IHF FOCUS: Freedom of expression and Freedom of Expression and the media; freedom of association and the Media peaceful assembly; judicial system, the in- dependence of the judiciary and fair trial; Freedom of Expression torture, ill-treatment and misconduct by law enforcement officials; conditions in There was a general awareness on behalf prisons and detentions facilities; death of the government that legislation and penalty; protection of ethnic minorities; practice both restricted the expression of human rights defenders. opinions or criticism that was seen as of- fending certain state policies. Public de- bate – particularly on issues touching The human rights situation in Turkey saw upon the Kurdish minority, Islam or the se- no major changes in 1999. Freedom of ex- curity forces – was suppressed as “terrorist pression was seriously restricted, and it re- propaganda” or as an attempt to “insult mained dangerous to write on issues such and weaken the state organs” (article 159 as the situation of the Kurdish minority, the of the penal code). Criticism of the gov- armed forces and Islam. Journalists were ernment’s policies on the or other harassed and prosecuted on dubious minorities was not officially acknowl- charges. Freedom of association was limit- edged, and teaching and publishing in the ed, although the spectrum of NGOs and minority languages, or writing on Islam or political parties was diverse. any other religion, was deemed to “incite hatred among people” (article 312 of the There continued to be violations of the penal code), or more directly, to “dissemi- right to a fair trial. The State Security nate separatist propaganda” (article 8 of Courts continued to operate and hand the anti-terror law).1 down heavy sentences for questionable “crimes.” Torture and ill-treatment re- A ruling by the General Penal Board of the mained amongst the most serious human Supreme Court of Appeal in May 1999 in- rights problems. The capture of the Kur- creased the sentences regarding freedom dish Workers’ Party leader, Abdullah of opinion, commuting an accusation of Öcalan, triggered an intense debate on the “disseminating the propaganda of illegal death penalty, which remained in Turkish organizations through the media” into legislation. The government did not take “aiding or abetting terrorist organizations.” any systematic measures to improve the This decision also stipulated that those situation of the Kurds, and continued to journalists and writers tried under article violate the rights of other minorities, in- 7(2) of the anti-terror law could now be cluding the Greeks and the Armenians. tried under article 169 of the penal code, Human rights monitors, as well as lawyers which provided for heavier prison sen- and doctors involved in human rights tences of up to five years. work, continued to be harassed for their legitimate activities. Turkey, a country which recognizes the ju- risdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, lost all 18 cases to which it was a party in 1999, and was fined nearly U.S.$ 3 million. Most of the cases per- tained to free expression crimes that had occurred in the early 1990’s.

1 Human Rights Association (HRA) and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), Briefing on Human Rights in Turkey, OSCE Review Conference Istanbul, November 9, 1999.

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In March, the President of the Constitu- in January, and the pro-Kurdish Özgür tional Court, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, called Bakis was banned in April. Other publica- for the lifting of restrictions on freedom of tions were also banned.5 expression, including language rights – thus stimulating a lively debate on human ■ In June, journalist Nadire Mater’s book – rights and government policies. In Septem- entitled “Mehmet’s Book: Soldiers Who ber, at the official opening of the judicial Have Fought in the Southeast Speak Out” year and in the presence of the president – was banned and confiscated for “insult- and the prime minister, the President of ing and weakening the army.” The book the Appeal Court, Dr. Sami Selcuk, said contained statements by recruited soldiers that the constitution enjoyed “almost zero” on their experiences in fighting in south- legitimacy and should be replaced. He ex- eastern Turkey. In September, the govern- pressed the hope that Turkey would not ment began proceedings against Mater enter the 21st century under a regime that and her publisher. She faces a six-year continued to “crush minds and stifle voic- prison sentence if convicted.6 es”.2 ■ In May, the Istanbul State Security Court Freedom of the Media sentenced Cumhuriyet columnist Oral Calislar to 13 months imprisonment for Domestic and foreign periodicals that pro- disseminating separatist propaganda in a vided a broad spectrum of views and opin- book he wrote that was based on previ- ions, including intense criticism of the ously published interviews with Abdullah government, were widely available. Most Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish Workers’ of the largest TV stations and newspapers Party (PKK) and Kemal Burkay, head of the were monopolized despite legal provi- Socialist Party of Kurdistan.7 He had sions against monopolization.3 planned to appeal the decision, but his sentence was suspended under a new law. According to the Human Rights Founda- tion of Turkey (HRFT), the Turkish media ■ Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan frequently applied self-censorship and it was released from prison in July after hav- was nearly impossible to report on human ing served a four-and-a-half-month sen- rights violations and situations regarding tence for a speech he made in 1997 that the Kurdish issue in an objective and inde- was deemed to have “incited ethnic, pendent manner.4 One important restraint racial, and religious enmity”, based on ar- in that respect was the banning of journal- ticle 312 of the penal code. His sentence, ists from a large number of towns and vil- which was reduced from ten months, in- lages. cluded a lifetime ban from politics.8

■ In the state of emergency region, the The High Board of Radio and Television left-wing newspaper Evrensel was banned (RTÜK), which was created in 1994 to reg-

2 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2000; HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 7 September 1999. 3 HRFT, Human Rights Situation in Turkey: New Trends, 17 February 2000. 4 Ibid. 5 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2000. 6 Ibid., HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 25 June 1999; International Press Institute (IPI), 1999 World Press Freedom Review. 7 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 19 May 1999. 8 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 26 July 1999.

360 Turkey ulate private television and radio frequen- ■ During the November OSCE Review cies, suspended the broadcasting of a Conference in Istanbul, several journalists number of radio stations for periods rang- working at leftist or pro-Kurdish publica- ing from one day to one year, usually be- tions were detained. Some of them were cause they had allegedly violated laws allegedly ill-treated at the hands of po- prohibiting the broadcast of “separatist lice.12 propaganda.” Law on Suspending Sentences ■ The Istanbul radio station FOREKS was banned from broadcasting for 30 days as In September, the government passed leg- of October 30 for having rebroadcast a islation suspending for three years the sen- program of the BBC’s Turkish-language tences of those convicted of freedom of service on Kurdish issues.9 expression crimes in the media – including journalists, writers, and party officials who ■ During its October 6 meeting, the RTÜK published articles. The Islamic Fazilet suspended five television stations and four party challenged the constitutionality of radio stations for a total of 225 days. Dur- the law because it did not apply to those ing an October 13 meeting, four television who had committed similar crimes stations and four radio stations were sus- through speech. For example, lawyer and pended for 311 days.10 human rights activist Esber Yagmurdereli remained in prison because his 1998 con- Journalists, including those from main- viction was based on a speech he gave at stream and Western media, were periodi- a 1991 HRA meeting13. Hasan Celal cally harassed and subjected to police Güzel, head of the small Rebirth Party abuse while covering stories, particularly (YDP) and a former Education Minister, in the Southeast. began serving a one-year sentence for a speech he gave in 1997. Moreover, ■ On February 23, two journalists from charges were only dropped if the journal- Diyarbakir; cameraman Ibrahim Atesoglu ists or writers agreed not to commit the from the private TV channel NTV; and re- same crime again within a three-year peri- porter Adnan Simsek from the Ihlas (IHA) od. This decision amounted to compulso- press agency were severely beaten by ry self-censorship. In addition, the law did eight police officers on their way to the not provide for acquittals, i.e. the writers scene of confrontations between striking had no opportunity to clear their names or shopkeepers and law enforcement officers. to fight bans imposed on their written They were violently hit with rifles. The po- work.14 lice then ran over Atesoglu, who had been lying on the ground. He suffered serious The law led to the release of over 25 per- head injuries, and his colleague needed sons, and the suspension of hundreds of stitches.11 trials.

9 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 1 November 1999; International Press Institute (IPI), 1999 World Press Freedom Review. 10 International Press Institute (IPI), 1999 World Press Freedom Review. 11 Ibid. 12 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 11 November 1999. 13 See also IHF Annual Report 1999. 14 Human Rights Watch, op.cit.

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■ Author Ismail Besikci, imprisoned since over 3 years to protest the disappearances 1993, was released in September under of their relatives, ceased their gatherings in the law suspending the sentences of jour- March in the face of ongoing police ha- nalists. His 79-year sentence on over 50 rassment, abuse and detention of the charges was based on articles he wrote on groups’ members. They announced their Kurdish issues. He faced at least another decision after attending the “Forest of the 50 similar charges, some of which may be Disappeared” on 20 March.18 subject to suspension.15 Judicial System and Freedom of Association and Independence of the Judiciary Peaceful Assembly16 Violations of the right to a fair trial re- NGOs and political parties were active mained a serious problem in Turkey. The and diverse in Turkey. However, freedom State Security Courts (SSCs), dealing with of association was strictly limited. A large cases of “security offenses against the indi- number of NGOs were dissolved for polit- visible integrity of the State with its territo- ical activities or for speeches given at their ry and nation, the free democratic order, public meetings. NGO executives have or the Republic (whose characteristics are often been prosecuted for inviting foreign defined in the Constitution), and offenses guests to their activities, issuing public directly involving the internal and external statements, or organizing activities outside security of the State” continued to exist. their premises without obtaining prior per- The SSCs were created under the military mission from the administrative authori- regime in 1982 and were heirs of the infa- ties. An NGO could only be affiliated to an mous martial law courts.19 They were international NGO with the permission of heavily criticized in 1998 by the European the Council of Ministers, and external Court of Human Rights, which ruled that grants for NGOs were subject to permis- the inclusion of military judges in the SSCs sion from the Ministry of Interior. More- constituted a violation of the right to a fair over, legal norms were generally applied trial. As a result, on 18 June 1999, after the by the police and political authorities in an trial against PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan arbitrary fashion – favoring certain organi- had begun, the law was amended in order zations while oppressing others.17 to exclude military judges from the bench. But the problematic institution, SSC, con- The police and Jandarma also continued tinued to exist. Defendants and their to limit freedom of assembly. The police lawyers were only informed of the charges harassed, beat, abused, and detained a and the evidence in the first session of the large number of demonstrators. trial, and lawyers were subjected to strict rules of conduct during the trial; for exam- ■ The Saturday Mothers, who had held ple, it was disrespectful towards judges to weekly sit-in vigils in front of the drink water during the trial. Thousands of Galatasaray High School in Istanbul for children have also been put on trial, re-

15 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 13 and 16 September 1999. 16 For pro-Kurdish parties and associations, see Protection of Ethnic Minorities. 17 Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, “Freedom of Association & The Right to Peaceful Assembly”; HRFT, Human Rights Situation in Turkey: New Trends, 17 February 2000. 18 HRFT, Human Rights Situation in Turkey: New Trends, 22 March 2000 19 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense – Background Information on Turkey’s State Security Courts”, 28 May 1999.

362 Turkey manded and convicted by the SSCs de- Abdullah Öcalan23 spite the existence of special courts for children.20 On 29 June, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was sentenced to death. He was tried A persistent problem in court proceedings under article 125 of the penal code for a in general was the fact that the prosecution “crime against the state” in a trial that vio- was deemed to be part of the judiciary, lated several due process standards. while lawyers were identified with the de- fense. Also, indictments were based mere- When Öcalan was brought to Turkey after ly on police accusations and the “confes- his abduction from Kenya in February, he sions” of the defendants, even when ex- was held in incommunicado police deten- tracted under torture.21 tion for nine days – far in excess of inter- national standards, and even of the limits The constitution provided for an indepen- imposed by Turkish domestic law. Later, dent judiciary and, in practice, the general Öcalan was permitted only limited access law courts acted independently of the ex- to legal counsel and only in the presence ecutive and legislative branches. Howev- of at least one security force member. Dur- er, even state officials stated that the inde- ing the initial stage of the investigation, pendence of the judiciary had to be lawyers were not permitted to bring notes strengthened. The HRFT criticized the to interviews with their client. The SSC High Council of Judges and Prosecutors dealing with the case refused to hear any for endangering the independence of the of the witnesses proposed by the defense, judiciary.22 The President appointed the and barred at least one piece of evidence High Council, which has the Minister of from being read to the court on the Justice as one of its members. The High grounds that it constituted “propaganda.” Council selected the judges and prosecu- tors for the higher courts and was respon- Human Rights Watch noted that Öcalan sible for the oversight of those in the lower was not directly charged with any of the courts. It effectively controlled the career hundreds of PKK killings of unarmed Kur- paths of judges through appointments, dish villagers, teachers or prisoners, but transfers, and promotions. According to rather with a “crime against the state.” the U.S. State Department, the composi- While devoting a lot of time to presenting tion of the High Council undermined the the PKK as an example of Turkey's foreign independence of the judiciary, and its de- enemies, the court neglected to uncover cisions were not subject to review. Fur- the chain of command, which linked ther, the government and the National Se- Öcalan to those members of the PKK who curity Council periodically issued an- had committed the crimes. nouncements or directives regarding threats to the state, which could be inter- The IHF denounced the death sentence preted as instructions to the judiciary. and recommended that the Turkish gov- ernment abolish the death penalty regard- less of the nature of the crimes involved.24

20 HRFT, Human Rights Situation in Turkey: New Trends, 17 February 2000 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid. 23 Based on Human Rights Watch/Europe and Central Asia Division, “Grave Shortcomings in Öcalan Trial,” 29 June 1999. 24 IHF, “Helsinki Federation Denounces Turkish Court’s Death Penalty Decision ,” 25 November 1999.

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Rule of Law25 mass murders committed prior to 1980 (i.e. the military coup). The MHP youth or- According to the HRFT, a widely ignored ganization, known as the Grey Wolves, issue regarding human rights abuses in was accused of involvement in Mafia and Turkey has been the involvement of high paramilitary activities, violence against state officials in the operation of criminal left-wing and Kurdish students and organi- gangs active in organized crime, abduc- zations, and non-Muslim communities – tions and extrajudicial killings. Many of all allegedly committed under police pro- the victims were left-wing students and in- tection. Its active members were regularly tellectuals. The members of such gangs in- recruited by the police force, particularly cluded gendarmes and police special as gendarmes, prison officials, and mem- teams officers, state officials, village bers of special police teams. guards, and former PKK repentants,26 all of whom appeared to have enjoyed wide im- One of the most prominent victims was punity from prosecution. Even when judi- Musa Anter, a Kurdish intellectual, writer, cial proceedings were initiated against and founder of HEP, who was killed by members of such gangs, the proceedings “unidentified perpetrators” in Diyarbakir dragged out and mainly involved low- on 20 September 1992. Another victim ranking persons. was the DEP deputy Mehmet Sincar. Cem Ersever, a former head of the Intelligence One such gang was the so-called Yuk- and Anti-Terror Unit (JITEM) of the gen- sekova gang, headed by a gendarme darme – who was accused of being a key colonel and the chief of a local village figure in organizing such gangs – revealed guard27 with political connections. The that Sincar had been killed by a counter- gang’s activities allegedly included drug guerilla gang led by a PKK repentant. trafficking, abductions, “disappearances,” Ersever himself was killed by “unidenti- and extrajudicial killings. The illegal activ- fied perpetrators” in Ankara in October ities in the Yuksekova region were report- 1993. edly led by Mustafa Zeydan (MP) and Tahir Adiyaman (who had been accused It appeared that Turkish authorities had no of killing gendarmes in the past, but was genuine interest in making any sincere at- never arrested). Only some lower officers tempts to resolve the 30-year problem of involved in the activities of the Yuksekova such activities, which have resulted in the gang have been arrested and charged. killings of 1,500 Kurdish nationalists, journalists, politicians and others, or to It was revealed that some members of the punish the perpetrators. Rather, they de- gang belonged to the National Action cided to cover up the incidents. All such Party (MHP); the second largest party in cases were officially committed by “un- parliament in 1999. Some of their deputies known assailants”, and remained “un- were indicted for political killings and solved.”

25 Based on information from the HRFT to the IHF, May and August 1999. For details, see the IHF Report to the OSCE Review Conference on Human Dimension Issues, Vienna-Istanbul, 1999. 26 Former PKK militias who, after giving confessions under the law of repentance, enjoyed some privileges under the law, and participate in armed security operations. There was no control mechanism to monitor their activities. 27 See the Kurds.

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Torture, Ill-Treatment and Further reasons for the ineffectiveness of Misconduct by Law Enforcement initiatives taken by state authorities were Officials28 the continuing reports of the use of torture.

Police Misconduct ■ In March and April 1998, the Parlia- mentary Inquiry Commission on Human ■ Three persons died in a house raid in Rights inspected detention places in east- Canli village, Bayindir, Izmir, on 23 Au- ern and southeastern Turkey. The commis- gust. The police claimed that the persons sion observed that torture was almost the in question were “PKK militants” and that rule in detention in the state of emergency they had opened fire after the “call for sur- region; but torture equipment was also render.”29 found in detention centers in other re- gions. The report of the commission was ■ On 5 October, the police in Adana en- not published. One member of the com- tered the wrong apartment during a raid mission stated publicly that the report had and killed Murat Bektas in front of his wife not been published because the govern- and son. The police were unable to sub- ment considered the report to be “harmful stantiate their first charge that the man had to the state’s prestige.”32 been armed. They also shot Erdinc Aslan, whom they had been looking for. A trial In 1999, the HRFT received about 700 was launched against six police officers.30 credible applications for torture rehabilita- tion treatment, compared with 706 in Torture and Ill-Treatment 1998. However, it believed that the real number of torture cases was much higher. Torture and ill-treatment remained system- The problem was particularly serious in atic in Turkey in 1999 despite a prohibi- southeastern Turkey where thousands of tion in the constitution. The successive detainees were tortured during the year. governments have officially denounced Human rights activists believed that only the use of torture and cooperated with for- 5–20 percent of the victims reported torture eign inspection teams. The new govern- because they feared retaliation or believed ment of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit is- that their complaints would be futile. The sued a circular on “Respect for Human activists also reported that the number of Rights” on 25 June, announcing that secu- torture victims in the southeast decreased rity officers who committed torture would during the year, explaining this by a de- be punished. crease in detentions; reduced PKK vio- lence, which eased the conduct of security According to the Human Rights Associa- officials; better training of security officers; tion of Turkey (HRA) and the HRFT, deaths and increased concern about the problem. in custody suddenly increased after the re- Nevertheless, the improvements were not lease of the circular, apparently as an un- uniform throughout the region, and torture intended side effect.31 remained widespread in the Southeast.33

28 See also Human Rights Defenders. 29 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 24–25. August 1999. 30 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 12, 13 and 15 October 1999, 6 January 2000, and 2 March 2000. 31 HRA and HRFT, Briefing on Human Rights in Turkey, OSCE Review Conference, Istanbul, 9 November 1999. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.

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According to the HRFT, at least 18 persons police officers at Istanbul Heavy Penal were killed in detention centers in 1999.34 Court No. 6 on 29 November 1999.36 Most persons detained for, or suspected of, political crimes suffered torture or ill-treat- ■ On 20 January 2000, the Supreme Court ment at the hands of police or gen- Penal Board No. 1 upheld the original ver- darmerie during their incommunicado de- dict handed down to ten policemen in the tention before being brought before a case of journalist Metin Goktepe, who was court, illustrating that the removal of the killed in 1996,37 but overturned the verdict practice of incommunicado detention was of Security Chief Seydi Battal Köse. Thus, crucial to combating torture.35 only five of those initially convicted were sentenced to seven and a half years impris- Methods of torture reported by the HRFT onment for “unintentional murder/mans- included systematic beatings; stripping laughter.” Goktepe, a correspondent for the and blindfolding; exposure to extreme left-wing newspaper Evrensel, died from cold or high-pressure cold water hoses; wounds inflicted whilst in detention in Is- electric shocks; beatings on the soles of tanbul in 1996. Initially, his detention was the feet and genitalia; hanging by the completely denied. It was later said that he arms; food and sleep deprivation; heavy had died from a fall, and, only after large weights hung on the body; water dripped public demonstrations and parliamentary onto the head; burns; hanging sandbags criticism, an investigation led to the arrest of on the neck; near-suffocation by placing 48 officers. In 1997, the courts decided to bags over the head; vaginal and anal rape separately try 11 of the police officers for with truncheons and, in some instances, premeditated murder; five were convicted gun barrels; squeezing and twisting of tes- of manslaughter in 1998, and the remaining ticles; and other forms of sexual abuse. six were acquitted. However, the Court of Appeal subsequently overturned both the The major obstacle in fighting torture was convictions and the acquittals and sent the the prevailing impunity enjoyed by officers case back to the Afyon court. The other 37 accused of torture and ill-treatment. officers, who were charged with excessive use of force in controlling the demonstra- Impunity tion, were acquitted due to a lack of evi- dence, as the court could not determine ■ Süleyman Yeter, a trade union educa- which police officers might have beaten de- tion specialist detained during the raid of a tainees and which might not have. The de- journal’s office on 5 March, died in police tainees asked for leave of appeal, but no custody in Istanbul on 7 March 1999. The court date had been set as of this writing.38 autopsy report by the Forensic Medical In- stitute stated that he had “died as a result A further obstacle was the fact that the ar- of pressure on his neck.” Yeter’s lawyers resting officer was also responsible for in- revealed that he had been detained by the terrogating the suspect, explaining why same police team that had been on trial for some officers resorted to torture in order to torturing Yeter and 15 other persons in obtain a confession that would justify the 1997. A trial was launched against three arrest.

34 Ibid. 35 HRFT, Statement on Human Rights, OSCE Review Conference, Vienna 1999. 36 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 8 March 1999, 17 March 1999, 18 June 1999, 24 November 1999, and 23 February 2000. 37 See also IHF Annual Report 1997. 38 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 7 May 1999 and 24 January 2000.

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The IHF recommended the rapid establish- For people being held in special type pris- ment of an independent National Commit- ons for political prisoners, only the Min- tee for the Prevention of Torture.39 istry of Justice could authorize the release of seriously ill prisoners, or transfer them Conditions in Prisons and to hospitals.44 Detention Facilities A large number of remand prisoners ac- The conditions in prisons, whether for po- cused of offences that fell under the litical or ordinary prisoners, did not meet purview of the SSCs often awaited judg- the minimum standards established by the ment for years. Many of these prisoners Council of Europe or by the UN.40 Ac- had health problems resulting from torture cording to the Turkish Justice Minister, or ill-treatment in detention, and required Hikmet Sami Turk, there were almost medical or psychological help. The pre- 70,000 prisoners in Turkish jails, ten thou- vention of transfers to hospitals, and even sand of whom were convicted of terror- to courts, and the ill-treatment of prisoners ism.41 by gendarmes during transfers were com- monplace.45 Major problems in prisons included the lack of medical care, and widespread dis- Following a declaration by the Ministry of eases and illnesses. Only 288 of the Justice, political prisoners were increasing- 24,000 prison personnel in Turkey were ly confined in new (F-type) prisons, in an health professionals. The prisons in 17 apparent attempt to enact the provisions of provinces in Turkey had no health person- article 16 of the Anti-Terror-Law – which nel whatsoever. A significant number of stated that the “sentences of those convict- deaths in prisons reportedly resulted from ed under the provisions of this law will be the lack of medical intervention or treat- served in special penal institutions built on ment.42 a system of cells constructed for one or three people … Convicted prisoners will ■ In 1999, at least four inmates suffering not be permitted contact or communica- from progressive brain disease due to long tion with other convicted prisoners.” The hunger strikes in 1996 were released declaration also stated that remand prison- under article 399 of the criminal proce- ers should be subjected to small-group iso- dure code (CMUK). However, there were lation.46 still approximately 30 prisoners suffering from the same problem.43 The mission of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture

39 IHF, The Application of Human Rights Standards Adopted by Turkey as a Member State of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Draft Conference Report, OSCE Review Conference, 10-11 December 1999, Istanbul, prepared in cooperation with Helsinki Citizens Assembly Turkey and the Council of Europe. 40 HRFT, Statement on Human Rights, OSCE Review Conference, 1999, Vienna. 41 BBC News, June 13, 1999, http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/ji/en…europe/newsid%5F368000/368204.stm 42 HRFT, Statement on Human Rights, OSCE Review Conference, 1999, Vienna. 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 45 Ibid. 46 Human Rights Watch, Memorandum to the Turkish Government on Small Group Isolation and Kartal Soganlik F-type Prison, 29 July 1999

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(CPT) found that very small isolation units guards, but the prisoners’ relatives be- existed in some new constructions, and lieved that their protests at overcrowding recommended their closure. A manual for had sparked the intervention.50 According prison officers promoted the isolation of to the People’s Law Bureau in Istanbul, the political prisoners as a central policy.47 tension stemmed from the Justice Min- istry’s refusal to recognize the prisoners’ The above-mentioned measures towards representatives as negotiation partners, the increased isolation of prisoners are the and its insistence on introducing the cell latest measures in a move away from model in the prisons to replace the big Turkey’s traditional system of holding pris- dormitories, which the prisoners were ac- oners in very large wards with up to 100 customed to.51 One hundred protesters prisoners, where prison staff only super- were detained on 28 September and sev- vised the corridors and perimeters of the eral protestors were beaten by the police. prisons, but were not normally present in Thirty members of the Istanbul branch of the wards. This practice provided an envi- the HRA were beaten by the police on 29 ronment in which gang-like structures, September when they tried to send protest whether criminal or political, could devel- telegrams from the Sirkeci post office to op.48 the President, Prime Minister and Justice Minister. The police then raided the Istan- ■ On 26 September, the gendarmerie at bul branch of the HRA on orders from the the Ankara Closed Prison – responsible for Istanbul Governorate, and remained there guarding the external perimeters of the for two hours.52 prisons – used excessive force in calming unrest that had broken out in the prison. Death Penalty They used firearms and beat prisoners with heavy truncheons to force their way into The death penalty remained a delicate wings of the prison. Eleven prisoners died issue in Turkey in 1999 as the possible ex- as a result and many others were seriously ecution of the issued death penalties was injured. The authorities did not allow the put on the agenda with the conviction of victims’ lawyers to be present during the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. autopsies. According to the official autop- sy report, seven of the victims had bullet There have been no executions in Turkey wounds, three of them apparently from since 1984. The first steps to fully abolish shotguns. According to one interpretation the death sentence were taken in the bill of the autopsy findings, some of the bullets for a new penal code, prepared by a par- could have been fired at close range.49 Of- liamentary commission in 1996–97. In ficial statements attributed the disturbance early 1999, the then Turkish government to the discovery of an escape tunnel by the informed the Council of Europe that “this

47 HRFT, Statement on Human Rights, OSCE Review Conference, 1999, Vienna.9 48 Human Rights Watch, Memorandum to the Turkish Government on Small Group Isolation and Kartal Soganlik F-type Prison, 29 July 1999. 49 International Association for Human Rights of the Kurds, IMK Weekly Information Service, No. 37, 7 October 1999. 50 Human Rights Watch, Rights Group Condemns Deaths in Turkish Prison, 27 September 1999. 51 International Association for Human Rights of the Kurds, IMK Weekly Information Service, No. 36, 30 September 1999. 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid.

368 Turkey bill is one of the priority items on the Par- vember 1999 in five provinces – Di- liament’s order of business.”53 However, yarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak, Tunceli and no steps had been taken to that end by the Van. The Kurds had not been targeted by end of 1999.54 the security forces because of their ethnic- ity per se, but rather because of their at- A State Security Court sentenced Öcalan tempts to assert political or cultural rights to death on 29 June 1999, and on 25 No- based on Kurdish identity. Turkish author- vember the Appeal Court ratified the sen- ities continued to deem such activities tence, by which time at least 47 death sen- treasonous and a threat to the very foun- tences had been ratified by the Appeal dations of the Turkish state.58 Court and could be carried out as soon as they were confirmed by the Turkish parlia- The denial of cultural and political rights ment.55 has provided a fertile basis for the estab- lishment of illegal radical armed organi- The IHF issued a press release denouncing zations – in particular the PKK, which the death penalty handed down to Abdul- began its militant activities against state lah Öcalan and recommended that the institutions in 1984. In turn, those attacks Turkish government abolish the death have provoked the fierce repression of penalty regardless of the nature of the Kurds with mass arrests and interrogation crimes involved.56 under conditions of torture, whether they were PKK activists or not. This situation Protection of Ethnic Minorities has led to two decades of hardship, insta- bility, and fear among the Kurdish popu- Kurds lation, particularly in villages in south- eastern Turkey, which have been subject- The Turkish government made no system- ed to frequent security raids, abuse, tor- atic efforts in 1999 to resolve the “Kurdish ture, “disappearances” and extrajudicial question.”57 The government failed to take executions. In the mid-1980s, the Turkish the opportunities offered by the capture of government started arming Kurdish vil- PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and the pub- lagers as “provisional village guards”: lic announcement of the PKK to end its they were officially hired to defend vil- armed activities, to adequately address the lages against PKK attacks, but were in fact question. Free and public debates on the used by the security forces as auxiliaries issue were not even possible given for raids in neighboring villages. The vil- Turkey’s political climate. lage guard system was voluntary in theo- ry, but any village that refused to join the In southeastern Turkey, the traditional paramilitary system was suspected of homeland of the Kurds, the state of emer- being sympathetic to the PKK and there- gency was renewed for four months in No- fore subjected to frequent security raids,

54 HRA and HRFT, Briefing on Human Rights in Turkey, OSCE Review Conference Istanbul, November 9, 1999. See also the Rule of Law. 55 Amnesty International, Turkey: Death After Unfair Trial – the Case of Abdullah Ocalan, AI – Summary of Report – EUR 44/40/99, August 1999, http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aipub/1999/SUM/44404099.htm 56 IHF, “Helsinki Federation Denounces Turkish Court’s Death Penalty Decision,” 25 November 1999. 57 HRA, Briefing on Human Rights in Turkey, Istanbul, November 9, 1999. 58 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense - Background Information on Turkey’s State Security Courts,” 28 May 1999.

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or forcibly evacuated and burned to the double the sentences of those convicted ground.59 for “cooperation with terrorists”. Only lim- ited judicial review of the state of emer- According to a 1999 announcement by gency governor’s administrative decisions the Turkish government, 362,915 people is permitted.61 were evacuated from 3,236 villages and hamlets throughout 1999. Over 26,000 Since 1971, every party that has explicitly persons were reportedly resettled with voiced the need to tackle the problems of government assistance, and a further 61, the Kurdish minority has been closed down 987 applied to return. The exact number as “separatist” under article 81 of the law of people who were displaced, not in an on political parties. In the 1990’s alone, orderly evacuation procedure but as a eight parties were closed down,62 although punitive measure, remains unknown be- none of them ever promoted any territorial cause no independent group has been separation for Turkey’s Kurds – but rather freely able to conduct research in the re- focused on their cultural rights. The Peo- gion: the estimated figures range between ple’s Labor Party (HEP) and its successor 560,000 and 800,000. A parliamentary parties (DEP, HADEP) have been subjected committee that investigated the situation to relentless persecution by the state and its in the Southeast in 1998 noted that the security forces for over a decade.63 For ex- state had failed to adequately compensate ample, the prominent DEP party leaders the villagers who had lost their homes and , Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and lands in the region. The European Court of Selim Sadak (among others) continued to Human Rights often ruled in favor of vil- serve their 15-year prison sentences for al- lagers who had been forcibly evacuated, legedly supporting the PKK. and the government continued to pay as- sessed damages in those cases. However, ■ Fifty-seven members and officials of HEP generally, it did not give damages to evac- and its successors (DEP, HADEP) have been uated villagers and did little to help those killed since 1991 by “unknown perpetra- who had resettled in urban areas.60 tor” and HADEP remained a frequent target of harassment.64 The party has been widely The regional governor of the emergency perceived as sympathetic to the PKK in spite state areas had the right to censor news, of its repeated calls for peace and its public ban strikes, impose internal exile, and rejection of political violence.65

59 Ibid. 60 U.S. Department of State, op.cit.; Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense - Background Information on Turkey’s State Security Courts,” 28 May 1999. 61 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense – Background Information on Repression of the Kurds in Turkey,” 28 May 1999. 62 The Socialist Party IP was closed in 1992; People’s Labor Party HEP in 1993; Freedom and OZDEP in 1993, Turkish United Communist Party TBKP in 1993; Democracy Party DEP in 1994; Socialist Union Party SBP in 1995; Democracy and Achange Party DDP in 1996; Democratic Mass Party DKP in 1999. 63 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense – Background Information on Repression of the Kurds in Turkey,” 28 May 1999. 64 However, amendments passed by parliament in August made it more difficult to prove allegations of anti-constitutional activities and close political parties. 65 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense – Background Information on Turkey´s State Security Courts,” 28 May 1999.

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■ More than 3,350 people, many of them The Kurds’ cultural rights were seriously HADEP supporters, were arrested within repressed, with the Kurdish language re- one week in February 1999. Following the maining a key issue. The 1983 Law 2932, arrest of Abdullah Öcalan, HADEP build- which outlawed all communication in ings were attacked by mobs. Two HADEP Kurdish without referring to the language members were beaten to death in police explicitly, was repealed in 1991, allowing custody.66 Kurds to speak their language in public places more or less freely. However, it was ■ HADEP politicians asserted that, espe- forbidden to use the language in election cially prior to the April elections, they had campaigns, education, politics, broadcast- been subjected to arbitrary arrests and ha- ing, and in some cultural activities, such as rassment aimed at weakening their weddings. Music in the Kurdish language chances in the elections. They claimed appeared to be tolerated, although author- that they were hindered from carrying out ities imposed restrictions on certain songs. rallies and other activities, and from reach- Further, the army’s southeastern radio sta- ing their constituents. Allegedly, the state tion, “Voice of Tigris”, tried to gain sup- of emergency governor withdrew permis- port from the Kurdish population by sion for a large rally in Diyarbakir only 20 broadcasting in the two main Kurdish di- minutes before the rally was due to begin, alects. However, all attempts to establish a leading to mass confusion and the deten- radio or television station that operated tion of hundreds of HADEP supporters. legally, and which had an explicitly Kur- The party’s national chair was prevented dish character, have been blocked. from entering the state of emergency re- gion during the election period, and some It was legal to publish Kurdish-language HADEP officials were barred from entering printed materials, but the governor of the certain villages during that period.67 emergency region banned certain Kurdish- language newspapers and had the right to ■ In December, police raided HADEP censor the news. Only a handful of small party offices in seven provinces. Some weekly newspapers or journals were pub- HADEP officials have been barred from in- lished entirely or partly in Kurdish. As Kur- ternational travel for years.68 dish-language magazines inevitably tend- ed to analyze the broader issues surround- ■ The Constitutional Court closed down ing the Kurdish minority, they soon be- the Democratic Mass Party (DKP) in Feb- came targets of the press prosecutor and ruary, citing “separatism”, because its pro- the police Anti-Terror Branch.70 In fact, it gram defended Kurdish rights. The DKP was dangerous to write about Kurdish pol- emphasized a peaceful and democratic so- itics in any language. lution to the Kurdish question and publicly criticized the PKK for its violent methods. ■ The activities of organizations such as As the decision had not been published of- the Mesopotamian Cultural Center (MKM), ficially by the year’s end, party members a corporation with branches in several were in legal limbo and could not form or cities that was established to promote Kur- join another party.69 dish language and culture, faced police

66 Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Press Release, 3 March 1999. 67 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 14 April 1999. 68 HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 5 January 2000, 10 January 2000. 69 Human Rights Watch, “Turkey Must Uphold Öcalan’s Right to Defense – Background Information on Turkey’s State Security Courts,” 28 May 1999. 70 See also Freedom of Expression.

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pressure, particularly in the Southeast: po- ■ A pipe bomb exploded in October, lice often monitored or interrupted their causing damage to the Greek Minority cultural events and MKM was not allowed High School Zographeion Lyceum in Is- to sell Kurdish-language music cassettes.71 tanbul. An extremist right-wing organiza- tion claimed responsibility for the inci- ■ A group of Turkish and Kurdish acade- dent. The organization had already mics, politicians, and intellectuals claimed responsibility for planting explo- (TOSAV), held discussions on the situation sive devices at the Eastern Orthodox Ecu- of the Kurds, and explicitly explored non- menical Patriarchate and other Greek violent solutions within a democratic con- community churches.76 text. The authorities completed an incon- clusive investigation of TOSAV, citing po- According to the Armenian Patriarch Mes- tential “separatist” connections, and con- rob II, Armenian citizens belonging to reli- fiscated its publication entitled “Docu- gious minorities enjoyed equality under ment of Mutual Understanding” in the law, with other Turkish citizens, in March.72 terms of economic, social and religious freedoms. However, the same freedoms Greeks, Armenians73 and Jews did not always extend to the institutional basis of their minority communities. The Turkish authorities considered the Greek minority to be “Rum”, i.e. Greek The government frequently confiscated Orthodox: they could not simply call property belonging to the Armenian com- themselves Greeks and claim they were an munities’ trusts, citing a 1974 Supreme ethno-national, rather than a religious, mi- Court of Appeal ruling that defined such nority. The Turkish authorities also inter- foundations as “non-Turkish,” and there- fered in the internal religious affairs of the fore forbid the buying or selling of real es- Orthodox Churches by attempting to limit tate acquired since 1936. In that year, the the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate foundations had to submit to the govern- to the Greek Orthodox community in ment a list of their property and unmov- Turkey. The Patriarchate still lacked a able assets. Any land, building or real es- legal personality.74 tate donated to or purchased by Armenian religious trusts since that time have been There was a prevalent feeling of insecuri- legally reverted to the state, without any ty among the few Greeks still domiciled in renumeration – albeit following lengthy Istanbul. Recent hostile actions also in- judicial proceedings lasting up to 10 or cluded the desecration of graves in Christ- more years. The same applied to the Greek ian cemeteries.75 and Jewish minorities.

71 U.S. Department of State, op.cit. 72 U.S. Department of State, op.cit. 73 Barbara G. Baker, “Turkey’s Armenian Community Reiterates ‘Institutional’ Dilemmas”, Compass Direct, 20 August 1999; Human Rights Without Frontiers, 24 September 1999, http://www.hrwf.net 74 Panayote Elias Dimitras, “Dwindling, Elderly and Frightened?, the Greek Minority in Turkey Revisited,” AIM Athens, 31 January 2000, http://www.aimpress.org/dyn/trae/...ata/200002/00201-001-trae-ath.htm 75 The Constantinopolitan Society, “Explosive Device Against Greek Minority High School in Istanbul”, October 1999) / Human Rights Without Frontiers, 3.11.1999, http://www.hrwf.net 76 Ibid.

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The Turkish legal restrictions constituted ■ Dr. Zeki Uzun, a volunteer gynecologist further problems, making those who for the Izmir branch of the HRFT, was ar- moved away from their original neighbor- rested in his office on 19 October. He was hoods no longer eligible to vote for, or tortured for three days and nights; threat- serve on, the administrative boards of the ened with death if he refused to sign a respective trusts. This jeopardized the ex- paper; and was prevented from sleeping. A istence of the foundations: elections were medical report by the Forensic Medical In- barred and transactions were blocked. The stitute stated that he had not been tortured, same applied to the Greek and Jewish mi- although he had not been examined by, or norities. even spoken to, a medical doctor. On 28 October, three days after his release, he Armenian religious trusts also had to pay was examined by specialists from the five-percent tax for government inspec- Izmir Medical Chamber. They issued an- tions and audits – from which Greek, other report documenting both psycholog- Christian, Jewish and all Muslim founda- ical and physical signs of torture, which tions were exempt. They also had to pay were consistent with Uzun’s reports, in- corporate income taxes, although all these cluding beatings to the head and breast, trusts were debit organizations subsidized kicking, squeezing of the testicles, and the from within the community. placing of a plastic bag over his head.78 He was later accused of “helping members The government also refused to approve of an illegal organization” because he pro- elections for the school board of the Holy vided medical treatment to two patients Cross High School, which was originally who were alleged members of an illegal opened to train the Armenian clergy. In organization. In the third hearing of his 1999, only a few school board members trial on 11 April 2000, the prosecutor were still alive, and it did not seem likely asked for Dr. Uzun’s acquittal on the that the government would give permis- grounds of insufficient evidence.79 sion to elect new administrators and thus keep it in operation. ■ The Diyarbakir branch of the HRA re- mained closed in 1999 for the third year Human Rights Defenders running since its closure in May 1997. The Mardin and Gaziantep branches were or- Human rights monitors, as well as lawyers dered to be closed down for three months. and doctors involved in documenting human rights violations and treating their ■ Former Chairman of the HRA, Akin victims, continued to be harassed for their Birdal, was imprisoned in June 1999 as a legitimate activities, particularly by securi- result of a conviction dating back to 1998 ty officials. Such harassment occurred de- for a speech he made at the Meeting for spite the statement of the State Minister for Peace on 1 September 1996. The accusa- Human Rights, Ali Irtemcelik, that he tion had been based on article 312.2 of the wanted to “strike a sound and honest penal code (“explicitly inciting people to communication” with NGOs, and with the hostility by recognizing differences based HRA in particular.77 on class, race and religion”). He had said

77 Human Rights Watch, “Abuse Continues as Turkish Premier Visits U.S.,” 1 October 1999. 78 International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organizations, “Report of the Visit to Turkey as an Observer of the Trials of Dr. Alp Ayan in Aliaga (17 February) and Dr. Zeki Uzun in Izmir (24 February), by Prof. Dr. Evert J. Dorhout Mees”, March 2000. 79 HRFT, Information Note, 12 April 2000.

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that the consequences of the failure to re- prison on 26 September 1999. Allegedly, solve the Kurdish question were reflected they had violated the law on meetings and in every aspect of life in Turkey.80 In Sep- demonstrations. They were held in deten- tember, the government commuted his tion for three months and 21 days, under sentence to a six-month suspended sen- poor conditions, and released after the first tence because he still suffered from in- hearing on 20 January 2000 because the juries stemming from the May 1998 at- courts dealing with their cases either did tempt on his life. On 28 March 2000, he not authorize the case or withdrew it. was imprisoned again for the rest of the However, both cases were still pending in term, i.e. ten months. In April, the Court of March 2000.82 Appeal upheld another prison sentence against Birdal on similar accusations; thus ■ Prof. Veli Lök, representative of the Birdal is still required to serve 10 months HRFT Izmir treatment and rehabilitation for confirmed convictions. center, gave several press statements to convey his opinions about the ill-treat- ■ In January 2000, Ankara State Security ment, detention and subsequent remand of Court No. 1 began judicial proceedings human rights defenders, including his col- against Nazmi Gür, Secretary General of leagues Günseli Kaya and Dr. Alp Ayan. the HRA, for his article in a special bulletin After one of his statements was published published by the HRA on the World Peace in an article entitled “They are Made to Pay Day, on 1 September 1999. He was for Their Fight Against Torture,” judicial charged with “helping an armed organiza- proceedings were initiated against him and tion” (article 169 of the penal code and ar- the Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief in Izmir ticle 5 of the anti-terror law No. 3713, Penal Court No. 2. Prof. Lök faced a prison which foresee prison terms of 3–7,5 years). term of one- six months, and a fine.83 The indictment was based mainly on ex- pressions such as “the peoples of this ■ The branches of Sanliurfa and Malatya country” and “a dirty war waged for the of Mazlum Der – the Organization of last 15 years,” referring to the fact that Human Rights and Solidarity for Op- there were nationalities (including the pressed Peoples – which monitored Islam- Kurds) other than Turks in Turkey.81 ic issues in particular, were indefinitely closed in January and May respectively. In ■ Günseli Kaya and Dr. Alp Ayan, a sec- June, police raided the headquarters, retary and psychiatrist respectively work- branch offices and homes of its members, ing for the HRFT in its Izmir treatment and allegedly under a search warrant by the In- rehabilitation center were detained on 30 terior Ministry, stating that Mazlum-Der September together with 66 other persons. “works against the republican regime.”84 They were all beaten by the gendarmerie In August, the headquarters were searched for wanting to attend the funeral proces- again and the bank accounts were frozen sion of convicted PKK member Nevzat on the grounds that it had illegally been Ciftci, one of the prisoners killed in the collecting aid allocated to earthquake vic- prison massacre at Ankara Ulucanlar tims. ■■■

80 HRA, press release, 28 July 1998; HRFT, 29 July 1998. 81 HRA, “A Court Action Was Launched Against the Secretary General of the Human Rights Association,” 20 January 2000. 82 HRFT, Information Note: Human Rights Defenders on Trial, 27 March 2000. 83 HRFT, Information Note, 27 March 2000. 84 The Kurdish Human Rights Project, “KHRP Condemns Recent Raids On Mazlum Der,” 6 July 1999. HRFT, Human Rights Yesterday & Today, 21 June 1999.

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