Quotes from survivors of torture on Mukasey's confirmation

Washington, DC -- 11/9/2007

All quotes are from survivors of torture, and members of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International.

Nasim, a survivor of waterboarding from Ethiopia, who does not want her last name in the press, says that she is "brought back to the torture chambers every time I hear the sound of splashing water. In the shower, when water hits my face, I must remind myself that I am not strapped to a board and that my lungs will not fill up with water until I lose consciousness. Though it has been years, the fear and pain are still there. There can be no debate that waterboarding is torture." 

Anthony Ibeagha, a survivor from Nigeria, said that "this confirmation is disrespectful to me as a person and only exacerbates the pain of torture which has come to be my life."

Dianna Ortiz, a US nun and survivor of torture in Guatemala, said that "the Senate may have substituted the name Mukasey, but they voted for torture. What congress and Judge Mukasey have said loudly and clearly is that they have no concern for those of us who were tortured. First we were betrayed by our torturers; now we are betrayed by the government of the United States. Those who voted for torture will go unconcerned to their dinners and cocktail parties, while we go home to our nightmares." 

Sister Ortiz wrote of her experience watching the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Mukasey here: http://torturelaw.org/blog_post.php?post=41

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition is the only organization in the United States founded by and for survivors of torture. Interviews with survivors are available.

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