Amnesty International Report 1997 - Turkey

Hundreds of people were detained as prisoners of conscience. Most were released after short periods of detention, but others received prison sentences. Torture continued to be systematic and resulted in at least 25 deaths in custody. Twenty-three people reportedly "disappeared" in security force custody and scores of people were killed in the mainly Kurdish southeastern provinces in circumstances suggesting they had been extrajudicially executed by members of the security forces. For the 12th consecutive year, there were no judicial executions, although courts continued to pass death sentences and 14 people were sentenced to death during the year. Armed opposition groups were responsible for more than 40 deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and other non-combatants. State of emergency legislation was in force in 10 southeastern provinces, where the 12-year conflict between government forces and armed members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed 2,500 lives during the year. In November, parliament lifted the state of emergency in Mardin province. Trade unionists, students, and people suspected of supporting Kurdish separatism were frequently detained at peaceful public meetings or organizations' offices, and held for hours or days as prisoners of conscience. Most were released unconditionally or after being charged under various articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC). Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws advocacy of separatism, continued to be used to prosecute and imprison people for peacefully expressing their opinions. Trials of 184 members of Turkey's literary and cultural elite for publishing a book, Freedom of Thought, continued at Istanbul State Security Court (SSC) under Article 8. The book republished texts which contained no advocacy of violence, but which had formed the basis of indictments against other authors who had been convicted by SSCs. New sentences were also handed down under Article 8. In September, Münir Ceylan, former President of Petrol-I, the petroleum workers' trade union, was sentenced by Istanbul SSC to 16 months' imprisonment for an interview published in a monthly magazine. At the end of the year, Münir Ceylan was at liberty pending an appeal. Prisoner of conscience Ibrahim Aksoy, President of the banned Party for Democracy and Renewal and a former parliamentary deputy, remained in Ankara Central Closed Prison. In October 1995, he had begun serving 26 months in cumulative sentences received for his writings. Articles 168, 169 and 312 of the TPC were used to prosecute writers, journalists and political activists who challenged the government's policies in the southeast. Human rights defenders were tried on manifestly fabricated charges of membership of, or support for, armed opposition groups. In May, Dr Seyfettin KÚzÚlkan, President of DiyarbakÚr Medical Association, was arrested and charged with membership of the PKK, but it appeared that he had been imprisoned because of his statements on human rights to visiting foreign delegations. He was released in June, but his trial continued. In October, œanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for Barڝ Için Biraraya (BIBA), Together for Peace, an organization promoting reconciliation of the conflict in the southeast, was arrested and charged under Article 169 with supporting the PKK. The sole reason for œanar Yurdatapan's imprisonment appeared to be his work to further peace and freedom of expression; he was a prisoner of conscience. He was released in November, but his trial continued. Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian service. Osman Murat Ülke, Chairperson of Izmir War Resisters' Association and a conscientious objector, was arrested in October on charges of alienating the people from military service, because he had burned his draft card. He was released in November at a hearing before the Military Court of General Staff in Ankara but was immediately taken under guard to a recruiting office where he was later arrested for "insubordination". He was temporarily released in December. There were frequent, well-documented reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers carrying out police duties in rural areas). The victims included those detained for common criminal offences as well as for offences under the Anti-Terror Law. Children and juveniles were among the victims. In January, 16 young people – seven of them teenage high-school students – reported that they had been blindfolded, stripped naked, hosed with cold water and subjected to electric shocks while held at Manisa Police Headquarters. Police officers reportedly raped the male detainees with truncheons and squeezed their testicles, while female detainees were compelled to undergo forced gynaecological tests and were threatened with rape and with being thrown from a window. Many of the allegations were corroborated by medical evidence. The youngest detainee, Mahir Gökta, was 14 years old when detained. He said that police officers twisted his testicles and gave him electric shocks to his toe, sexual organs and stomach. On the basis of the torture allegations made by the young defendants, 10 police officers were brought to trial in June at Manisa Criminal Court. The trial continued at the end of the year. Sevgi Kaya was 15 years old when she was detained with her elder brother in Istanbul in February. According to her account, during 12 days' detention at the Anti-Terror Branch of Istanbul Police Headquarters without access to her parents or a lawyer, she was beaten on her hands and feet, hosed with water, stripped and beaten in the presence of her brother. She was also suspended by the arms and told that she would be raped and killed. A medical report confirmed that Sevgi Kaya had injuries to her arms, traces of blows to her head, arms and legs, and bruising on her hands and feet. She was committed to prison on charges of membership of the Turkish Communist Labour Party/Leninist. She was released in November but her trial continued. No proceedings were known to have been taken against her alleged torturers. At least eleven people died in custody apparently as a result of torture. Metin Göktepe, a photographer for the daily newspaper Evrensel (Universal), died in January after he had been detained by police while attempting to photograph the funeral of prisoners beaten to death in an Istanbul prison. Other detainees reported seeing Metin Göktepe being beaten by police officers at Eyüp Sports Centre, which was being used as a temporary interrogation centre, where Metin Göktepe's body was found one day later. An autopsy report confirmed that his death had been caused by severe beatings. During several days of official cover-up, the Istanbul Police Chief suggested that Metin Göktepe had died as a result of falling while trying to escape. In February, 11 police officers were indicted for murder, but prosecution of the Eyüp Police Chief for neglecting his duty and attempting to conceal a crime was blocked by the local Istanbul governor. The trial of the police officers continued at the end of the year. In December, in its second public statement on Turkey, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment described torture as "widespread ... a common occurrence" and reported that they had once again found instruments of torture. In 1992, they had found equipment in DiyarbakÚr and Ankara police headquarters (see Amnesty International Report 1993). When the Committee's delegates visited Istanbul police headquarters in September they found "an instrument adapted in a way which would facilitate the infliction of electric shocks and equipment which would facilitate the infliction of electric shocks and equipment which could be used to suspend a person by the arms". In December, the European Court of Human Rights found that Turkish security forces were responsible for the torture of Zeki Aksoy in November 1992 (Aksoy v Turkey). He had been held in police custody for 14 days in Mardin, southeastern Turkey, where he was subjected to beatings, electric shocks, hosing with cold water and suspension by the arms. The Court ruled that this treatment amounted to torture, that the length of detention was excessive and that insufficient safeguards were provided. Zeki Aksoy was shot dead in April 1994 after complaining to his lawyer that he had been threatened with death unless he dropped his case. In September, the European Court of Human Rights found Turkish security forces guilty of burning houses in a village in southeastern Turkey, causing the Kurdish villagers to flee (Akdivar v Turkey). There were further deaths in prison as a result of severe beatings administered when police and gendarmes were brought into prisons during unrest. In January, Orhan Özen, RÚza Boyba and Abdülmecit Seçkin were beaten to death, and Gültekin Beyhan died later from head injuries, when police and gendarmes entered Ümraniye Special Type Prison to subdue a political prisoners' protest. In September, 10 prisoners were beaten to death by gendarmes at DiyarbakÚr Prison. The circumstances, as outlined in a report prepared by the DiyarbakÚr Bar Association, strongly suggested that the killings were the consequence of a premeditated assault by security forces. At least 23 people were reported to have "disappeared" while in the custody of police or soldiers. In April, Atilla OsmanoXlu "disappeared" after being abducted in DiyarbakÚr by two men, one of whom identified himself as a plainclothes police officer. The police authorities denied holding Atilla OsmanoXlu. In November, Fahriye Mordeniz and Mahmut Mordeniz "disappeared" after being detained in DiyarbakÚr. When relatives contacted a local police station they were informed that the couple had been detained by the Anti-Terror Branch. There has been no thorough and impartial investigation into the couple's "disappearance". Scores of people were victims of political killings, many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. Abdullah Canan was reportedly seen being detained by the commander of Yüksekova Gendarmerie Headquarters and others at a check-point on the Hakkari-Van road in January. When his relatives appealed to the local gendarmerie, they denied that he was in custody. In February, Abdullah Canan's body was found bearing signs of gunshot wounds and torture. Abdullah Canan had reportedly received threats from local security forces because he had made a formal complaint about the forced evacuation and destruction of his village by gendarmes in November 1995. Near the town of Güçlükonak in œÚrnak province in January, 11 villagers were machine-gunned and the minibus in which they were travelling was set on fire. Seven of those killed were members of the government-appointed village guard corps. The authorities announced that the PKK were responsible for the killings. The Chief of General Staff flew journalists from all the major newspapers and broadcasting organizations to the site, and the Prime Minister condemned the PKK for the massacre. However, a broad-based delegation organized by BIBA spokesperson œanar Yurdatapan found evidence that the villagers had been killed by the security forces, apparently in an attempt to discredit a unilateral cease-fire declared by the PKK in December 1995. Shortly before the killings in Güçlükonak, the European Parliament had passed a resolution encouraging the Turkish Government to respond to the PKK's cease-fire. The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued throughout the year. Amnesty International expressed grave concern to the government about these refoulements on several occasions. No response was received. Armed members of the PKK were responsible for more than 40 deliberate and arbitrary killings. The victims included civilians, as well as captured soldiers and village guards. In May, Abdullah Ay and Masallah Lale were killed in Adana, allegedly by members of the PKK, on the grounds that they were "agents of the state". The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) was also responsible for deliberate and arbitrary killings. In January, the DHKP-C carried out what they described as a "revenge" killing in retaliation for the deaths at Ümraniye Prison. DHKP-C members killed Özdemir SabancÚ, a member of the family which owns the SabancÚ industrial conglomerate, Haluk Görgün, a director, and Nilgün Hasef, a secretary. The three victims were in no way connected with the events at Ümraniye Prison. The PKK, the DHKP-C and other armed organizations used the threat of murder as a form of party discipline. In August, Emine Yavuz was reportedly strangled by fellow PKK defendants in DiyarbakÚr Prison on the grounds that she was "an informer". In October, Fatma Özyurt, serving a prison sentence for alleged DHKP-C links, was reportedly killed by cellmates in Ankara Central Closed Prison on the grounds that she had "cooperated with the police". RamÚz œiman, serving a life sentence for membership of the Turkish Workers and Peasants' Liberation Army (TIKKO), was stabbed to death by cellmates in what appeared to be a "punishment" killing carried out on TIKKO party orders. Amnesty International condemned these grave abuses and publicly called on armed opposition groups to instruct their members to respect humanitarian law and international human rights standards. Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release of prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate thorough, prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances". Two Amnesty International researchers continued to be excluded from Turkey. In January, an Amnesty International delegate observed a hearing at Ankara SSC in the trial of Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) officials accused of insulting state institutions. They were subsequently acquitted. In May, Amnesty International delegates observed the trial on criminal charges of two doctors from the TIHV's Adana Treatment Centre for Torture Survivors. The authorities apparently improvised the charges to obstruct the functioning of the treatment centre. The trial continued at the end of the year. In June, Amnesty International delegates observed a hearing in the trial of Dr Seyfettin KÚzÚlkan at DiyarbakÚr SSC. He was released but his trial continued. In October, an Amnesty International delegate observed the trial of the schoolchildren reportedly tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters. The children were released, but other defendants remained in custody, and the trial continued. In October, 25 Amnesty International delegates from around the world, including relatives of victims of "disappearance" in Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon, participated in a vigil in Istanbul with relatives of Turkey's "disappeared". Amnesty International published a number of reports, including Turkey: Further information on continuing human rights abuses, in February; Turkey: No security without human rights, in October; and Turkey: Children at risk of torture, death in custody and "disappearance", in November.