اليوم العالمي للناجون من التعذيب: هل تعتقد انك ما زلت رجلاً؟

Quote: Group Against Torture in Sudan (GATS) 4521 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (USA) www.GhostHouses.blogspot.com Philadelphia contact#: 215-387-8911; Fax: 215-387-8922 Amherst Contact # 215-870-7809 Siddiq A. Hadi: [email protected] Mohamed Elgadi: [email protected] Philadelphia, PA & Amherst, MA- June 26th, 2007 "Do you think you are a man? Well, think again after you leave this place, especially when we let people outside know what we have done to you.” M.H, a male torture survivor of the Ghost Houses in Sudan Twenty years have passed since the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture (CAT) came into existence and the picture still does not look good. According to Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, an estimated 150 countries worldwide still practice torture. Sudan, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Russia, China, and the United States are just a few examples of states that use torture as a means of oppressing and silencing their citizens. An estimated 500,000 foreign-born torture survivors reside in the United States and as many as 100 million exist worldwide. Among these victims, many are from Sudan as in the case of Mr. M.H, quoted above, who still lives with the ramifications of his horrific experience. Sexual torture has become widely used as an effective method to destroy the strong community leaders who have stood up against oppression (please watch our recently released10-minute documentary on the of crime of torture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8eDuH1SCQ0 It is outrageous, especially for torture survivors who took refuge in the United States to see how the Bush administration has become no different from other notorious military regimes. The scandal of torture programs run by the CIA and other security agencies, including the Rendition Program, provide strong evidence for this claim. It is even more of a scandal when President Bush says “we do not torture” while at the same time President Bashir says, “There is no such thing called Ghost Houses in Sudan, and the talk about torture is just a big lie.” Torture survivors need to travel a long journey of psychological and physical therapy to be able to regain their souls and cope with the post-traumatic stress that remains with them for years. We call upon all human rights advocates to work harder to close down all torture sites around the world: the ‘Ghost Houses’ in Sudan, ‘Lazoughli HQ’ in Egypt, ‘Alem Bekağn’ in Ethiopia, ‘Karchele prison’ in Eritrea, ‘Evin’ prison in Iran, and all CIA-operated ‘Black Sites’ 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 raise 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 also is working relentlessly to bring perpetrators to justice. Amnesty and forgiveness of perpetrators of their crimes should be given only by the torture survivors. # # #