Let's not Forget.....

26 June: Victims of torture have a right to rehabilitation. Let's make this right a reality

26-06-2013

Today marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Every year, on the 26 June, we come together with a message of support for those who have been tortured, the hundreds of thousands around the world that have been victims and those who are still tortured today. But we come together to honour these victims, to show that they are not alone, and to together renew our mission to work for a better future, for a world with no torture victims, for a world without torture. Read more

Let's not forget those who were scarred, maimed or/and perished in the Ghost Houses of the Islamists in Sudan... let's not forget the notorious Citibank Ghost House in Khartoum at the corner of the following streets:
* Ali Dinar Street (North to South)
* El-Tigani El-Mahi street (East to West)
* El-Nugumi Street (Diagonal) 

I was shocked when I met this young activist in Khartoum who did not know the location of this place

The Atlantic Magazine speaks about Ghost Houses

"It wasn't hard to imagine that this was where Sudanese opponents of the regime might be tortured. "
 Read more here on this one experience of a US journalist of the Atlantic Magazine in the Ghost Houses of the Sudanese regime
The story of Rebecca Hamilton, Detained in Khartoum, was a little old (Sep 2010) but one of few experiences of Western reporters with the Ghost Houses in Sudan.

Would this be Possible in Sudan?

Truth and Reconciliation: A Conversation Between a Baha'i Survivor of Human Rights Abuses and a Former Member of the Hojjatieh Association

(November 29, 2012) - In this video, filmed on October 27, 2012 in The Hague, the Netherlands, IHRDC captured a conversation of truth and reconciliation between Ruhi Jahanpour – a Bahá’í who was imprisoned for her beliefs in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 1980s – and Abbas Mazaheri – a former member of the Hojjatieh Association, which Mazaheri admits perpetrated serious human rights abuses against Iran’s Bahá’í community.

On the day of the film, Jahanpour was in The Hague to testify at Iran Tribunal – a people’s court set up to prosecute crimes against political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran’s prisons in the 1980s – and Mazaheri, who was moved to tears by Jahanpour’s testimony and the memories of the abuses he and the Hojjatieh subjected Bahá’ís to, approached Jahanpour and asked for her forgiveness.  The dialogue between Jahanpour and Mazaheri raises powerful questions of what it means to be a victim and victimizer and what type of conversation about responsibility and accountability is needed for societies to heal from past abuses.

GATS to Sponsor Human Rights Day Forum

A perfect timing to address many challenges for human rights in countries ruled under Islamic Shari'a Laws..

Human  Rights  Day  Forum

The  64^th  Anniversary  of  the  Universal  Declaration

of  Human  Rights  by  the  United  Nations ~ December  10,  1948 

 

Human Rights Challenges

in the Muslim World:

The Case of Iran

Speaker, Gissou Nia

Human Rights Activist and Director

of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

Sunday,  December  9th  at  1:30  pm

Jones Library, Woodbury Room, Amherst MA

Songs by The Raging Grannies

This forum will focus on the work of the brave women and men

in the Islamic World who have stood up for their rights – particularly the rights

of women and ethnic minorities – and for religious freedom and free speech.

Free  and  the  Public  is  Invited

Organized  by  Amnesty  Amherst--Group  128

Info:  www.amnestyamherst.blogspot.org

mohamedelgadi@yahoo.com / 215-870-7809

Co-sponsors:  Amnesty International Amherst Chapter-Group 128 //

Amnesty Intl. Chapter, Amherst Regional High School // Amnesty Intl. Chapter, Hampshire College //

Amherst Human Rights Commission // Amherst Progressive Muslims //

Baha'i Community of Hadley // Episcopal Peace Fellowship of Grace Church, Amherst //

Group Against Torture in Sudan // Mount Toby Meeting of Friends at Leverett //  

Unitarian-Universalist Society of Amherst, Social Justice Committee // Western Mass Darfur Coalition //

Torture and Medical Health Professionals

For many people in Sudan, torture was something not for Sudan because "we do not do such things" as many hid their heads in sand. This made the head of the regime, Omer Al-Bashir to announce in bold statement that "the tsalk about torture in Sudan is nonesense" as he surprised many victims and survivors in 1993 in an interview aired by Amnesty International video Scared Nation.

Of course the talk about doctors and nurses involve in torture was beyond imagination until the news of islamist doctors involvement in torture became public. The Security Aparatus designated a Medical facility in Khartoum Bahri for the torture centers in the capital city Khartoum

The following article worth to have human rights activists to have a serious discussion on this crime:
http://shatteringthelens.com/tag/medical-professionals-torture/

Observing the International Torture Survivors' Day

www.AmnestyAmherst.blogspot.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2012CONTACTS: Mohamed Elgadi & Martha Speigelman, Coordinators mohamedelgadi@yahoo.com

“They took me to a secret prison where I was subjected to electric shocks to my vagina.”
Nora, from Honduras (Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, Survivor Testimonies)

“The torture inflicted on me was intolerable, especially the use of electric shocks and anal penetration using solid objects.” Unidentified male victim (Group Against Torture in Sudan, Survivor Testimonies)

“My father does not want to talk about his experience after all these years. I can see and
feel the mental damage of torture on him.” Mamoun, a child of a torture survivor, Albany, NY

“I will never forget what I experienced. But I’m trying to rebuild my destroyed life.” TK, Kosovo (International Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, Survivor Testimony)

Amherst, MA-In its effort to combat torture, the United Nations proclaimed June 26 as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and, as the former Secretary-General KofiAnnan declared, "an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable." This
day is an opportunity to stand up together against this cruel crime against human rights. The United Nation’s theme for this year’s torture survivor’s campaign is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation can be effective in empowering torture victims to resume as full a life as possible, as noted by
many human rights advocacy groups. Nonetheless, community support is a key in this journey, according to many victims. “If it was not for my family, close friends and neighbors, I do not think I could have survived” reported one of the half-million survivors who live in the United States. It takes time and resources to re-build the intentionally destroyed lives of those who were
targeted by the government-supported torture establishment. Amnesty International’s Amherst Group 128 observes the United Nations’ InternationalDay for Torture Survivors this June 26th with cautious optimism. President Obama reiterated his strong stance against torture and
considers the CIA Enhanced Interrogation Techniques as torture. However, many voices within the Administration continue to give mixed messages about their stance toward torture. We believe that torture against one person is a crime against all of us.

June 26: Rehabilitation Works

26 June 2012 – Rehabilitation works and is a torture survivor's rightThe United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on the 26th of June, gives us the opportunity to stand united and remind the world that torture is a cruel violation of human rights. Rehabilitation is the theme for the 26 June 2012 campaign. Rehabilitation empowers torture victims to resume as full a life as possible. However, rebuilding the life of someone whose dignity has been destroyed takes time and is the result of long-term material, medical, psychological and social support.

Read more: www.irct.org/our-work/day-against-torture-on-26-june.aspx