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AI REPORT 1998:TURKEY
(This report covers the period January-December 1997)
Hundreds of people were detained because of their non-violent political
activities; most were released after a short period of police detention
but others were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Torture continued
to be widespread and systematic in police stations and gendarmeries,
although new legislation on detention procedures had some impact. There
were at least six reported deaths in custody. At least nine people
reportedly `disappeared' in security force custody and at least 20
people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they had been
extrajudicially executed. There were no judicial executions, although
courts continued to pass death sentences. Armed opposition groups
committed deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and civilians.
The government headed by Necmettin Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare
Party in coalition with the right-wing True Path Party ended with his
resignation in June, largely as a result of pressure from the armed
forces. Later that month, a new coalition headed by Motherland Party
leader Mesut Y.lmaz was formed together with the Democratic Left Party
and Democratic Turkey Party. State of emergency legislation was lifted
in three provinces in October, but remained in force in six provinces
of the southeast, where the 13-year conflict between government forces
and armed members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed the lives
of 6,000 people, including civilians, during the year.
Trade unionists, students and demonstrators were frequently taken into
custody at peaceful public meetings or at their organizations' offices,
and were held in police detention for hours or days because of their
non-violent political activities.
The trial under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws any
advocacy of `separatism', of 184 members of Turkey's literary and
cultural elite for publishing a book entitled Freedom of Thought (see
Amnesty International Report 1997) was halted in October under the
terms of a law which suspended judicial proceedings against editors for
three years.
Other articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) were also used against
writers, journalists and political activists whose statements
criticized the Turkish state. In June the writer and lawyer Ahmet Zeki
Okçuo©lu was imprisoned under Article 159 of the TPC for `insulting the
institutions of the state', after the Supreme Court upheld a 10-month
sentence handed down in 1993 by Istanbul Criminal Court No. 2 for his
article published in the newspaper Azadi (Freedom). He was released in
October. The trials under Article 159 continued against Münir Ceylan, a
trade unionist; Ercan Kanar, president of the Istanbul branch of the
Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA); and Ã`anar Yurdatapan,
spokesperson for the Together for Peace initiative (see Amnesty
International Report 1997). They had publicly accused the Chief of
General Staff of covering up the Güçlükonak massacre, in which state
forces allegedly detained and killed 11 civilians and village guards.
The security forces presented the killings as having been committed by
the PKK.
Prisoners of conscience Hatip Dicle, Orhan Do©an, Selim Sadak and Leyla
Zana, former parliamentary deputies for the Democracy Party, continued
to serve 15-year sentences, imposed in 1994 for alleged membership of
the PKK, at Ankara Closed Prison. No conclusive evidence was presented
to support the charges against them during the course of a blatantly
unfair trial and they appeared to have been imprisoned because of their
criticism of state policy in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern
provinces.
People expressing political beliefs from an Islamic point of view were
also held as prisoners of conscience. Former parliamentary deputy Hasan
Mezarc. was serving an 18-month sentence imposed in 1996 under Law 5816
for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.
He was released in October. In April members of the Aczmendi religious
order detained in October 1996 were sentenced to prison terms by Ankara
State Security Court (SSC) for appearing in public in Ankara in turbans
and cloaks _ garments which contravened the Dress and Hat Laws
instituted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ilyas Eldi, Yakup AkkuÃ', Ahmet
Arslan, Ã-mer Faruk, Bülent Baykal, and Servet Dündar were sentenced to
four years' imprisonment after conviction under Article 7/1 of the
Anti-Terror Law for `membership of an organization founded to transform
the Republic by means of intimidation or threats.' In fact, the
Aczmendi order does not advocate violence. Another 110 Aczmendi
defendants received sentences of three years' imprisonment.
The HRA was subjected to intense harassment. Three branches were shut
down including the Diyarbak.r branch, which was closed on the grounds
that `its activities threaten the unity of the state.' Aziz Durmaz,
president of the Ã`anl.urfa branch, was detained and reportedly tortured
in June. He was committed to prison on apparently bogus charges of
membership of an armed organization. He was a prisoner of conscience.
Aziz Durmaz was released in November.
Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to
military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian
service. In January the General Staff Military Court in Ankara
sentenced Osman Murat Ã`lke, chairperson of the Izmir War Resisters'
Association (ISKD) (see Amnesty International Report 1997), to six
months' imprisonment and a fine for `alienating the public from the
institution of military service' by publicly declaring his
conscientious objection and burning his call-up papers in 1995. In
February the General Staff Military Court opened a new trial against
Osman Murat Ã`lke and a further 11 defendants from the HRA and ISKD on
charges of `alienating the public from the institution of military
service' in speeches that they had given during Human Rights Week in
1995. Osman Murat Ã`lke was conditionally released in May, but was
rearrested in October at EskiÃ'ehir Military Court after being convicted
of `persistent insubordination', for which he received a five-month
prison sentence, and `desertion', for which he received a further
five-month sentence.
In March detention procedures were amended for people held under the
Anti-Terror Law (which includes non-violent offences). The Turkish
Government announced this as a measure to combat torture. The new law
shortened the maximum terms of police detention from 30 to 10 days in
provinces under state of emergency legislation, and from 14 to seven
days throughout the rest of the country. The new provisions were a
substantial
improvement but still failed to meet international standards. The law
provides for four days' incommunicado detention, described by the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment as `unacceptable'. Incommunicado
detention is widely recognized as being conducive to torture.
The revised detention procedures appeared to have some inhibiting
effect on the practice of torture. Nevertheless, there were many
well-documented reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers
carrying out police duties, mainly in rural areas) in many parts of the
country. Male and female detainees frequently complained that they were
sexually assaulted. The victims included those detained for common
criminal offences as well as for offences under the Anti-Terror Law.
Children and juveniles were again among the victims. Sixteen-year-old
Murat Yi©it reported that he was tortured at a police station in Ankara
while detained in January. He stated that he was blindfolded and
stripped naked, drenched with cold water, beaten on the soles of his
feet and given electric shocks to his penis and feet by police officers
who wanted him to sign a confession to a series of burglaries. He was
later released without charge. A medical report issued by Ankara
Forensic Medicine Institute recorded injuries consistent with his
statement.
Hatun Temuzalp, a reporter for a left-wing journal, stated that she was
tortured while held for interrogation at Istanbul Police Headquarters
for seven days during March. Police officers insulted and threatened
her, and pulled some of her clothes off. Her arms were tightly bound to
a wooden bar and two people grabbed her, lifted her onto a chair, hung
her up, and pulled the chair away. This happened repeatedly. After a
period of intense pain she started to lose consciousness. A radiography
report indicated a fractured shoulder blade. When brought before a
judge, Hatun Temuzalp made a complaint of torture. She was released,
but her interrogators were not prosecuted.
In a judgment in September the European Court of Human Rights found
that Turkish security forces had tortured Ã`ükran Ayd.n while she was
detained at Derik Gendarmerie Headquarters in Mardin in 1993. She was
17 years old at the time. The Court found that Ã`ükran Ayd.n had been
raped, paraded naked in humiliating circumstances and beaten, and that
the Turkish authorities had failed to conduct an adequate investigation
into her complaint. The Court ordered the Turkish Government to pay
Ã`ükran Ayd.n compensation of approximately US$41,000.
There were at least six deaths in custody apparently as a result of
torture. Fettah Kaya died at Aksaray Police Station in May, after being
detained by vice-squad officers at the music hall where he worked.
Police authorities reportedly claimed that the 23-year-old man had died
of a heart attack, but a detainee who was in custody with him stated
that both of them had been tortured by police, who struck them with
sandbags.
At least nine people were reported to have `disappeared' in the custody
of police or soldiers. In February witnesses saw four armed men,
apparently plainclothes police officers, stop Fikri Ã-zgen outside his
house in Diyarbak.r, check his identity and drive him away. His family
made inquiries with all the relevant authorities, who denied that he
was detained. In common with several other victims of `disappearance',
Fikri Ã-zgen had relatives reported to have PKK connections.
At least 20 people were reported to be victims of political killings,
many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. In January Murat
Akman was killed during a house raid in Savur, Mardin province, shortly
after two security force officers had been killed by the PKK. According
to a family member who witnessed the killing, members of the Special
Operations Team (a special heavily armed police force unit) came to the
door, asking for Murat Akman. When he appeared and showed his identity
card, they opened fire, killing him instantly. The family made an
official complaint, but by the end of the year those responsible for
the killing had not been brought to justice.
The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees
and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued
throughout the year. On several occasions, Amnesty International
expressed grave concern to the Turkish Government about these
refoulements. No response was received.
For the 13th consecutive year there were no judicial executions,
although courts continued to pass death sentences.
Armed separatist, leftist and Islamist organizations were responsible
for at least 13 deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians and
prisoners. Armed members of the PKK were allegedly responsible for at
least 10 of the killings. According to reports, in July PKK members
killed Mehmet Ã-zdemir at Ã`zümlü village, near Eruh in Siirt province,
and also abducted Abdullah TeymurtaÃ' from the same village before
killing him. In October Merka Akay was taken from her home in Nusaybin,
Mardin province, and strangled by PKK members. The Turkish Workers and
Peasants' Army (TIKKO) reportedly claimed responsibility for the
killing in June of Devrim Yasemin Ã?ld.rten and Behzat Y.ld.r.m in
Istanbul, claiming that they were `traitors and collaborators'. The
Islamic Raiders of the Great East_Front claimed responsibility for the
bombing of a sewage treatment plant in Istanbul in June. Mehmet Ã`ahin
Duran, a worker at the plant, was wounded in the blast and subsequently
died of his injuries. Amnesty International condemned these grave
abuses and publicly called on armed opposition groups to ensure that
their members were instructed to respect international humanitarian law
and human rights standards.
Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release of
prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate prompt and
independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial
executions and `disappearances'. Reports published during the year
included Turkey: Refoulement of non-European refugees _ a protection
crisis.
Amnesty International delegates observed several trial hearings,
including the January hearing in the trial at Izmir SSC of a group of
juveniles who had been tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters in 1996
and subsequently accused of membership of an armed organization, and
the final hearing in May of a trial at Adana Primary Court in which Dr
Tufan Köse, an employee of a rehabilitation centre for torture victims,
was sentenced to a fine for refusing to give officials access to
treatment records.
Annual Report UPDATE:
>From January to June 1998
The irresponsibility of the Turkish authorities created the climate for
the shooting on 12 May of Ak2n Birdal, President of the Turkish Human
Rights Association (HRA) Ak2n Birdal was wounded by six bullets from
the guns of two assailants who entered the headquarters of the
association in Ankara.
The authorities have not only consistently failed to investigate or
condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the association, but the
judicial authorities had apparently contrived to leak spurious but
highly dangerous allegations about Ak2n Birdal. These were contained in
confessions alleged to have been made by a former military commander of
the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) recently taken prisoner by the
security forces. Although Turkish law provides that evidence collected
during preliminary investigation is secret, these statements, which
cited Ak2n Birdal as well as numerous other prominent personalities
critical of the government as being implicated as having actively
supported the PKK, were given enormous publicity.
While Ak2n Birdal was struggling very close to death the Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz compounded the offence by describing the attack as an
"internal dispute" among people connected with the PKK. In fact, seven
men close to right wing political groups -- one of them a gendarmerie
officer -- were shortly afterwards arrested and charged with planning
and carrying out the attempted killing.
(This report covers the period January-December 1997)
Hundreds of people were detained because of their non-violent political
activities; most were released after a short period of police detention
but others were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Torture continued
to be widespread and systematic in police stations and gendarmeries,
although new legislation on detention procedures had some impact. There
were at least six reported deaths in custody. At least nine people
reportedly `disappeared' in security force custody and at least 20
people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they had been
extrajudicially executed. There were no judicial executions, although
courts continued to pass death sentences. Armed opposition groups
committed deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and civilians.
The government headed by Necmettin Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare
Party in coalition with the right-wing True Path Party ended with his
resignation in June, largely as a result of pressure from the armed
forces. Later that month, a new coalition headed by Motherland Party
leader Mesut Y.lmaz was formed together with the Democratic Left Party
and Democratic Turkey Party. State of emergency legislation was lifted
in three provinces in October, but remained in force in six provinces
of the southeast, where the 13-year conflict between government forces
and armed members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed the lives
of 6,000 people, including civilians, during the year.
Trade unionists, students and demonstrators were frequently taken into
custody at peaceful public meetings or at their organizations' offices,
and were held in police detention for hours or days because of their
non-violent political activities.
The trial under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws any
advocacy of `separatism', of 184 members of Turkey's literary and
cultural elite for publishing a book entitled Freedom of Thought (see
Amnesty International Report 1997) was halted in October under the
terms of a law which suspended judicial proceedings against editors for
three years.
Other articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) were also used against
writers, journalists and political activists whose statements
criticized the Turkish state. In June the writer and lawyer Ahmet Zeki
Okçuo©lu was imprisoned under Article 159 of the TPC for `insulting the
institutions of the state', after the Supreme Court upheld a 10-month
sentence handed down in 1993 by Istanbul Criminal Court No. 2 for his
article published in the newspaper Azadi (Freedom). He was released in
October. The trials under Article 159 continued against Münir Ceylan, a
trade unionist; Ercan Kanar, president of the Istanbul branch of the
Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA); and Ã`anar Yurdatapan,
spokesperson for the Together for Peace initiative (see Amnesty
International Report 1997). They had publicly accused the Chief of
General Staff of covering up the Güçlükonak massacre, in which state
forces allegedly detained and killed 11 civilians and village guards.
The security forces presented the killings as having been committed by
the PKK.
Prisoners of conscience Hatip Dicle, Orhan Do©an, Selim Sadak and Leyla
Zana, former parliamentary deputies for the Democracy Party, continued
to serve 15-year sentences, imposed in 1994 for alleged membership of
the PKK, at Ankara Closed Prison. No conclusive evidence was presented
to support the charges against them during the course of a blatantly
unfair trial and they appeared to have been imprisoned because of their
criticism of state policy in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern
provinces.
People expressing political beliefs from an Islamic point of view were
also held as prisoners of conscience. Former parliamentary deputy Hasan
Mezarc. was serving an 18-month sentence imposed in 1996 under Law 5816
for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.
He was released in October. In April members of the Aczmendi religious
order detained in October 1996 were sentenced to prison terms by Ankara
State Security Court (SSC) for appearing in public in Ankara in turbans
and cloaks _ garments which contravened the Dress and Hat Laws
instituted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ilyas Eldi, Yakup AkkuÃ', Ahmet
Arslan, Ã-mer Faruk, Bülent Baykal, and Servet Dündar were sentenced to
four years' imprisonment after conviction under Article 7/1 of the
Anti-Terror Law for `membership of an organization founded to transform
the Republic by means of intimidation or threats.' In fact, the
Aczmendi order does not advocate violence. Another 110 Aczmendi
defendants received sentences of three years' imprisonment.
The HRA was subjected to intense harassment. Three branches were shut
down including the Diyarbak.r branch, which was closed on the grounds
that `its activities threaten the unity of the state.' Aziz Durmaz,
president of the Ã`anl.urfa branch, was detained and reportedly tortured
in June. He was committed to prison on apparently bogus charges of
membership of an armed organization. He was a prisoner of conscience.
Aziz Durmaz was released in November.
Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to
military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian
service. In January the General Staff Military Court in Ankara
sentenced Osman Murat Ã`lke, chairperson of the Izmir War Resisters'
Association (ISKD) (see Amnesty International Report 1997), to six
months' imprisonment and a fine for `alienating the public from the
institution of military service' by publicly declaring his
conscientious objection and burning his call-up papers in 1995. In
February the General Staff Military Court opened a new trial against
Osman Murat Ã`lke and a further 11 defendants from the HRA and ISKD on
charges of `alienating the public from the institution of military
service' in speeches that they had given during Human Rights Week in
1995. Osman Murat Ã`lke was conditionally released in May, but was
rearrested in October at EskiÃ'ehir Military Court after being convicted
of `persistent insubordination', for which he received a five-month
prison sentence, and `desertion', for which he received a further
five-month sentence.
In March detention procedures were amended for people held under the
Anti-Terror Law (which includes non-violent offences). The Turkish
Government announced this as a measure to combat torture. The new law
shortened the maximum terms of police detention from 30 to 10 days in
provinces under state of emergency legislation, and from 14 to seven
days throughout the rest of the country. The new provisions were a
substantial
improvement but still failed to meet international standards. The law
provides for four days' incommunicado detention, described by the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment as `unacceptable'. Incommunicado
detention is widely recognized as being conducive to torture.
The revised detention procedures appeared to have some inhibiting
effect on the practice of torture. Nevertheless, there were many
well-documented reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers
carrying out police duties, mainly in rural areas) in many parts of the
country. Male and female detainees frequently complained that they were
sexually assaulted. The victims included those detained for common
criminal offences as well as for offences under the Anti-Terror Law.
Children and juveniles were again among the victims. Sixteen-year-old
Murat Yi©it reported that he was tortured at a police station in Ankara
while detained in January. He stated that he was blindfolded and
stripped naked, drenched with cold water, beaten on the soles of his
feet and given electric shocks to his penis and feet by police officers
who wanted him to sign a confession to a series of burglaries. He was
later released without charge. A medical report issued by Ankara
Forensic Medicine Institute recorded injuries consistent with his
statement.
Hatun Temuzalp, a reporter for a left-wing journal, stated that she was
tortured while held for interrogation at Istanbul Police Headquarters
for seven days during March. Police officers insulted and threatened
her, and pulled some of her clothes off. Her arms were tightly bound to
a wooden bar and two people grabbed her, lifted her onto a chair, hung
her up, and pulled the chair away. This happened repeatedly. After a
period of intense pain she started to lose consciousness. A radiography
report indicated a fractured shoulder blade. When brought before a
judge, Hatun Temuzalp made a complaint of torture. She was released,
but her interrogators were not prosecuted.
In a judgment in September the European Court of Human Rights found
that Turkish security forces had tortured Ã`ükran Ayd.n while she was
detained at Derik Gendarmerie Headquarters in Mardin in 1993. She was
17 years old at the time. The Court found that Ã`ükran Ayd.n had been
raped, paraded naked in humiliating circumstances and beaten, and that
the Turkish authorities had failed to conduct an adequate investigation
into her complaint. The Court ordered the Turkish Government to pay
Ã`ükran Ayd.n compensation of approximately US$41,000.
There were at least six deaths in custody apparently as a result of
torture. Fettah Kaya died at Aksaray Police Station in May, after being
detained by vice-squad officers at the music hall where he worked.
Police authorities reportedly claimed that the 23-year-old man had died
of a heart attack, but a detainee who was in custody with him stated
that both of them had been tortured by police, who struck them with
sandbags.
At least nine people were reported to have `disappeared' in the custody
of police or soldiers. In February witnesses saw four armed men,
apparently plainclothes police officers, stop Fikri Ã-zgen outside his
house in Diyarbak.r, check his identity and drive him away. His family
made inquiries with all the relevant authorities, who denied that he
was detained. In common with several other victims of `disappearance',
Fikri Ã-zgen had relatives reported to have PKK connections.
At least 20 people were reported to be victims of political killings,
many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. In January Murat
Akman was killed during a house raid in Savur, Mardin province, shortly
after two security force officers had been killed by the PKK. According
to a family member who witnessed the killing, members of the Special
Operations Team (a special heavily armed police force unit) came to the
door, asking for Murat Akman. When he appeared and showed his identity
card, they opened fire, killing him instantly. The family made an
official complaint, but by the end of the year those responsible for
the killing had not been brought to justice.
The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees
and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued
throughout the year. On several occasions, Amnesty International
expressed grave concern to the Turkish Government about these
refoulements. No response was received.
For the 13th consecutive year there were no judicial executions,
although courts continued to pass death sentences.
Armed separatist, leftist and Islamist organizations were responsible
for at least 13 deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians and
prisoners. Armed members of the PKK were allegedly responsible for at
least 10 of the killings. According to reports, in July PKK members
killed Mehmet Ã-zdemir at Ã`zümlü village, near Eruh in Siirt province,
and also abducted Abdullah TeymurtaÃ' from the same village before
killing him. In October Merka Akay was taken from her home in Nusaybin,
Mardin province, and strangled by PKK members. The Turkish Workers and
Peasants' Army (TIKKO) reportedly claimed responsibility for the
killing in June of Devrim Yasemin Ã?ld.rten and Behzat Y.ld.r.m in
Istanbul, claiming that they were `traitors and collaborators'. The
Islamic Raiders of the Great East_Front claimed responsibility for the
bombing of a sewage treatment plant in Istanbul in June. Mehmet Ã`ahin
Duran, a worker at the plant, was wounded in the blast and subsequently
died of his injuries. Amnesty International condemned these grave
abuses and publicly called on armed opposition groups to ensure that
their members were instructed to respect international humanitarian law
and human rights standards.
Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release of
prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate prompt and
independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial
executions and `disappearances'. Reports published during the year
included Turkey: Refoulement of non-European refugees _ a protection
crisis.
Amnesty International delegates observed several trial hearings,
including the January hearing in the trial at Izmir SSC of a group of
juveniles who had been tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters in 1996
and subsequently accused of membership of an armed organization, and
the final hearing in May of a trial at Adana Primary Court in which Dr
Tufan Köse, an employee of a rehabilitation centre for torture victims,
was sentenced to a fine for refusing to give officials access to
treatment records.
Annual Report UPDATE:
>From January to June 1998
The irresponsibility of the Turkish authorities created the climate for
the shooting on 12 May of Ak2n Birdal, President of the Turkish Human
Rights Association (HRA) Ak2n Birdal was wounded by six bullets from
the guns of two assailants who entered the headquarters of the
association in Ankara.
The authorities have not only consistently failed to investigate or
condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the association, but the
judicial authorities had apparently contrived to leak spurious but
highly dangerous allegations about Ak2n Birdal. These were contained in
confessions alleged to have been made by a former military commander of
the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) recently taken prisoner by the
security forces. Although Turkish law provides that evidence collected
during preliminary investigation is secret, these statements, which
cited Ak2n Birdal as well as numerous other prominent personalities
critical of the government as being implicated as having actively
supported the PKK, were given enormous publicity.
While Ak2n Birdal was struggling very close to death the Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz compounded the offence by describing the attack as an
"internal dispute" among people connected with the PKK. In fact, seven
men close to right wing political groups -- one of them a gendarmerie
officer -- were shortly afterwards arrested and charged with planning
and carrying out the attempted killing.