Credit: Sudan News Agency /    In February 2018, President of the Republic of Sudan Omer Al-Bashir appointed Lt. Gen. Engineer Salah Abdalla Mohamed Salih as Director-General of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). Sa/sa

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  STAFF

The U.S. Department of State announced Wednesday it has  sanctioned Salah Abdalla Mohamed Mohamed Salih, known as Salah Gosh, the former director general of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Div. F, P.L. 116-6), due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights. 

“Specifically, the Department has credible information that Salah Gosh was involved in torture during his tenure as head of NISS.” 

-U.S.  Secretary Of  State Michael Pompeo statement 

Section 7031(c) provides that,  in cases where the U.S. Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States. The law also requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their immediate family members.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo

“In accordance with the law, I am also publicly designating his spouse, Awatif Ahmed Seed Ahmed Mohamed, as well as his daughter, Shima Salah Abdallah Mohamed,”  Secretary of State Pompeo.  “The designation of Salah Gosh and his family underscores our support for accountability for those involved in gross violations of human rights. We join the Sudanese people in their call for a transitional government that is truly civilian led and differs fundamentally from the Bashir regime, particularly on the protection of human rights. We make this announcement today in support of an effort by the Sudanese people to place the Bashir regime, with its long record of human rights violations and abuses by Gosh and other officials, in the past for good.”

Gosh, 63,  resigned his position after the military coup that ousted Omar Al Bashir in April.  He served for nearly 40 years  in Sudan’s intelligence services, where he was accused of using oppressive tactics and torture.

US Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale met with Sudan’s Transitional Military Council Chairman, General Abdel Fattah el-Burhan last week in the Northeast Africa nation’s capital city Khartoum.  They discussed the need for swift formation of a civilian-led transitional government in line with the recently-agreed political and constitutional documents, which the United States supports, according to a readout by the US State Department.  However, Sudan remains in the US’ list of state sponsors of terrorism  ever since being designated as such in 1993 by then President Bill Clinton.  Sudan is still on the Terror List  despite the recent overthrow of long-time authoritarian Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.