Source:
El Nadim Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, Cairo, p.15 (2005)
المسار:
http://www.archive.org/details/TortureInSudan-FactsAndTestimonies
Keywords:
torture;
sudan;
refugees;
UNHCR;
testimonies;
south of sudan;
civil war
Abstract:
Over the last ten years hundreds of Sudanese torture victims have reached out to El-nadim
center. This figure represents only the ones that succeeded in escaping from the clutches of
those who imprisoned and tortured them, leaving behind others. No one knows how many
victims exist and perhaps no one ever will. Some have become martyrs, some could not get
away and a few, are still struggling.
Their stories accumulated over the years, bringing some testimonies that vary and others
that are relatively alike. But all contain the same viciousness and extreme cruelty. We could
see, quite literally, what we had previously read in both local and international reports
asserting that the Sudanese government has reached a level of such brutality that has never
occurred before in modern Sudanese history. Torture in Sudan is, today, more widespread
than ever before, and not just because it embraces a wider area than previously, but also
because of the random infliction of this inhumane torture. Everybody is at risk. Whether you
are a political activist or not, a member of the opposition or an uninvolved civilian, whether
you are alone or part of a group is irrelevant.
We document in this book, amongst other things, the testimonies of these victims, or
rather, these heroes, as told by them. The heroes who were not crushed by the experience and
who can now speak to the world against those who tortured them. We want to record for
survivors of unspeakable torture their triumphs and admirable bravery, we record their
courage: they started over, and remained strong. We write this book for the ones who couldn’t
pull through, the ones who collapsed under the cruelty of their torturers, the martyrs. We are
working towards the day when the criminals who tortured them are held accountable for their actions, and punished for the suffering they inflicted. Though no punishment will compensate the lives that were lost it will be a triumph for their souls, a triumph for humanity as a whole, in hope of one day living in a better world.
Notes:
Figures and tables at the end of the book were not translated. This will be corrected in the future.
