur, even as the United Nations continues to discuss the possibility of deploying a U.N. peacekeeping force. Though the international community has yet to take any concrete steps to replace the ineffectual African Union troops presently in the region, the Janjaweed have responded to the rhetoric of U.N. intervention by increasing their efforts to intimidate, rob, and kill non-Arab people in Darfur.

These murders, rapes, and thefts reveal the ethnic motivation behind the Janjaweed violence in Darfur, which mirrors the government's discriminatory treatment of Sudanese citizens of African descent. Though Arab merchants in the region also have substantial wealth and livestock, the Janjaweed campaign has not targeted them, focusing instead on depriving native Africans of their lives and resource-rich lands. Attacks on non-Arabs occur throughout the region, both on the street and in their own homes throughout the region, whether in isolated villages or major towns.

The government-sponsored campaign of killing and intimidation in Darfur is decades long, but increased in the years after the Islamic government led by President Bashir came to power by coup in 1989. The campaign further intensified in 2003, leading to more than 2 million people displaced, more than 400,000 people killed and the atrocities that the U.S. and others have called genocide. Unfortunately, the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union have not made a concerted effort to end the violence or deploy forces on the ground.

The murder of Mr. Gamonje underscores the helpless reality confronting Darfurians today. Despite the existence of the so-called Unity government, following the peace agreement with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, which ended the fighting in the south of the country, Darfur is still controlled by officials loyal to President Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party. Therefore, civilians in Darfur cannot turn to Sudanese government officials for help. These officials actively assist the perpetrators of these crimes.

The conflict in Darfur, the daily suffering that civilians there endure, has tested the conscience and courage of the world community. Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy wonders how long the world community will remain idle.