We Remember the D30 Heroes
By Ndey Jobarteh
Every year, these faces return to us.
Not as history. Not as headlines.
But as unfinished stories.
They were ordinary Gambians, sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, living in a time when fear sat in every home, when silence was the safest language, and when power believed it had no limits.
Yet they stood up. Not because they were fearless, but because oppression had gone too far. They reached a point where silence was no longer an option. They knew the cost, and they paid it.
Some were killed.
Some survived.
All were changed forever.
Those who were killed left families behind, still waiting for answers.
Those who survived carry scars we do not always see, trauma, exile, broken lives. Survival did not mean freedom.
This was not an accident.
It was not confusion.
It was State Violence.
They were targeted because they challenged a brutal system built on fear, torture, disappearances, and silence. They stood when Institutions failed and the state collapsed into violence.
Remembering them is not about comfort. It is about truth. And the truth is this: The Gambia has not yet fully confronted what was done to them. Justice has been delayed, diluted, and postponed.
There can be no selective memory.
No reconciliation without accountability.
No “New Gambia” built on old habits of impunity.
If we honour the D30 Heroes while tolerating injustice today, then we are lying to ourselves.
We owe them more than candles and posters!
We owe them courage!
We owe them honesty!
We owe them a country that learns!
Because freedom is never gifted, it is claimed and protected through vigilance.
We will always remember the D30 Heroes. Remembrance is not conditional.
But injustice must not be permanent!
Accountability must not be negotiated!
And impunity must not survive our remembrance!
Until injustice ends, remembrance remains resistance.
And even when justice is done, remembrance remains duty.
May we find the courage to do more than remember.
May their souls rest in peace!! Those wounded may God heal them!!
May God continue to give their families the strength to continue to cope with their lost and wounds!!
