Published: June 24, 2009

Convictions for the Deaths of John Granville and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama

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I believe the guilty verdicts handed down today are an important step in bringing justice for John Granville and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees murdered in Sudan in 2008. Mr. Granville and Mr. Rahama represent the highest ideals of this Agency. They were dedicated to bringing peace and stability to Sudan, and we honor their memory.

Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, 39, was born in Juba, Sudan. He began his USAID career in 2004 as one of the original members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team for Darfur, Sudan. He officially was hired as a driver for the USAID/Sudan mission in Khartoum in November 2005. He is survived by his wife, Fatima Mohamed Ali Osman, and young son, Mujtaba. Mr. Rahama also provided support to his father, Abbas Rahama Mohammed.

John Granville, 33, was from Buffalo, New York. He had worked on USAID democracy and governance programs in Sudan for more than three years, helping distribute thousands of solar-powered radios to southern Sudan, a region isolated by more than two decades of war, to inform citizens of their rights and help them prepare for elections. Granville served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon from 1997 to 1999 and received a Fulbright fellowship thereafter to conduct independent research in Cameroon. He is survived by his mother, Jane Granville, and his sister, Katie McCabe.

John Granville and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama were killed by gunmen in Khartoum on January 1, 2008.

Source: U.S. Department of State