GATS to start the Truth Committees

Date: 6/26/2009
“I was receiving systematic daily torture. The continuous beatings with sticks and batons all over my body lasted for a long period of time and always resulted in losing consciousness. I was left on the floor without medical care most of the time. Now, all my hope rests in living until I see the Abu Ghraib Ghost House in North Khartoum and all other torture centers worldwide shut down”
Adeeb Yousif, Darfurian human rights activist

Philadelphia, PA- The Group Against Torture in Sudan (GATS) observes the United Nations’ International Day for Torture Survivors with cautious optimism. With a new administration in the White House, thats committed to stopping torture and shut the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison, the world definitely looks better.

However, the picture looks very different in Sudan. Over the past year, the Sudanese regime of President Omer al-Bashir became more ruthless in using torture against opposition forces. This became the formal policy since the President was indicted and recently issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. After the rebel’s attack on the Capital City last year, the regime arrested hundreds of suspects and confessions were extracted by torture that sometimes appeared publicly on TV. So far, the regime’s courts sentenced 103 to death.

Torture has to be stopped by exposing those behind it. This is why GATS members are taking the initiative this year to begin the needed steps to deconstruct the establishment of torture. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) included one important article on reconciliation and healing; sadly, the regime always ignored it. Al-Bashir has once briefly and dubiously commented about the need for national reconciliation and ‘letting go’. There is only one way to achieve this ‘letting go’ and this is through Transitional Justice, which was successfully tested in South Africa, Morocco, Peru, and Argentine. Thus, GATS responded to the call of President Bashir and requested to start the process of Transitional Justice by:

· Providing a public apology to the torture survivors
· Establishing the Truth Committees
· Starting steps to address compensation for the survivors and the families of the dead.

Two years have passed and the Sudanese regime has not taken any step in this direction. Unfortunately, even more torture centers were opened all over the country.

Since the regime has failed to take the initiative, GATS has begun the process of Transitional Justice by forming the Truth Committees within the Sudanese Diaspora. We hope that Philadelphia will follow Iowa City in welcoming this process and hosting the first Truth Committee.

A public apology is needed from all those who supported the torture regime in any way. Let the survivors tell the truth about the existence of Ghost Houses like Abu Ghraib and others in Sudan.

"كان التعذيب الذي أتعرض له يتم بشكل يومي منظم ضرباً بالعصى على كل أجزاء جسدي حتى أخُرُّ مغماً عليَّ. كنت اُترك على الارض مغشياً عليّ دون رعاية طبية في معظم الاحيان...كل أملي الآن ان اعيش وأرى بيوت الاشباح في السودان والعالم وقد تمَّ إغلاقها نهائياً."
أديب يوسف
ناشط حقوقي من دار فور وأحد معتقلي "بيت أشباح " ابوغريب بالخرطوم بحري.

بتفاؤلٍ مشوبٍ بالحذر تحتفل المجموعة السودانية المناهضة للتعذيب هذا العام باليوم العالمي للناجين من التعذيب. التفاؤل ناتج من إنتخاب إدارة أمريكية جديدة في "البيت الأبيض" ملتزمة بمناهضة التعذيب وإغلاق معتقل جوانتانامو سيئ الصيت، مما جعل العالم في وضع أحسن نسبياً.
ولكن هذه الصورة المتفائلة تختلف تماماًبالنسبة للسودان. إدارة الرئيس البشير إستمرت في سياسة العنف بشكل واسع ضد كل معارضيها وأصبح التعذيب يمارس تجاه كل المعتقلين السياسيين المؤيدين لقرار محكمة العدل الدولية بإدانة وإعتقال الرئيس البشير . وبعد هجوم المتمردين على العاصمة فى العام الماضي تمَّ إعتقال المئات من مواطني دار فور بشبهة الاشتراك أو التعاطف وأُنتزعت الإعترافات تحت التعذيب، وتمَّ الحكم بالاعدام شنقاً حتى الموت على 103 معتقل حتى الآن.

يجب ان نوقف هذه الجريمة فوراً. لهذا السبب تبادر المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة للتعذيب في بدء الخطوات الاولى لتفكيك مؤسسة التعذيب، وذلك بالشروع في تنفيذ أحد البنود الهامة لإتفاقية السلام الشامل لعام 2005م والتي تنص على الشروع الفوري في إجراء مصالحة وطنية ...حين اطلق الرئيس البشير نداءه المقتضب قبل عامين داعياً للمصالحةالوطنية إستجابت المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب وطلبت تمهيد المناخ لذلك وفق إطار العدالة الانتقالية المجرب بنجاح في جنوب أفريقيا، المغرب، بيرو، الارجنتين، وذلك بأن يتقدم الرئيس بإعتذارٍ علني لضحايا التعذيب وأسرهم، والشروع في تكوين لجان الحقيقة ولجان جبر الضرر. ولكن مرَّ أكثر من عامين دون اية إستجابة من النظام لمقترحنا بل اكثر من ذلك شرع النظام في فتح العديد من مراكز التعذيب الجديدة مثل مركز ابو غريب المشار إليه اعلاه.

لذا قررت المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب في بدء تكوين لجان الحقيقة في كل مجتمعات السودانيين بالمهجر. ونأمل في ان تحذو مدينة فلادلفيا حذو مدينة "أيوا" وتحتضن أول هذه اللجان.
إن اول مهام هذه اللجنة هي أن تستمع لإعتذارٍ علني من قِبل كلٍ منْ قام بالدعم المعنوي للنظام السوداني في إنكاره وجود بيوت الاشباح في السودان. إن من حق أديب يوسف ورفاقه على كل منْ أنكر حدوث التعذيب من قِبل النظام ان يتقدم بشجاعة أمام اللجنة ويعتذر لهم علناً.

The Group Against Torture in Sudan is an advocacy human rights membership group of Sudanese-American torture survivors and their allies. GATS works to educate the public about the predicament of torture worldwide and especially in Sudan, and forms allies with similar interest groups
# # #

GATS to initiate first step in Transitional Justice

The Group Against Torture in Sudan has initiated a first step in implementing one of many ignored Articles of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA): Trthe and Reconciliation. The regime of President Al-Bashir, so far, has been ignoring Article 21 of the CPA that called for TRC in Sudan.

On May 7th, 2009 the Sudanese Community of Iowa City, IA invited GATS to outline its response to the concept of Transitional Justice in Sudan. In response, GATS announced its intention to work with Sudanese Communities in Diaspora to form Truth Committees based on the concept of Transitional Justice per Article 21 in the CPA.

The Executive Committee of GATS has started a series of Conference Calls with its membership and allies as introduction to announce a general initiative in this regard on June 26th, 2009, the International Day of Torture Survivors

Torture Memos released

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/17/memos?gclid=CPH7oKWhipoCFQdN5QodNCmpFA

The Obama administration has released four memos from the Bush-era Justice Department that approved and provided the legal basis for the CIA’s use of torture. While President Obama has said he will not pursue prosecutions of CIA employees, he did not explicitly address the question of prosecuting the former Justice Department lawyers who authored the memos. The memos’ release comes as a Spanish court is considering bringing indictments against six Bush-era lawyers.
Read more on the link above

A torture survivor's response to the ICC

Local Man Reacts to Charges Against Sudanese President

March 4, 2009 06:08 PM EST

By Marci Izard

AMHERST, Mass. (Abc40)-- On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The news has comes as a relief to Amherst resident Mohamed Elgadi.

Elgadi arrested in Khartoum, Sudan in 1992 for his human rights work. Government officials held -and tortured him- for four months.
"It's a long time but it's still painful. They did everything from electric shocks...beating ... everything, including rape," he says.
Elgadi was finally released under the condition that he work as a Government informant. He consented - then fled.
He and his family have lived in the United States for over fifteen years but they still are active in the fight for justice in Sudan. He says the atrocities in Darfur have put an international spotlight on the violence, which he says, is going on across the country.

ICC: Arrest Warrant for Al-Bashir

ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan
عربي

Today, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, President of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect (co-)perpetrator, for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property. This is the first warrant of arrest ever issued for a sitting Head of State by the ICC.
Omar Al Bashir’s official capacity as a sitting Head of State does not exclude his criminal responsibility, nor does it grant him immunity against prosecution before the ICC, according to Pre-Trial Chamber I.
According to the Judges, the above-mentioned crimes were allegedly committed during a five year counter-insurgency campaign by the Government of Sudan against the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and other armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. It is alleged that this campaign started soon after the April 2003 attack on El Fasher airport as a result of a common plan agreed upon at the highest level of the Government of Sudan by Omar Al Bashir and other high-ranking Sudanese political and military leaders. It lasted at least until 14 July 2008, the date of the filing of the Prosecution’s Application for the warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir.
A core component of that campaign was the unlawful attack on that part of the civilian population of Darfur – belonging largely to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups – perceived to be close to the organised armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. The said civilian population was to be unlawfully attacked by Government of Sudan forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Janjaweed Militia, the Sudanese Police Force, the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Humanitarian Aid Commission.
The Chamber found that Omar al Bashir, as the de jure and de facto President of Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, is suspected of having coordinated the design and implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign. In the alternative, it also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was in control of all branches of the “apparatus” of the State of Sudan and used such control to secure the implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign.
The counts
The warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir lists 7 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (article 25(3)(a)) including:

five counts of crimes against humanity: murder – article 7(1)(a); extermination – article 7(1)(b); forcible transfer – article 7(1)(d); torture – article 7(1)(f); and rape – article 7(1)(g);

two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities – article 8(2)(e)(i); and pillaging – article 8(2)(e)(v).

Findings concerning genocide The majority of the Chamber, Judge Anita Ušacka dissenting, found that the material provided by the Prosecution in support of its application for a warrant of arrest failed to provide reasonable grounds to believe that the Government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups. Consequently, the crime of genocide is not included in the warrant issued for the arrest of Omar Al Bashir. Nevertheless, the Judges stressed that if additional evidence is gathered by the Prosecution, the decision would not prevent the Prosecution from requesting an amendment to the warrant of arrest in order to include the crime of genocide.
Cooperation of States

The Judges directed the Registrar to prepare and transmit, as soon as practicable, a request for cooperation for the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir to Sudan, and to all States Parties to the Rome Statute and all United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members that are not party to the Statute, as well as to any other State as may be necessary.

The Judges found that, according to UNSC resolution 1593 and articles 25 and 103 of the UN Charter, the obligation of the Government of Sudan to fully cooperate with the Court prevails over any other international obligation that the Government of Sudan may have undertaken pursuant to any other international agreement.

Pre-Trial Chamber I also found that the Government of Sudan has systematically refused to cooperate with the Court since the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the Sudanese Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and a regional Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Kushayb, on 2 May 2007. As a result, the Judges emphasised that, according to article 87(7) of the Statute, if the Government of Sudan continues to fail to comply with its cooperation obligations to the Court, the competent Chamber “may make a finding to that effect” and decide to “refer the matter […] to the Security Council.”

Furthermore, the Judges noted that the dispositive part of UNSC resolution 1593 expressly urges all States, whether party or not to the Rome Statute, as well as international and regional organisations to “cooperate fully” with the Court.

http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/icc%20issues%20a%20warrant%20of%20arrest%20for%20omar%20al%20bashir_%20president%20of%20sudan

GATS sent a letter to President Obama

سيادة رئيس الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية .... السيد باراك أوباما

نكتب إليك اليوم بإعتبارنا جزء أصيل من مجتمع ضحايا التعذيب بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية لنعبر لسيادتكم عن تقديرنا التام لإلتزامكم بالوقوف مع قضايا حقوق الإنسانهناك أكثر من ٤٠٠,٠٠٠ من ضحايا التعذيب وجَدوا في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية الملجأ و الوطن الآمن الذي يحقق لهم الأمن و الإستقرار و العدالة التي يكفلها الدستور الأمريكي

السيد الرئيس نتقدم لسيادتكم بالشكر و العرفان لإلتزامكم بالبرنامج الإنتخابي من خلال إتخاذكم خطوة إيجابية ومنذ اليوم الأول لتوليكم مقاليد الحكم بإصدار قراركم لإغلاق معتقل قاعدة غوانتنامو ... إن قراركم الرئاسي الذي أكد أن التغذيب و سوء معاملة السجناء هو عمل غير إنساني يؤكد للذين تم إعتقالهم في سجون النظام الحاكم الآن بالسودان أن الرش بالماء أو التغطيس تحت الماء أو التبريد هي من أشكال التغذيب و إن إختلفت مسمياتها

إيضاً كسودانيين إمريكيين ننتظر بفارغ الصبر التغيير الذي وعدتم بتحقيقه في السياسة الخارجية مع النظام الحاكم بالسودان المرتكب لجرائم الحرب و الإبادة الجماعيةإننا نطالب سيادتكم إلتزاماً بما وعدتم به في برنامجكم الإنتخابي في ما يخص السودان بالآتي

* دعم المحكمة الجنائية الدولية لتحقيق العدل في دارفور. الطريق الأوحد لتحقيق سلام و أمن مستدام لأسر مئات الآلاف من الضحايا و ملايين المشردين و النازحين، إننا نطالب حكومتكم بتوفير الأدلة للمحكمة الجنائية الدولية و التي تؤكد تورط نظام البشير في ما هو جارٍ الآن بدارفور من إبادات جماعية وجرائم ضد الإنسانية

* الوقوف ضد جرائم التعذيب الوحشية التي يمارسها نظام البشير كجزء من حربكم على الإرهاب، هناك المئات من بيوت الأشباح (مراكز التعذيب) تم إنشائها و وضعها تحت إمرة جهاز أمن الدولة السوداني منذ العام ١٩٨٩م، عدد كبير من ضحايا هذه البيوت المتواجدين بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في ترقب لإتخاذ هكذا قرار

* توجيه وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية بعدم عقد أي إجتماعات مع قيادات نظام البشير الذين ثبت تورطهم شخصياً بتعذيب عدد من ضحايا التعذيب المتواجدين الآن بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية مثل الفريق / صلاح قوش رئيس جهاز الأمن وأيضاً المساعد الأول لرئيس الجمهورية د/ نافع علي نافع وغيرهم من قيادات حزب المؤتمر الوطني الحاكم بالسودان

سيادة الرئيس نحن نرفض أن يتم أي تعامل مع كل من تلطخت يداه بدماء أبناء شعبه أو ساهم في تعذيب أي من أفراده
المجموعة السودانية لضحايا التعذيب يناير ٢٠٠٩

Date: Jan 30th, 2009
Dear President Obama,
We write to you today as part of the torture survivors’ community in the US to express our appreciation for your commitment to the standard human rights obligations. More than 400,000 torture victims are founding refuge and safe haven in the United States because of the cherished ideals and principles guaranteed by the Constitution.

Mr. President, we thank you for keeping your election campaign promises when you took action in your first day in office and decided to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Your Executive Order to ban the use of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees speaks directly to the suffering our members had to go through in the prisons of the current Sudanese regime. Waterboarding, stress positions, and hypothermia were actually on our daily torture menu with different names.
As Sudanese-Americans we are also looking forward to the changes you promised to bring about in the foreign policy toward the genocidal regime in Sudan. We call on you, Mr. President, to demonstrate your election campaign commitment to Sudan by:

­ * Supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring Darfur perpetrators to justice. The road to a sustainable peace in Darfur is only possible by bringing justice to the families of hundreds of thousands of victims, and millions who lost their homes and properties. We urge your administration to provide evidences to the ICC on the involvement of Albashir’s regime in planning Darfur genocide.

­ * Supporting the end of state-sponsored crime of torture in Sudan as part of your commitment to fight terrorism. Hundreds of Ghost Houses, i.e. torture centers, were created and put under the judiciary of the Sudanese General Security Apparatus since 1989. A large number of these Ghost Houses’ survivors currently live in the US and looking forward to this step.

­ * Instructing the State Department officials to stop meeting with accused torturers who personally involved in torturing some of the survivors currently live in the US. Those are specifically Major General Salah Ghosh, Head of the Intelligence; and Dr. Nafi’ Ali Nafi’, First Assistant to President Albashir and whose assigned the dossier of Darfur, and the deputy leader of the ruling National Congress Party in Sudan.

Mr. President, we understand and support the foreign policy of ‘engagement’ you promoted during the election campaign however, this is a different case. Those two persons were directly involved literally in torturing people who live here in the United States. Ethically, we should not sit with someone who literally has our blood on his hands.

Sincerely

Mohamed I. Elgadi
For/Group Against Torture in Sudan

One Thug is almost Down...!

PR- for immediate release
Contact person: Mohamed Elgadi
Tel. 1+215-870-7809

Amherst, MA- Feb 17th, 2009- Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are reviewing the indictment of the President of the Sudan Lt. General Omer Al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; and may decide to issue an arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir. The Group Against Torture in Sudan (GATS) is watching with utmost concerns the threats and calls of violence from the regime of President Omer Al-Bashir against the ICC and the UN personnel if an arrest warrant is issued. These threats have been shown in many signals from the regime’s media and affiliated political groups with the ruling National Congress Party in Sudan.

It’s an irresponsible statement from the Government of the Sudan to claim that more violence and instability would be generated had the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Al-Bashir. This was reiterated by the ambassador of the Sudan in Washington, D.C. Mr. Akec Achiew Khoc on February 6, 2009 at a conference on Darfur organized by the School of Law at Yale University, in New haven, Connecticut.

GATS demands that the Government of the Sudan should take all the measures necessary to guarantee non-violence against civilians in Khartoum and all other parts of Sudan in response to an ICC arrest warrant for President Al Bashir’s.

GATS calls the Government of the Sudan and the UN to prevent the repetition of the “Black Monday” of August 1, 2005 violence in Khartoum, and the violence against innocent Darfuris in Khartoum after May 10th, 2008 following the insurgency by one of the rebel groups in Khartoum.

GATS urges all political parties, NGOs and civil society organizations (SPLM, NCP, Umma, DUP, SCP, etc.) in the Sudan to be practical and exercise prudence in dealing with the ICC’s legal decision. Action should be addressed in the context of the law and not through the threat of bloodshed, vacuous jingoism, and disrespect to the international community.

GATS urges the Government of the Sudan to recognize the legitimacy of the ICC and the obligation of Sudan as a member of the UN to cooperate with the ICC in all its investigations.

GATS petitions the SPLM, since it is a part of the government, to protect the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and to persuade the National Congress Party to cooperate with the ICC in order to avoid confrontations with the international community.

The crisis in Darfur is a natural consequence of the regime’s policy: the Government of the Sudan should be prepared to defend its policy at the international court and the President should be prepared to defend himself against any criminal indictment through legal means recognizing that he is only a suspect and considered innocent until proven guilty.

GATS realizes that peace and justice are inseparable and that any step towards justice is a step towards a lasting genuinely negotiated peace in the Sudan.

The call for accountability does not exclude any perpetrators in Darfur, Gaza, Iraq, or any other place on earth. Our position is to support the investigations by the ICC of violence against civilians in all corners of the world.

The International Community represented by the UN should seriously address the regime’s threats against UNAMID, UN, international NGO workers and all civilians in the Sudan. A warning to Al-Bashir should be issued that any instigated violence will not be tolerated.

A decision by the ICC to arrest the Sudanese president will be considered a landmark and a major step towards combating impunity for horrific crimes in Darfur and other regions in the Sudan. Such a decision will be particularly significant to our group that has been diligently working over the years to bring those who planned and conducted systematic torture against dissidents to justice.

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 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.


ARABIC version

عكف قضاة المحكمة الدولية على مراجعة طلب مذكرة القبض على الرئيس السودانى عمر حسن احمد تحت عدة تهم منها: تهمة الابادة الجماعية، جرائم التعذيبوجرائم ضد الانسانية .ومن المتوقع ان تتوصل المحكمة الى قرار اصدار القبض على الرئيس عمر البشير، وشيكا.هذا وتقوم مجموعة ضحايا التعذيب باهتمام بالغبمراقبة التهديدات بأعمال العنف ضد القوات الدولية ومنظمات العون الانسانى والتى ظل النظام الحاكم يلمح بحدوثها حال صدور القرار بالقبض على الرئيس.

وقد لوحظت التلميحات لهذه التهديدات عبروسائل اعلام النظام كما ظلت ترددها بعض المجموعات الموالية لحزب المؤتمر الوطنى الحاكم..فقد تكررت حديثا هذه التهديدات من السيد السفير السودانى بواشنطن فى ندوة عن دارفور تم تنظيمها فى السادس من فبراير 2009 بجامعة ييل نيوهيفن كونكتكت.

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تطالب الحكومة السودانيةباتخاذ الاجراءات الامنية المطلوبة لضمان سلامة المدنيين فى الخرطوم وكل أجزاء السودان الأخرى فى حال صدور قرار بالقبض على الرئيس عمر حسن احمد البشير من قبل المحكمة الدولية.

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تطالب الحكومة السودانية بمنع تكرار اعمال العنف فى الخرطوم والمثيلة لما حدث فى يوم "الاثنين الدامى" الأول من اغسطس والعنف الذى مورس ضد ابناء دارفور الابرياء فى الخرطوم فى العاشر من مايو 2008عقب الهجوم التى قامت به حركة العدل والمساواه على مدينة أمدرمان.

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تهيب بكل الأحزاب السياسية وفصائل المجتمع المدنى بالسودان (الحركة الشعبية، الحزب الشيوعى السودانى ، حزب الامة القومى، والحزب الاتحادى الديمقراطى..الخ)أن تتحلى بالواقعية والحصافة اللازمة فى التعامل مع قرار المحكمة الدولية. فمن الحكمة ان تنادى الحكومة بسيادة القانون وليس الدعوة لسيل الدماء والخطاب المشوه لمعنى السيادة الوطنية وعدم احترام المجتمع الدولى.

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تهيب بالحكومة السودانية أن تعترف بشرعية المحكمة الدولية وعليه فواجب السودان، كعضو فى الأمم المتحدة ،التعاون مع المحكمة أثناء اجراءات التحقيق .

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تلتمس من الحركة الشعبية بحكمها شريك فى الحكم بأن تعمل على حماية اتفاقية السلام الشامل ,وأن تحث حزب المؤتمر الوطنى على التعاون مع المحكمة الدولية الأمر الذى سيجنبها مجابهة المجتمع الدولى.

*أن تفاقم الازمة فى دارفور هو نتاج طبيعى لسياسة النظام: فعلى النظام أن يكون مستعدا للدفاع عن سياساتهأمام المحكمة الدولية وعلى الرئيس البشير أن يتأهب للدفاع عن شخصه ضد أى أتهامات تجرمه تحت طائلة القانون وليعلم أنه متهم فقط وأنه برىء حتى تثبت أدانته

* المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب (GATS) تعلم أن السلام والعدل صنوان، وأن أى خطوة نحو العدل هى خطوة نحو سلام دائم أصيل وغير منقوض فى السودان.فموقفنا الثابت هو أن ندعم التحريات التى تقوم بها المحكمة الدولية لجرائم العنف ضد الانسانية فى كل أركان العالم.لافرق لدينا بين اقليم دارفور او غزة ،أو العراق أو أى أقليم مماثل فى خارطة العالم.على المجتمع الدولى الذى تمثلة الامم المتحدة أن يقف بصرامة ضد تهديدات النظام الحاكم فى السودان للقوات الدولية بأقليم دارفور العاملين بمنظمات المجتمع المدنى(UNAMID),(NGO)والمدنيين والعزل فى السودان.وعلى الأمم المتحدة أن تصدر تحذيرا رسميا للرئيس البشير مفاده أن أى تحريض على العنف لن يكون مقبولا

أن صدور قرار من المحكمة الدولية للقبض على الرئيس السودانى سيعتبر خطوة كبرى نحو سقوط الحصانة ضد مرتكبى العنف فى دارفور وفى كل أقاليم السودان الأخرى. كما سيكون القرار مميزا خاصة لمجموعتنا التى عملت بصبر وأناة طوال السنين لتأتى بهؤلاء الذين يدبرون ويمارسون عمليات التعذيب المنظمة ضد كل من خالفهم الرأى الى ساحة العدالة.

المجموعة السودانية لمناهضة التعذيب(GATS) هى مجموعة تدافع عن حقوق الانسان وينطلق نشاطها من أمريكا. وهى تعمل على التعريف بنشاط التعذيب فى كل العالم وخصوصا بالسودان. بينما تدافع المجموعة باستماتة عن دخول مفهوم الحقيقة والمعافاة الى السودانحتى يتسنى لها أن تكسر دورة العنف الوحشية، الا انها ظلت تعمل بضراوة أيضا للايتاء بالمجرمين الى ساحات العدالة.فالصفح والسماح عن هؤلاء المجرمين وجرائمهم يجب ويجب فقط أن يمنحه الناجون من جرائم التعذيب