Sudanese Torture Survivors Reject Mukasey

Retired federal judge Michael Mukasey
www.usnews.com/



Quote: Date: 11/21/07 Philadelphia, PA & Amherst, MA: The Group Against Torture in Sudan (GATS) is seriously troubled by the Bush Administration’s nomination of another questionable person to the post of Attorney general. In his confirmation hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey refused to say that Waterboarding is torture. He appeared very hesitant and danced around the issue and only saying “if it is torture, it can't be used”. In his attempt to explain why interrogators should not abide with Geneva Conventions, he described a prisoner in the war against terror as a “very different type of person”. To nominate a person who clearly does not want to commit himself to the rule of law and the clear US definition of torture is very dangerous. In addition, it is outrageous and insulting to the more than 400,000 torture survivors who live in this country. For more than half a century the United States played a major role in fighting torture around the world. It helped to draft most of the international human rights treaties especially the Convention Against Torture of 1984. It’s very sad to see how this administration is bringing down this shining legislative history and proud tradition of humane detention and interrogation practices. The scandal of the Justice Department, known in infamy, as the ‘Torture Memo’ during the time of the previous Attorney General was one step in this fall. It was followed by another blow to the Sudanese torture survivors who took refuge in the US when they found out that this administration was secretly cooperating with the head of the torture machine in Sudan in 2005. The CIA tried to justify this unethical act by claiming that they were taking advice from the engineer of torture in the war against terror! How can we claim that we are different from the current fanatic regime of Sudan that always made the founders of the torture system their Chief Justice? How could GATS members trust that Mr. Mukasey, as Attorney General, to advocate on their behalf to bring the torturers in Sudan to justice? We add our voice to all human rights organizations and call upon the United States Senate to reject the nomination of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General of the United States. The Group Against Torture in Sudan-GATS, is an advocacy human rights group based in the United States. GATS works to rais awareness about torture worldwide and especially in Sudan. While GATS is advocating strongly for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission concept in Sudan in order to stop the vicious cycle of violence, it’s also working relentlessly to bring perpetrators to justice. Amnesty and forgiveness of perpetrators of their crimes should be given only by the torture survivors. # # #


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