Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Turkey

Harassment of IHD members

Ongoing judicial harassment of four IHD executives67

– On September 22, 2006, Ms. Eren Keskin, president of the Istanbul section of the Human Rights Association (Insan Haklari Dernegi – IHD), was charged with "denigrating the Turkish identity" (Article 301 of the Criminal Code) by the Prosecutor's office of the Kartal district in Istanbul. This followed an interview with the German daily Der Tagespiegel on June 24, 2006, in which Ms. Keskin had expressed her opinion on the influence of the Turkish army over the government.

Charges remained pending by the end of 2006.

– On November 14, 2006, Ms. Kiraz Biçici, IHD vice-president, and Mr. Ridvan Kizgin, head of the IHD branch in Bingöl, were sentenced to a six-month prison sentence term for "denigrating the Turkish identity" (Article 301 of the Criminal Code), a sentence later commuted to a fine of 1,350 Turkish liras (about 900 euros). They had been charged on October 7, 2003 following the publication of a press article by Ms. Biçici denouncing phone calls and threats made against Mr. Kizgin by the Bingöl Gendarmerie Command.

They appealed the verdict to the Yargitay Court of Appeal but it had still not been examined as of the end of 2006.

– Furthermore, on August 24, 2005, Mr. Dotan Genç, a member of the IHD executive board, was charged with "attacking the honour and reputation of a person" (Article 482 of the Criminal Code) by the Prosecutor's office of the Beyoglu district in Istanbul, on the basis of a complaint filed by Mr. Ali Suat Ertosun, a member of the Court of Appeal and former general director of the penitentiary administration. This followed the publication of a report in which Mr. Genç denounced the failure of the measures taken by Mr. Ali Suat Ertosun as general director of the prisons system.

The last hearing in this trial was held on October 30, 2006 before the Second Peace Criminal Court. The charges remained pending as of the end of 2006.

In 2005, Ms. Eren Keskin, Ms.Kiraz Biçici and Mr. Dotan Genç had faced harassment and death threats from an ultra-nationalist armed group. No inquiry had been launched into these acts by the end of 2006.

Arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment of several IHD members68

In late March 2006, several human rights defenders were arrested following violent incidents between the Kurdish population and security forces in several provinces in south-eastern and eastern Turkey, after Kurdish rebels were killed while fighting with the army in Mus-Bingol on March 24, 2006.

– On March 29, 2006, Mr. Resit Yaray, director of the IHD section in Batman, and Mr. Mursel Kayar, a member of that section, were arrested and placed in detention at the Batman Security Centre, where they were beaten by police officers.

On April 2, 2006, after appearing before the Public Prosecutor of Batman, Messrs. Yaray and Kayar were charged with providing "assistance and support to illegal organisations" (Article 220-7 of the Criminal Code) and placed in detention in the town's prison.

On June 30, 2006, the Observatory mandated an observer to their trial. The hearing was adjourned to August 15, 2006 and subsequently to September 13, 2006.

Messrs. Resit Yaray and Mursel Kayar were released on November 7, 2006 but the charges against them remained pending. The next hearing was scheduled for February 20, 2007.

– On March 29, 2006, Mr. Necdet Atalay, former spokesman for the Diyarbakir Democracy Platform, secretary general of the Machine Engineers' Association and a member of the Diyarbakir section of IHD, was arrested and placed in detention in the town's D-type prison69.

He was charged with providing "assistance and support to illegal organisations" for attending the funerals of Kurdish rebels. He was released on July 20, 2006 after a hearing attended by the Observatory, as a result of the lack of "sufficient evidence". However, he remained under prosecution. After the hearing was again adjourned until October 10, 2006 and subsequently to December 12, 2006, the next hearing was scheduled for March 6, 2007.

– On March 30, 2006, Mr. Mecail Ozel, a member of the IHD branch in Diyarbakir, was arrested and placed in detention in Ofis, Diyarbakir district. His family was not notified of his arrest until April 3, 2006. On April 4, 2006, Mr. Ozel appeared before the Diyarbakir Criminal Court, which ordered his detention in the Diyarbakir prison for providing "assistance and support to an illegal organisation". He was released in August 2006 but the charges against him remained pending. The next hearing was scheduled for January 11, 2007.

– On April 2, 2006, Messrs. Hüseyin Cangir and Erdal Kuzu, president and secretary general of the Mardin section of IHD respectively, were arrested by the Kiziltepe Gendarmerie for attempting to prevent several attacks of the security forces against civilians. Messrs. Kuzu and Cangir were severely beaten during their four-hour custody, including by a military doctor.

– On April 4, 2006, Mr. Ali Öncü, spokesman for the Diyarbakir Democracy Platform and president of TES-Is, one of the most important workers' union in the country, and Mr. Edip Yasar, a member of the IHD section in Diyarbakir and president of Tum Bel-Sen, a union of municipal civil servants, were arrested and placed in detention by the anti-terrorist section of the security forces.

On April 5, 2006, they appeared before the Attorney General and the judge of Diyarbakir, who ordered their transfer to the Diyarbakir D-type prison. Messrs. Öncu and Yasar were charged with providing "assistance and support to illegal organisations".

Mr. Ali Öncü was released on July 13, 2006 following a hearing attended by the Observatory, on the basis of the decision of the Sixth Criminal Court of Diyarbakir, after the Prosecutor substituted the initial charges with those of "propaganda in favour of an illegal organisation" (Article 220-8 of the Criminal Code).

However, the charges against him remained pending as of the end of 2006 and the next hearing was scheduled for March 6, 2007 before the Fourth Criminal Court in Diyarbakir.

Mr. Edip Yasar, whose case was joined with that of Mr. Necdet Atalay, was released on grounds of a lack of "sufficient evidence" on July 20, 2006, after a hearing attended by the Observatory. The next hearing in this trial was scheduled for March 6, 2007.

Judicial proceedings against IHD members in south-eastern Turkey70

Judicial proceedings against Mr. Anatolia Mihdi Perinçek

In 2006, Mr. Anatolia Mihdi Perinçek, IHD head for the eastern and south-eastern regions, was charged with "propaganda in favour of an illegal organisation", after ensuring, along with several other human rights defenders, the security of a police officer during his release in January 2006, after he was abducted in October 2005 by members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (Kongra-Gel – PKK).

Furthermore, in 2006, Mr. Perinçek was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for "violently resisting law-enforcement officers" (Article 32-1 of Law 2911 relating to meetings and demonstrations), after he protested against the assassination of ten prisoners in the Ulucanlar prison in Akara. Mr. Perinçek appealed this decision. By the end of 2006, the appeal remained pending before the Yargitay Court of Appeal.

Judicial proceedings against Ms. Reyhan Yalcindag71

Following the publication of a press release on March 5, 2005 on an IHD report on human rights violations released in January 2005, Ms. Reyhan Yalcindag, IHD vice-president, was charged with "propaganda in favour of an illegal organisation" by the Office of the Prosecutor in Diyarbakir.

In addition, following the publication of a press release on May 2, 2005, denouncing the ill-treatment inflicted on six children accused of disrespecting the Turkish flag, Ms. Yalcindag was charged with "attempting to influence the course of justice" (Article 288 of the Criminal Code).

The charges remained pending as of the end of 2006.

Harassment of HRFT members72

Acquittal of Messrs. Mustafa Cinkilic and Mehmet Antmen

Mr. Mustafa Cinkilic, a lawyer and a member of the Adana section of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), and Mr. Mehmet Antmen, a doctor working with this section, were under prosecution since 2004 for "concealment of evidence" and "falsification of official documents", following the drafting of a medical report on the health status of Mr. Sükrü Boyav, who had been detained for two years in an E-type prison73 where he was subjected to ill-treatment during his detention. On the basis of this report, Mr. Boyav had lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor's office against the penitentiary administration and the prison guards.

On September 16, 2004, Messrs. Cinkilic and Antmen had been questioned on this report and stated that they were unable to provide the original document. The police had then placed them in detention and requested an arrest warrant on the grounds of "obstructing" the investigation. The Court rejected this request and ordered their release.

The trial started on July 11, 2005 before the Adana Criminal Court no. 11 and a hearing was held on October 4, 2005.

On January 31, 2006, the Court decided to initiate proceedings against the police officers accused of the ill-treatment against Mr. Boyav.

A hearing was held on May 11, 2006. The proceedings remained pending as of the end of 2006.

On November 29, 2006, Mr. Mustafa Cinkilic and Mr. Mehment Antmen were acquitted as it was found that the charges were not properly constituted.

Judicial proceedings against Mr. Alp Ayan and Mrs. Günseli Kaya

On February 13, 2004, Mr. Alp Ayan and Ms. Günseli Kaya, HRFT members, had been sentenced by the Aliaga Criminal Court of First Instance to 18 months in prison for "using violence to resist and oppose law-enforcement officers" (Articles 32-1 and 32-3 of Law 2911 relative to meetings and demonstrations) following their participation in the funeral, on September 30, 1999, of Mr. Nevzat Ciftci, a prisoner killed shortly before a military operation in the Ulucancar prison in Ankara. Sixty-nine people had been arrested and fourteen of them, including Mr. Alp Ayan and Ms. Günseli Kaya, were placed in pre-trial detention for four months.

The charges against them remained pending as of the end of 2006.

Judicial proceedings against Mr. Yavuz Önen

On September 24, 2003, the Prosecutor's office in Izmir petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling of the Izmir Criminal Court of First Instance discharging Mr. Yavuz Önen, HRFT president. He had been sentenced on March 27, 2001 to one month in prison and a fine, a sentence later commuted to a significant fine, for expressing his indignation regarding the proceedings initiated against Ms. Kaya and Mr. Ayan in an article published in the daily Cumhuriyet on January 19, 2000.

The procedure was still pending as of the end of 2006.


[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

67. See Annual Report 2005 and IHD.

68. See Urgent Appeals TUR 001/0406/OBS 045 and 045.1, Conclusions of the Judicial Observation Missions of June 29 and 30, 2006 and July 13, 2006, and Press Release, July 19, 2006.

69. D-type prison, a high-security prison, was built for political prisoners in Diyarbakir in 2003.

70. See Annual Report 2005.

71. Idem.

72. Idem.

73. Prisons built in 2000, where the detainees are placed in solitary confinement.

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