INFO-TURK N°335

Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Justice Says No to Arbitrary Police Search

Turkey's Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal made by a local tribunal to overturn legislation in the Police Duty and Jurisdiction Code that requires police officers to have "warrants issued by judges in accordance with procedures" to conduct searches.

The decision effectively ensures that Turkish police officers cannot conduct arbitrary bodily searches or search for possessions on suspects without prior permission from a judge and comes as result of an application made to the Court by the Hamur Criminal Court of Peace to terminate this need.

The article challenged by the Hamur court requires officers to have permission in advance when searching for any form of illegal weapon, explosives or possessions in an effort to prevent the commissioning of a crime. It rules that other than x-ray devices at airports and public institutions, police cannot conduct searches without this prior permission.

Accordingly, where there is urgency and a judge decision is not available, searches can be conducted only on written permission granted by the highest level local civilian authority.

The unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court refusing to abolish the article referred to article 20 of the Constitution concluding that "in searches that constitute an intervention in private life, a judge's decision should be secured".

It stressed that the rule that private life was untouchable was "one of the most basic human rights" and one that was guaranteed under conventions and laws. (BIA News Center, July 31, 2006)

Une bombe explose devant une banque d'Izmir, quatre blessés

Un bombe a explosé devant une banque vendredi soir à Izmir dans l'ouest en Turquie, faisant quatre blessés légers, a rapporté l'agence Anatolie, citant la police locale.

L'explosif est "du type de ceux utilisés pour les bombes à percussion", a indiqué le chef de la police locale, Hüseyin Capkin, en faisant référence aux engins destinés à faire peur plutôt qu'à faire des victimes.La bombe était de faible puissance et le policier a précisé que les quatre blessés n'avaient pas été touchés par l'explosion elle-même, mais par les bris de verre qu'elle a provoqués. Il a précisé que leur vie n'était pas en danger.

Deux employés de la banque, située à l'entrée d'un bazar historique, et deux passants ont été blessés dans l'explosion qui a eu lieu vers 20H05 locales (17H05 GMT). Des voitures ont également été endommagés, ainsi que les trois étages de l'immeuble de la banque, selon Anatolie.

La chaîne de télévision NTV a diffusé des images d'un guichet automatique de la banque Oyak très détériorés et des fenêtres brisées dans les étages de l'édifice. La banque Oyak appartient à un fonds de pension de l'armée. (AFP, 28 juil 2006)

Police Attacks Unionists' Press Conference

A press conference scheduled to be held by executives and members of the Izmir branch of Turkey's Transport Workers Union (Nakliyat-Is) was attacked by police using gas bombs and there were many injured in the incident including union leaders.

Nakliyat-Is Union headquarters issued a written statement after the incident protesting the police intervention.

The incident was sparked by an industrial dispute stemming from the layoff of 35 workers after 330 workers joined Nakliyat-Is following a purchase of their employing company Tansas A-Lojistik by Koc Holding.

While protesting workers refused to enter the premises, employers brought 200 workers from outside to break the strike. Yet after the workers talked together, those coming from outside refused to work too.

In the wake of these developments, union executives and members scheduled a press conference for July 25 to be held in fronf ot the Tansas depot where the police intervened using gas bombs. As result of the intervention, many people including union leaders, were injured. (BIA News Center, July 26, 2006)

Funds Required by TIHV To Prevent Torture

Turkey's Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) has called on the Ministry of Justice to allocate necessary funds for obligatory free counseling offered through Bar Associations across the country after a recent decision by the Bar Associations Union of Turkey (TBB) to end all such services as of August 1 Tuesday due to the government's failure to meet payments.

"The right to access to counsel is a principle method of preventing torture" warned a written statement issued by the TIHV executive board on Thursday. "The existence of such an opportunity protects individuals against the threat and risk of torture. To stop legal assistance will leave everyone deprived of their freedom, particularly children and women, unprotected against torture".

The TIHV statement said the Ministry of Justice had to correct the conditions that had led to the current situation, provide the necessary resource and take efficient measures to enhance the quality of the serve offered and give initiatives to the lawyers and bar associations offering it.

"Problems that have been continuing for a long time have brought the system to a bottleneck the statement said. "This bottleneck could not be prevented even through the efforts and sacrifices of the lawyers who offered the service."

The TBB decision to halt free counseling services as of next Tuesday is expected to effect thousands of defendants including women and children prosecuted under the Criminal Procedures Code (CMK) who cannot afford to pay for their legal defense.

The TIHV statement explained that the scope of the obligatory free counsel service which started in 1992 had expanded with the June 2005 dated CMK and was a protective measure to protect individuals who have been apprehended against torture.

It said it was the government's duty to take all legal, administrative, judicial and practical measures for the effective enforcement of free counsel and recalled the United Nations Convention to Prevent Torture adding that access to counsel is one of the rights that states should protect in order to prevent torture. (BIA News Center, July 27, 2006)

The Government Rejects to Reveal National Security Document

Prime Ministry rejected to announce the contents of National Security Policy Document (MGSB) known as “Confidential Constitution” and “Red Book”. The MGSB was revised by National Scurity Council on 24 October 2005 and Council of Ministers confirmed it on 20 March.

The MGSB that was also criticized by the President of the National Assembly Bülent Arinç was come into force without being published on the Official Gazette on the allegations of “including confidential documents concerning interior and external security”.

The Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) launched a case at the Highest Court of Administration with the demand of stop and cancellation of the execution of the Council of Ministers after the news appeared on media about the approval of the MGSB.

10th Chamber of the Highest Court of Administration decided to handle the file during the preliminary investigation. The Chamber wanted the Prime Ministry to send the MGSB in order to make a judicial investigation. In addition, the Chamber also wanted the decision concerning the approval of the Document and the defense of the Prime Ministry concerning the case to be sent. 18 June was fixed as the last date for Prime Ministry to send the information and documents.

After the end of this period Prime Ministry demanded an extra time from the Highest Court of Administration. The period was prolonged to 18 July. Prime Ministry sent the answer and its defense to the Highest Court of Administration recently but did not send the MGSB on the allegation that “it includes confidential information about internal and foreign policy”.

In addition, Prime Ministry stated in its defense that the IHD and the TIHV did not have authority to launch a case against the MGSB and they were not legally competent to be a party in the case. It was put that it is a constitutional duty to ensure the security of the state and develop policy for it, and also alleged that the MGSB does not include a decision on implication but it gives place to different opinions. (Milliyet-TIHV, July 22, 2006)

Extreme Right Attacks on Human Rights Defenders

70 members of Fundamental Rights Federation who went to Kiyiköy town of Tekirdag for excursion on 20 July were detained under assaults. Followings were announced by the Federation:

“Police and gendarmerie who came to the picnic area started to search the area on the allegations that they had search order to find a person participated the picnic and against whom there was an arrest warrant. Afterwards they used gas bombs and detained many people including children under beatings. Some of the detainees were reportedly wounded. 70 persons who participated the excursion are now in detention.”

Names of some of the detainees are reportedly as follows: Cengiz Karakas, Tuncay Patir, Ahmet Turan Yilmaz, Nihat Özcan, Hakan Kusbeygi, Sadiye Ipek, Gülin Günbil, Kenan Eren, Bülent Özdemir, Özgür Türk, Ekrem Kurtulus, Hatice Asik, Haci Anil, Musa Aykanat, Güler Aykanat, Halil Ibrahim Sahin, Sezgin Çelik, Birol Abatay, Selçuk Sahin, Bülent Kemal Yildirim, Serkan Çakar, Güven Güzeller, Cem Koyupinar, Devrim Sönmez, Yildiz Keskin, Veli Yildirim, Birol, Ömür Turan, Irfan Yilmaz, Engin Çoban, Banu Özcan, Kenan Ustabas, Evin Timtik, Gözde Sahin, Ayten Öztürk, Necdet Dernek, Pembe Özlem Olgun, Zafer Dogan, Gülizar Kesici, Nurcan Hanbayat, Nurhan Yilmaz, Özgür Baskaya, Serkan Senol, Züleyha Kurt, Tuncay Ayaz, Gözde Sahin, Mustafa Ceyda, Süleyman Matur, Yeliz Kiliç and Hakan, Bülent, Murat, Günay, Aysel, Kardelen, Meryem whose surnames are not known.

Lawyers Taylan Tanay, Oya Aslan and Sükriye Erden went Vize district of Kirklareli in the late night 20 July to visit the detainees. After the lawyers entered the Security Directorate the driver of the car Sadri Mamur was reportedly beaten by a crowded group and the car was turned upside down. Lawyer Taylan Tanay stated that police officers did not intervene while Sadri Mamur was being attacked. Lawyers Naciye Demir, Barkin Timtik, Selda Kaya and Nazan Yaman were also attacked when they went to Vize on 21 July upon the incidents.

Reportedly, the lawyers were warned not to go to the courthouse but to the gendarmerie commandership on the grounds that there was a security problem. Lawyer Nazan Yaman told the followings about the attack: “We approached to Vize Gendarmerie Commandership around 09.00. I was driving the car. While we were approaching to the Commandership we heard a gendarmerie soldier shouting, ‘commander, the lawyers have come.' Meanwhile, a civilian car attacked our car from behind and then drove to the front. Our window was open. The person in that car punched my ear and neck while I was driving. The incident occurred before the very eyes of the gendarmerie. However, that person was even not detained.”

The lawyers were unable to move from the gendarmerie commandership until 14.30 because the attackers did not leave around. In addition, the lawyers were attacked while they were leaving the gendarmerie station. The windows of their car were broken during the incident.

Meanwhile, 58 of the 61 detainees were reportedly released and three of them were taken to Istanbul in connection with the arrest warrants in absentia against them.

The lawyers, who spoke to the journalists while the incidents were going on stated that there was there was a ‘close’ relationship between the attackers and the security officials. Ayten Öztürk, vice Chair for Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, attracted the attention that one of the police officers on charge at Anti-Terror Branch provoked the attackers by shouting: ‘Applause the Turkish police who captured the sons of the bitch. (Evrensel-Halkin Sesi-TIHV, July 20-21-22-23, 2006)

A human rights defender released, others remain prosecuted

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), welcomes the decision to release Mr. Ali Öncü, spokeperson of the Diyarbakir Democratic Plateform and Chairperson of TES-Is, one of the largest workers’ union in Turkey, by the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court Number 6, on July 13, 2006.

Mr. Öncü, along with Mr. Necdet Atalay, member of the Human Rights Association (HRA), Mr. Edip Yasar, member of the Diyarbakir Branch of the HRA and Chairman of Tum Bel-Sen, an union of officials of municipalities, and Messrs. Resit Yaray and Mursel Kayar, respectively board member and member of the HRA Batman Branch, were charged in April 2006 with “assisting and supporting illegal organisations” under articles 314/3, 220/6-7, 314/2, 58/9, 63 of the Turkish Penal Code, after they attended the funerals of Kurdish rebels killed by the army on March 24, 2006 (See Observatory Urgent Appeals TUR 001/0406/OBS 045 and OBS 045.1, issued on April 7, 2006 and June 20, 2006) [1] . Except for Mr. Öncü, they all remain detained in Diyarbakir D-type prison since March and April 2006. The first hearing in the trial against Messrs. Yasar, Atalay, Yaray and Kayar before the Heavy Penal Court of Diyarbakir occurred on June 29 and 30, 2006. The next ones are scheduled for July 20 and August 15, 2006.

On the eve of these new hearings to come, the Observatory, which appointed an observer to monitor the hearings in June as well as those that are scheduled in July and August 2006, expresses its deepest concern regarding irregularities and defects during the first hearings. In particular, the Prosecutor provided the judges with information pertaining to the defendants’ prior criminal convictions, contrary to the principle of the presumption of innocence.

Furthermore, during Messrs. Yasar and Atalay’s audition, a video-cassette constituting the only proof that the defendants were solely trying to calm the protestors remained in the hands of the police and was not disclosed to the defence despite repeated applications to the Public Prosecutor for disclosure, violating the legal principle of equality of arms.

Finally, the Presiding Judge dictated summaries of the defendants’ and lawyers’ statements to the stenographer instead of directly register them into the Court record, as it was done for the Public Prosecutor statement, violating the legal duty of impartiality and independence of the Court.

The Observatory recalls that the defendants were arrested and held in detention for having exercised rights and freedoms guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (İCCPR) ratified by Turkey on June 3, 2003. The Observatory considers that these arrests, detentions and judicial proceedings are arbitrary, as they blatantly violate the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, and especially its article 5, which states that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others [...] to meet or assemble peacefully” as well as regional and international human rights instruments.

These concerns, while Turkey is adopting a new anti-terror law, echo those recently expressed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Terrorism, Mr. Sheinin who visited Turkey on February 16-23, 2006. The UN Special Rapporteur raised serious concerns at the very broad definition of terrorism and very long and wide list of terrorist offenses included in the new draft Anti-Terror Law adopted by the Turkish General Assembly on July29. He particularly stressed that “the limitations that result in respect of expression would not be confined to countering terrorism but could be used also in respect of non violent expression of opinion’’.

The Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Resit Yaray, Mursel Kayar, Ali Öncü, Edip Yasar, Mecail Ozel, and Necdet Atalay. Moreover, the Observatory urges the authorities to ensure the immediate release of those who remain detained, and that their rights to a fair and impartial trial be guaranteed in any circumstances, so that the charges against them be dropped, as they are arbitrary.

[1] From March 28, 2006 to April 5, 2006, violent riots occurred between Kurdish citizens and security forces in several provinces of the South East and East regions of Turkey, following the funerals of Kurdish rebels who were killed during a fight with the army in Mus-Bingol area, on March 24, 2006. According to HRA, about 600 people would have been detained, including children. (FIDH-OMCT, July 19, 2006)

For more information, please contact:
FIDH: 00 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT: 00 41 22 809 49 39

Le président Sezer promulgue la loi antiterroriste

Le président Ahmet Necdet Sezer a promulgué une nouvelle loi antiterroriste controversée élargissant l'éventail des crimes susceptibles d'être qualifiés d'actes terroristes et restreignant l'activité des médias, a annoncé lundi la présidence dans un communiqué.

M. Sezer a cependant déféré la loi devant la cour constitutionnelle pour "l'annulation de plusieurs dispositions", indique la brève déclaration, sans plus de précisions sur les articles incriminés.

Cette nouvelle loi considère comme actes terroristes de nombreux délits ou crimes qui vont du trafic de drogue au détournement de moyens de transport en passant par le trafic des êtres humains.

Elle a été critiquée par la presse qui y voit un retour en arrière par rapport aux réformes démocratiques engagées depuis plusieurs années dans le but de faciliter l'accès de la Turquie à l'Union européenne, avec laquelle Ankara a entamé des négociations d'adhésion en octobre.

Le texte prévoit des peines d'un à trois ans de prison pour ceux qui seraient responsables de la publication de communiqués émanant d'organisations terroristes.

Des peines analogues sont prévues pour ceux qui seraient convaincus de propagande en faveur des groupes terroristes. Ces peines peuvent être accrues de moitié si le responsable du délit est un organe de presse.

La loi prévoit de lourdes amendes pour les propriétaires ou directeurs de publications ayant commis ces crimes ou délits et donne aux juges et aux procureurs le pouvoir de suspendre ces publications.

Selon cette loi, des peines de prison pouvant aller jusqu'à trois ans sont prévues pour des actes de "propagande" en faveur des groupes terroristes.

Ces peines s'appliquent également aux porteurs d'emblèmes ou d'uniformes appartenant aux groupes mis hors la loi au cours de manifestations.

En vertu de la nouvelle loi, le financement d'un groupe terroriste est passible de cinq ans de prison et de sept ans et demi s'il s'agit de fonctionnaires.

Les personnes suspectées de terrorisme peuvent être privées d'accès à un avocat pendant les premières 24 heures de leur détention.

Enfin, la nouvelle loi autorise les forces de sécurité à faire usage de leurs armes contre les suspects qui refuseraient d'obtempérer au cours d'une opération de sécurité. (AFP, 17 juillet 2006)

NGOs Demand 'Extrajudicial Killing' Probe

Acting on claims supported by photographical evidence that an alleged PKK militant of Iranian origin identified as Abbas Emani was killed by security forces after being captured alive in eastern Turkish province of Batman last year, 23 organizations including political parties have filed a formal criminal complaint with the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's office.

The organizations, including Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul branch, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), Labour Party (EMEP), Socialist Democracy Party (SDP), the Peace Mothers Initiative and the 78's initiative are demanding an investigation into Emani's controversial death and those responsible for it to be brought before justice.

The complaint filed on Tuesday to be sent to the Besiri Public Prosecutor's Office refers to a pro-Kurdish Ulkede Ozgur Gundem newspaper report on June 28 saying that Emani was captured alive by security forces in an August 25, 2005, operation in the Besiri district of Batman after which he was interrogated by security forces and executed.

The newspaper published photographs of what it claimed was Emani being escorted by security forces after his capture, showing a person lying under a vehicle afterwards and finally a burned body. Gundem claimed he was tortured, shot in the head, then dragged to the 'operation zone' where his body was set on fire. The report and photographs of the incident were published on the front page of the newspaper.

Tuesday's complaint demands a criminal investigation to be launched on grounds of "deliberate and planned murder, inflicting damage to a dead body and torture".

Speaking on behalf of "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper that carried the original claim, DTP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Dogan Erbas called for those responsible for Emani's treatment and death to be apprehended and punished.

Poet Sennur Sezer said with regard to the incident, "If it has come to the point that the security forces of a state can threaten the lives of citizens of that state, it is not possible to speak of democracy in that country".

IHD: Everyone has the right to life

Immediately after the allegations surfaced last month, the Human Rights Association (IHD) issued a statement on the incident stressing that the claim directly related to the right to life and an individual's right of not being tortured but given an impartial trial.

Despite IHD's appeal for authorities to "immediately act to investigate the claim in an effective manner" no known investigation was launched.

"The identity of the person killed or whether or not he committed an offence does not matter in opening such an investigation immediately and putting those responsible on trial" the statement said.

"Everyone without exception benefits from the principle of the state of law and human rights".

The Association said public officers who act in violation of the law and violate human rights should be put on trial regardless of their title and rank while being immediately stripped of their authority.

"Even in the war era Turkey has removed the death sentence from its laws. In a country where execution is forbidden even as result of trial, there can be no excuse for torture and extrajudicial execution" the IHD statement said, recalling that the first part of the Constitution itself banned any official or establishment of the state from acting outside of the law. (BIA News Center , July 12, 2006)

Turkey punished by European court again

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ordered Turkey to pay 11,500 euros to Turkish Communist Labor Party leader Teslim Töre for violating his rights.

Töre, who was arrested for trying to change the constitutional order through armed insurrection in 1993, was kept in jail for eight years and four months. His trial lasted for 13 years.

The court said the time it took to conclude Töre's trial was beyond acceptable limits, ordering Turkey to pay 10,000 euros to Töre plus 1,500 euros in court expenses.

Töre had previously applied to the European court, arguing that his freedom of expression had been violated. The court ordered Turkey to pay 9,810 euros in compensation in connection with that case. (Turkish Daily News, July 12, 2006)

Attentat contre un bureau du parti au pouvoir

Un bureau du parti au pouvoir en Turquie, le parti de la Justice et du Développement (AKP), a été la cible jeudi d'un attentat à la bombe à Izmir (ouest), qui a causé des dégâts mais pas de victime, a indiqué un responsable du parti.

Kadir Ucar, numéro deux du AKP dans le district Balcova d'Izmir, a indiqué à l'AFP par téléphone que l'engin explosif avait été placé à l'entrée du bureau située au rez-de-chaussée d'un immeuble de cinq étages.

"La police nous a dit que l'explosion avait été provoquée par une bombe posée par une organisation terroriste", a ajouté M. Ucar, en ajoutant toutefois que le ou les auteurs de l'attentat n'avaient été identifiés.

La bombe a explosé en dehors des horaires d'ouverture du bureau. Elle a détruit les fenêtres du bureau et endommagé la porte, selon la même source.

Les bureaux de l'AKP ont été visés par des attentats similaires cette année et deux d'entre eux ont été revendiqués par un groupe obscur appelé les Faucons de la liberté du Kurdistan.

Les militants radicaux kurdes ont revendiqué neuf autres attentats cette année qui ont fait neuf morts et environ 130 blessés. (AFP, 13 juillet 2006)

Human Rights Commission head: I'm against Anti-Terror Law

Parliament's Human Rights Commission head Mehmet Elkatmis said that he is opposed to the Anti-Terrorism Law, which was passed by the Justice and Development (AK) Party before Parliament went on summer recess.

"Implementation of this law will cause problems," warned Elkatmis.

In an exclusive interview with TNA, Elkatmis said the Human Rights Commission is against anything that limits freedoms. As the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) went into force a year ago, since then many reform bills were adopted, he said. "Suspension of those reforms with the Anti-Terrorism Law isn't the right approach," he argued. "We think there's no need for this law. There are provisions which limit freedoms. For that reason I don't think this law will have good consequences. Its implications will cause great problems."

The head of the commission also said he believes that as problems crop up in the implementation of the law, it would be soon amended.

The Human Rights Commission looked closely at last November's bombing of a bookstore in Hakkari's Semdinli province, in which one person was killed.

The commission, headed by Elkatmis, went to Semdinli and did an investigation. Elkatmis and the members of the commission also looked into Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz, two non-commissioned officers accused and later convicted and sentenced in court over the bombing.

"The judges managed the case in a well-controlled way," said Elkatmis. "Everyone told their views and the judges came to a verdict based on their own consciences."

Asked if the court's verdict sheds light on the case, Elkatmis said, "It's not the final decision. I can only comment on the issue after the Supreme Court of Appeals' decision. I'll say something only if the decision is approved. If the Supreme Court of Appeals overrules the verdict, the court will re-hear the case and maybe a different decision would come out. We don't know yet what the Supreme Court of Appeals will say."

Elkatmis criticized Van Public Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya's removal from office by the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) on the grounds that his indictment on Semdinli case was not based on solid evidence.

In his indictment, Sarikaya had accused Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit of involvement in the mater.

"The HSYK decision was wrong," said Elkatmis. "That may be how the board sees things but the public never accepted this decision. Because a prosecutor's dismissal over what he wrote is interference with the judiciary. Even if some parts of the indictment constitute an offense, the crime and the punishment are disproportionate. It's not right. I find it regrettable."

Elkatmis claimed that the case could have taken a different path if Sarikaya had stayed prosecutor. He also claimed that according to some, the Justice Ministry inspectors' report regarding the Sarikaya case proposed that only a warning be given to the prosecutor.

Answering claims that the two non-commissioned officers' getting 39 years in prison and the case coming to a quick end represent a "return match" of the Sarikaya case Elkatmis said, "I disagree with those claims. We always complain that the justice system works too slowly. And now we complain that the opposite has happened. I think the case was carried out normally. Everyone's right to defend themselves was protected, and the case was handled quite well." (TNA Parliament Bureau, Ayla Ganioglu, 11 July 2006)

La résistance contre les prisons de type F: Jeûne de la mort

Le juriste Behic Asci, avocat du barreau d'Istanbul, qui poursuit son "jeûne de la mort" depuis 97 jours, a été visité chez lui le 10 juillet par un groupe d'artistes et d'intellectuels. Tout en exprimant leur solidarité avec les grévistes de la faim, les intellectuels lui ont suggéré de choisir un moyen de résistance autre que la mort.

« J’ai utilisé tous les recours légaux, participé à un nombre incalculable de manifestations afin de mettre fin à l’application de l’isolement carcéral. Aucun de mes procès, aucunes de mes actions n’ont porté leurs fruits. J’ai fait tout ce qui était en mon pouvoir en tant qu’homme de droit. J’ai alors décidé d’entamer le jeûne de la mort, grève de la faim ‘au finish’, pour le droit à la vie dans un pays où le droit et la justice sont bafoués», a répondu Asci.

122 morts et 500 handicapées des suites d’une grève de la faim contre les conditions de détentions carcérales en Turquie depuis 6 ans.

Fin septembre 2000, une centaine de prisonniers d’opinions de Turquie entament une grève de la faim illimitée, qualifiée par eux-mêmes de " jeûne de la mort ", pour s'opposer à une énième réforme carcérale.

Il s’agissait en réalité d’isoler les prisonniers considérés comme étant dangereux (les prisonniers politiques). Le 19 décembre 2000, un assaut de l’armée turque dans les prisons où une grève de la faim était en cours a fauché les prisonniers par des balles. Ils ont été gazés aux bombes fumigènes, brûlés aux lance-flammes, violés à la matraque, mutilés à coups de crosse... alors même qu’ils étaient affaiblis par une grève de la faim de 60 jours.

Cet assaut meurtrier avait été baptisé "retour à la vie" et qualifié d’"opération tendresse" par les autorités turques, ministre de la justice en tête.

Bilan de leur tendresse : 28 morts, près de 1000 blessés.

L’objectif de cette attaque militaire (qui avait mobilisé plus de 10 000 soldats, plusieurs bataillons de la gendarmerie, les unités d’élite et des hélicoptères Sikorsky, ... la dernière opération de cette envergure date de l’invasion de chypre en 1974) était de les déporter vers les centres de torture dernier cri : les prisons de haute sécurité dites "de type F". 600 d’entre eux qui étaient en grève de la faim ont été alimentés de force.

Ce supplice de la médicalisation forcée les a rendus amnésiques et ataxiques. 600 d’entre eux souffrent ainsi d’un syndrome appelé "Wernicke-Korsakoff".

L’unique raison de l’acharnement des autorités turques sur eux est que leurs opinions et leurs idéaux sont insupportables. "Les prisons de type F sont de véritables hôtels de luxe" clament-elles fièrement...

Quatre murs uniformément blancs et insonorisés qui laissent à chacun 10 petits mètres carrés, un plateau servi d’un coup de pied par-dessous la porte comme si ils étaient des chiens, des caméras omniprésentes qui les épient dans chaque recoin de leur intimité, des gardiens qui les assaillent à tout moment de la journée ou de la nuit, des traitements dégradants qu’il est parfois dur de décrire, une censure qui réduit le courrier quasi à néant, une interdiction absolue de communiquer avec les co-détenus eux aussi isolés, un règlement interne digne des oflags et des stalags, la privation matérielle, la privation sensorielle...

On nous dit que la peine de mort a été abolie en Turquie. Elle a en réalité simplement changé de forme. Aujourd’hui, la mort qui est imposée est une mort lente, blanche, silencieuse... Une mort sans tache qui commence par le dépérissement de l’imagination, puis de la conscience, et puis du corps tout entier.

Ils étaient Turcs, Kurdes, Arabes, Lazes, Tcherkesses, Géorgiens ou Grecs Anatoliens...

Aujourd’hui, ils ne sont plus qu’un décompte morbide. Ils sont ainsi 122 à avoir péri dans les grèves de la faim qu’ils menaient pour réclamer des conditions de détention humaines. L’hécatombe dure depuis plus de 6 ans. Aujourd’hui, seules les photos sont là pour témoigner à titre posthume de leur martyre.

Description des mouroirs appelés «prisons de type F»

Nombre : 11 établissements opérationnels. 4 en chantier.
Capacité : 368 places dont 103 cellules pour trois et 59 cellules individuelles
Possibilité de rencontrer d'autres prisonniers : Aucune
Possibilité de faire des activités communes : Aucune
Superficie des cellules : 10m²
Occupants : prisonniers politiques
Sources d’inspiration : « Control Units » aux Etats-Unis, QHS en France, Stammheim en Allemagne, FIES en Espagne.
Particularités : lieu de privation sensorielle, d’interdiction, de torture, d’annihilation mentale et de déshumanisation.
Couleur : Blanc monochrome.
Adeptes particuliers : tortionnaires prônant la discrétion.
Mode de fonctionnement : arbitraire, soumission absolue et esclavage forcé.
Maladies provoquées par l’isolement : schizophrénie, maladie du système de digestion, musculaires et osseuses très fréquentes.
Candidats à l’adoption du système de type F : Afghanistan et Soudan.

Le jeûne de la mort

Début de la grève : 20 Octobre 2000
Nombre de tués lors de l’opération du 19 décembre 2000 : 28
Nombre de morts en grève de la faim : 94 (122 au total)
Nombre d’handicapés : 600
Qui fait la grève? : prisonniers politiques, proche des prisonniers extra-muros et un avocat
Et aujourd’hui? : trois résistants en détention et deux individus extra-muros:

Behic Asci, 41 ans, avocat. Il a entamé un jeûne de la mort à l’occasion du « 5 avril journée mondiale des avocats » dans sa maison à Sisli.
Gürcan Görüroglu, 33 ans, mère de 2 enfants. Elle a entamé un jeûne de la mort dans sa maison à Adana le 5 mai.
Kamil Karatas, résistant de la 13ème équipe du jeûne de la mort. Il a entamé son jeûne de la mort le 1er mai dans la prison de type F no 1 de Sincan à Ankara.
Sevgi Saymaz, 39 ans, détenue depuis 14 ans, résistante de la 13ème équipe du jeûne de la mort. Elle a entamé son jeûne de la mort le 1er mai dans la prison d’Usak.
Serpil Cabadan, 29 ans , détenue à la prison de Gebze, Kocaeli. Elle a entamé son jeûne de la mort le 26 juin 2005. Au 339ème jours de grève de la faim elle a été transportée vers l’hôpital public de Gebze.

Quelles sont leurs revendications?

Pousser les autorités turques à trouver une solution, à ouvrir le dialogue avec les prisonniers politiques afin que cesse l’hécatombe et les traitements inhumains qui ne font que prendre de l’ampleur. Dernièrement, dans les sept plus grands quotidiens nationaux de Turquie, un texte signé par plus de 275 artistes, intellectuels, syndicalistes, secrétaire général de parti, écrivains et journalistes a été publié afin d’appeler à l’ouverture du dialogue. L’isolement appliqué en Turquie, en particulier celui visant les prisonniers politiques est une torture. C’est ce que ces derniers ont signifié en expliquant que l’hécatombe ne pouvait plus durer et qu’il était du devoir de n’importe quel être humain de trouver une solution.

Nous reprenons donc à notre compte cet appel : nous demandons que la question de l’isolement carcéral, de la torture blanche, et donc des grèves de la faim qui ne cessent de provoquer la mort des prisonniers soit prise en compte et soit remise au goût du jour.
Nous sommes convaincu que tout cela ne serait pas arrivé si l’Europe n’avait pas soutenu le régime de tortionnaires prétendument démocratique d’Ankara, ni sa politique carcérale.
Ce que les prisonniers demandent est simple : le droit de communiquer entre eux. Pouvoir se côtoyer, pouvoir rire, chanter et pleurer ensemble. Pouvoir se soigner et se consoler mutuellement. Vivre dignement.

Les prisons de type F n’ont pas de grandes différences avec les prisons du type de Guantanamo ou Abu Grahib : ce sont en réalité une partie de l’injustice d’aujourd’hui. Tout comme les avions de la CIA qui survole l’Europe de manière illégale.
Nous demandons que l’Union Européenne cesse de soutenir ces applications d’isolement dans les prisons de Turquie, pour ne pas être responsable de l’hécatombe. Le silence n’est qu’approbation.

Dans un grand nombre de villes européennes (Paris, Londres, Liège, Rotterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Duisburg, Cologne, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bâle, Vienne) des grèves de la faim à durée illimitée ont été entamées afin d’exprimer la solidarité avec les prisonniers politiques dans ce jeûne.Des mois, des semaines, des week-ends de privation afin de faire entendre notre cause, la voie des prisonniers politiques victimes de traitements inhumains. (comité tayad - democrite@neuf.fr, 10 juillet 2006)

"Stopping Kerincsiz Ultranationalist Attacks Is Bar's Duty"

The Human Rights Agenda Association (IHDG) has issued a statement following an attack on human rights activists, academics and observers during a promotional press conference in Istanbul for Turkey's Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) new book on enforced internal migration, demanding the Istanbul Bar Association to take necessary action against those responsible.

Both Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER) have strongly condemned the attack that took place during TESEV's July 6 press conference in Istanbul to promote the new book "Coming Face to Face with Enforced [Internal] Migration: The Construction of Citizenship in Turkey After Being Displaced".

The conference was disrupted when a group of protestors interrupted the event first with verbal abuse then attempted to physically attack those attending it.

Ramazan Bakkal and Ramazak Kirkik, both previously seen in many incidents accompanying attorney Kemal Kerincsiz, a leading member of the right-wing organisation of lawyers who call themselves "The Unity of Jurists", were among the group but the only individual police detained during the incident was someone else.

The attack was later attributed to the "Kerincsiz group" in the media while a statement by the IHD identified the group involved in this attack as the so-called Unity of Civilian Society Institutions.

IHDG: Bar Association should act

The IHDG's statement said "the person who directs this group that the public sees to be frequently attacking human rights activists is a person who, from the print press, we know is a member of the lawyer profession" without openly naming Kerincsiz.

Noting that the interventions targeting human rights activists were against the Rules of Profession for lawyers the IHGD said that the Bar Association should use the rights granted to it by law and take all measures for the rules to be applied.

Article 76 of the Solicitors Law states that bar associations "are obliged with the duty to defend and protect human rights" while article 95 cites defending, protecting and implementing the supremacy of law and human rights among the Bar Association Executive Board's primary duties, the Association recalled.

"A Bar Association that sees any of its members in acts that are in direct contrast to these purposes should use the rights granted to it under the law and take all required measures" the statement said.

The scheduled press conference on enforced migration and the new publication had to be postponed as result of the disruption.

IHD and MAZLUMDER condemn attack

In their condemnation of the attack both IHD and MAZLUMDER stressed that those behind it aimed to provoke intolerance to diversity and diverse views and argued that they were being protected.

"It is now very evident" said the IHD, "that this group has now targeted civilian institutions". The association stressed that an "extreme tolerance" shown to this group by security forces despite their actions needed to be taken into account and added "The increase of attacks and harassment of these groups which we believe are being organised and financed by circles of power is due to the discomfort they feel over the possible atmosphere of dialogue that may come to being in the land we live upon".

MAZLUMDER, meanwhile, described the incident as "Fascism" in its own statement and said Turkey needed to come face to face with the realities of enforced internal migration saying this was the expectation of those who supported public peace as well as a duty of those who claimed to be a democratic state.

Kerincsiz and the "Unity of Jurists" are renown in Turkey through their increasing interventions targeting human rights activists, jurists, intellectuals, writers and academics. They are also responsible for filing a series of criminal complaints at Turkish courts to impose punishment on writers and journalists as well as appearance at their trials were hearings have been disrupted.

Among the so-called Unity of Civilian Society Institutions members blamed for the recent attack were Ramazan Bakkal, Ramazan Kirkik, Aynur Atabozkurt, Zeynep Gurk and Ayse Ay who have been seen together with Kerincsiz in past activities.

Another person identified in the recent disruption was Muammer Kocadagli, who was detained briefly after an attack on an old woman criticising their protest of the visit of head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II to the Heybeliada (Khalki) Island last month. (BIA News Center, July 10, 2006)

CHD: "Guards Beat 50 Women Prisoners"

An executive of Turkey's Contemporary Jurists Association (CHD) revealed this week that 50 women prisoners who were being transferred from Ankara's defunct Ulucanlar prison to the Sincan Prison for Women on June 29-30 were severely beaten and abused during the way and have sustained bodily injury that could prove the incident.

CHD attorney Rahsan Aytac who is also counsel to two of the prisoners said the women, all of them in prison for offences of political nature, were now on hunger strike to protest the treatment they were subjected to.

Aytac said that during the violent transfer, her own clients were also beaten up and that their heads were slammed against the doors of prison transfer vehicles.

Despite having sustained bodily marks from the abuse, she said, they were not granted the right to a forensic medical examination, which amounted to a cover-up aiming to eliminate the evidence of the treatment they were subjected to.

The women prisoners have been denied the right to counsel during their transfer at the end of June and after being brought to the Sincan L-Type Prison and Closed Prison for Women they were not allowed their clothing, personal items or letters on grounds that "their search has not been completed yet and a letter-reading commission has not been set up."

Aytac said one of the women prisoners identified only as Burcin had attempted to commit suicide, which itself showed how poor the prison conditions were. She added that her two clients were placed in isolation cells on their own but that the doors to their cells were kept open 24-hours since their transfer. (BIA News Center, July 10, 2006)

Ultra-nationalist activists hit academic foundation

A group of ultra-nationalist activists, including Kemal Kerincsiz, a tough enemy of any defamatory word about Turkish identity, yesterday disrupted a press conference held by an academic foundation.

To publicize its book on research on displaced people and forced migration in Turkey the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) held a press conference at the Tarik Zafer Tunaya Cultural Center in Beyoglu, Istanbul

The protestors interrupted TESEV Executive Board Director Can Paker's opening speech and criticized the foundation for not having the displaced people from Palestine and the Balkans in their research.

Although Paker and other TESEV members tried to ignore the protests, while he was winding up his speech people shouted from all corners of the hall claiming that TESEV sides with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Some protestors also accused TESEV of receiving funding from the Soros Foundation.

The protestors, who denied any links either among themselves or to a single organization, however heckled with the same phrases simultaneously, saying, "Turkey belongs to the Turks; it will stay Turkish" and "Martyrs don't die, Turkey can't be divided." One protestor mentioned that she's a member of ultra-nationalist Ulku Ocaklari, a group affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Another woman in the audience criticized the foundation, saying, "You can't hide behind academic research."

When the co-author of the book, Dilek Kurban, tried to explain that the meeting couldn't continue, a protestor attacked her father, who was also in the audience.

Arguments turned violent throughout the hall as protestors shouted about their right to freedom of speech. The rest of the audience, a number of journalists and TESEV members, protested the protestors while two men who identified themselves as plain clothes policemen removed the attackers from the room.

Also present was lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, known for protests and court cases filed against against authors and journalists, such as Hirant Dinc and Orhan Pamuk, remained seated in a far corner telling journalists that TESEV has adopted a separatist approach.

Two of the protestors were taken into custody, an incident which resulted in Kerincsiz and a number of protestors entering into dispute with the security forces.

TESEV members announced that they'll hold another press conference at their office in the coming days.

The book entitled "Facing 'Forced Migration': Building Citizenship in Turkey after Internal Displacement" was completed after 19 months of research conducted in Istanbul, Hakkari, Batman and Diyarbakir by five researchers -- Dilek Kurban, Deniz Yukseker, Ayse Betul Celik, Turgay Unalan and Tamer Aker.

The book, which will also be translated into English, is part of a TESEV's Democratization Program's "Reinstitution of Citizenship Rights after Internal Displacement and Social Rehabilitation" project to take an interdisciplinary approach to the problem of displacement in Turkey. (The New Anatolian, July 7, 2006)

Disregard of UN Warnings on Anti-Terror Act

The recent "anti-terrorist act" passed by Turkish parliament, pending approval by Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, has been legislated despite serious warnings by the UN, a letter leaked to Turkey's NGOs reveal.

According to a letter, circulating from one NGO mail-box into another, by a senior United Nations official to the Turkish Parliament in May 2006 Ankara was warned in advance that draft amendments to the Anti-Terror Act contained elements what raise serious concerns over the lawfulness of the draft under international conventions.

The letter, sent on May 21 to the Parliament Justice Committee by Martin Scheinin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, while countering terrorism, informed Turkey that the new law fails to meet the requirement of proportionality in the use of force by security forces, introduces "improper restrictions on freedom of expression" and reflects the danger of punishing civilians not involved in violence.

"This danger is exacerbated by the very broad definition of terrorism and the very long and wide list of terrorist offenses. Consequently, the limitations that result in respect of freedom of expression would not be confined to countering terrorism but could be used also in respect of non-violent expression of opinion" Scheinin's letter said.

Scheinin's letter assessed the draft according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and also with reference to certain provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

He said the very definition of "terrorism" and "terrorist offences" in the draft were contrary to the spirit of his comments and recommendations after his country visit to Turkey on 16-23 February 2006 as UN Special Rapporteur, adding that "such indiscriminate use of the terms 'terrorism' and 'terrorist', apart from the concerns raised as to the principle of legality, risks undermining the effectiveness of the struggle against actual terrorists".

According to a copy of the letter that has been obtained by bianet, Scheinin raised his concerns under six points.

"Terrorism terms too vague and remote"

Definitions of terrorism and terrorist offences: Scheinin said "The definition of terrorist offences contained in the draft law extends the scope of crimes the notion currently covers. This is contrary to the spirit of my comments and recommendations resulting from the country visit to Turkey."

Stressing that the definition of terrorism as contained in article 1 of the Anti-Terror Act of 1991, which defined terrorism based on its purpose or aims rather than referring to specific criminal acts, was formulated "vaguely and in very broad terms", the UN Special Rapporteur warned that "When applied in conjunction with other provisions of the Act, this definition of terrorism in article 1 may result in prosecution and conviction in cases where the individual concerned is not personally linked to any terrorist acts properly defined, i.e. acts of deadly or otherwise grave violence against persons, or the taking of hostages."

"It therefore raises concerns in respect of the principle of legality as prescribed in article 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a provision that allows for no derogation even during states of emergency. Identical conclusions can be made on the basis of article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights" he said.

"Terms undermine the struggle against actual terrorism"

Scheinin noted that Ankara had already been informed in a previous report that the term "terrorist" in Turkey continued to be used to refer to a large number of individuals, their organizations and activities, even if no connection to the commission of crimes which fall under such a definition of terrorism that would comply with the principle of legality has been established.

"In my assessment such indiscriminate use of the terms 'terrorism' and 'terrorist', apart from the concerns raised as to the principle of legality, risks undermining the effectiveness of the struggle against actual terrorism" he said.

He added that the draft law, now approved by Parliament, did not propose to amend article 1 of the Anti-Terror Act to narrow down its broadness "Thus, the concerns raised in my report on the mission to Turkey about the vagueness of the clause have not been addressed".

Sheinin noted that instead of limiting the number of offenses which may be considered as terrorist offenses the new law had, on the contrary, added more such offenses (over 50) citing the inclusion of the crimes of smuggling of migrants (article 79 if the Penal Code), praising an offender (article 215), discouraging people from military service (article 318), as well as "deliberately putting a forest on fire" being added as new terrorist offenses.

"While some of these may very well be serious crimes, and as such would deserve to be sanctioned" said Sheinin, "their link with 'terrorism' may be too remote for these to be considered as 'terrorist offenses'. Broadening the scope of crimes that are classified as terrorist offenses carries the risk of losing the distinctiveness of the term terrorism as conduct that is never justified due to its use of morally inexcusable means of violence".

"Freedom bans incompatable with required legality"

Freedom of Expression: Referring to articles 5 and 6 of the law, Sheinin's letter recalled that these included sanctions for periodicals which praise crimes committed and their offenders or "are in the nature of propaganda of the terrorist organization" and criminalizes "making propaganda of the terrorist organization or its purposes".

"The terms used here are vague: 'praise', 'in the nature of propaganda' and 'purposes'" concluded the UN official saying they therefore "appear to be incompatible with the requirement of legality as enshrined in ICCPR article 15 and ECHR article 7".

"The law does not define the crimes in question with sufficient precision and foreseeability so as to allow the individual to regulate his/her conduct accordingly. By way of example, it seems rather subjective to judge when an individual is making propaganda of the purposes of an organization - could the term cover cases of individuals or groups advocating for more rights for a minority or an ethnic group? If so, an individual could be qualified as terrorist, if he or she agrees with the political aims of any terrorist organization even if totally disagreeing with the use of violence as means" Sheinin explained.

"Dispropotional Punishment"

"This danger is exacerbated by the very broad definition of terrorism and the very long and wide list of terrorist offenses. Consequently, the limitations that result in respect of freedom of expression would not be confined to countering terrorism but could be used also in respect of non-violent expression of opinion" he added.

Sheinin said in reference to article 6 of the act that additional crimes than those covered with the broad definition of terrorist offences would also be penalized". Some of these crimes amount in my view to improper restrictions on freedom of expression, in particular when they are criminalized in an Anti-Terror Act and are subject to fairly serious punishment" he said.

"For instance, while there may be valid reasons related to public order for restricting the wearing of a mask in a demonstration, I find it inappropriate to include a general ban in a specific counter-terrorism law and to subject the wearing of a mask to a prison sentence of one to three years".

Financing of Terrorism: Referring to article 7 of the drafy law inserting a new article to the law to criminalize the act of "willingly" providing funds, "directly or indirectly" to "be used to commit terror crimes", in relation to terrorist crimes, Sheinin said "While I am of the opinion that Turkey needs to develop its legislation in the issue of financing terrorism, the proposed clause would due to this reference extend to an overly large number of crimes and their funding".

"Everyone has the right to life"

Safeguards for Terrorism Suspects: The UN Rapporteur also expressed "regret" over "the overall intention to reduce the procedural safeguards for suspects of terrorist offences" in the act with emphasism on concern that a detained person's access to a lawyer could be denied for a period of 24 hours and allows for the presence of an officer at meetings between suspects and their lawyer.

"In my view compromising the right to confidential communication between a suspect and counsel is not an acceptable measure when substantiated suspicions of collusion arise" said Sheinin.

"The proper course of action in those situations is restricting the right of counsel suspected of collusion to communicate with the defendant, while at the same time securing the defendant's right to effective representation through another independent lawyer and confidential communication. It appears that it is the effort to restrict the number of counsel to one.. that in the Bill results in the inappropriate proposal in article 10-e".

"Suspects Favoured"

Shoot to kill policies/Impunity: Referring to the last paragraph of article 13 of the Bill (new article 20 of the Act), Sheinin's letter said this appeared "to allow for wide discretion with regard to the use of firearms by officials, and also former officials, if they claim that they felt they were attacked by terrorists."

In my view the proposed broad and vague formulation clearly allows for abuse and violates the fundamental principles set forth in ICCPR article 6 and ECHR article 2" he said.

"Every individual has the right to life, this right shall be protected by law, and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life" said Sheinin recalling international principles for the use of force and firearms by law enforcment officials and stressing that where force was used, officials should "only use force in exceptional cases including self-defense or defense of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury. Such force must be proportionate to these objectives, to the seriousness of the crime and must minimize damage and injury".

"The formulation "without any hesitation" in the context of using firearms [in the Act] does not appear to meet the requirement of proportionality" he warned.

In reference to articles 13 and 15 of the act, Sheinin said these provisions "give raise to concern with regard to the impunity that they appear to grant to officials involved in fighting terrorism" noting that under international conventions any violation of rights had to be investigated and adding, "no official status justifies persons who may be accused of responsibility for such violations being held immune from legal responsibility."

Sheining said that despite the conventions "The Bill includes several provisions that would provide privileges or otherwise favorable treatment to officials or former officials suspected of committing a crime in the context of countering terrorism. These clauses call for careful scrutiny, not only because they may amount to or indirectly contribute to impunity but also because they may weaken the legitimacy if the Anti-Terror Act in the eyes of the general public".

Sanctions: Scheinin's final point in his letter to the Justice Committee was on article 17 of the Anti-Terror Act that he said, "would exclude any possibility of release for certain persons sentenced to life imprisonment". The UN rapporteur noted that "such provisions are always problematic in respect of the clauses in the ICCPR that define the aim of imprisonment as rehabilitation (article 10-3), require humane treatment of all detainees (article 10-1) and prohibit all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (article 7; see also ECHR article 3)". (BIA , July 5, 2006)

"Mr. Sezer, Do Not Ratify The Terror Law"

Representatives of 15 organisation including political parties and democratic mass organisations have sent a joint letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer requesting him not to ratify the amendments in Turkey's Anti-Terror Law (TMY).

Referring to last week's Parliament General Assembly approval of the controversial draft, the letter said the new TMY "surrenders personal rights and freedoms to the conscience of the security forces and eliminates basic human rights". The bill will go into force only if the President ratifies it.

The letter stressed that the law had dangers to democracy and human rights by listing a number of serious drawbacks and possibilities:

Disappearances under detention could be revived: "The law severely restricts the right to defence. Personal safety is endangered with the republic prosecutor being authorised to order for a suspect not to be allowed to contact relatives or receive the assistance of an attorney as of the moment of detention. This situation raises concern that 'disappearance under detention' incidents could be revived.

Those thinking differently cannot express their opinion, organise: "It is known that the whole of the society does not think in the same way on issues such as the 'Armenian Genocide, Cyprus Question, Kurdish Problem' which are the red points of the state. The law totally abolishes the right of persons, intellectuals and institutions that think differently [on these] to share their views with the public. Any individual who expresses their opinion, organises according to their opinion, can be put on trial for a terrorism offence under this law".

Gangs, killers encouraged: "Article 15 of the law rules that even if an arrest is required, anti-terrorism officials on trial for killing people, evacuating villages, torture, can be tried without being remanded in custody. This article is an arrangement intending to encourage the killers and gangs".

Tax pays for cost of offending officials: "The state will meet the legal defence costs of security officials who commit an offence. The limit of this payment has not been determined. It is disturbing that the crimes of these officials will be paid for with our taxes".

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Kaboglu told bianet in an exclusive interview last week that due to articles in violation of the constitution, he expected President Sezer to return the law to Parliament rather than ratify it in its current form.

The organisations that have undersigned the letter to Sezer are:

Human Rights Association İstanbul Branch, Labout Party Istanbul Provincial Organisation, Freedom and Solidarity Party Istanbul Organisation, Democratic Society Party Istanbul Provincial Organisation, Socialist Democracy Party Istanbul Provincial Organisation, Initiatives of 78's, Labour Movement Party, Peace Mothers, Initiative Against Thought Crime, Socialist Platform of the Oppressed, Young Civilians, Halkevleri Istanbul Branch, Kurdish Institute, Socialist Solidarity Platform, Association to Assist Prisoner Families (BIA News Center, Tolga Korkut, July 3, 2006)

Human Rights Advisor: "TMY Violates Constitution"

Turkey's former head of the Prime Ministry Human Rights Advisory Board, Prof.Dr. Ibrahim Kaboglu, has said the controversial Anti-Terror Law (TMY) Amendment Bill passed by Parliament last week violated the constitution and should be sent back to the national assembly by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

The bill will only be in force if ratified by the President and published in the Official Gazette, but in an exclusive interview with bianet, Kaboglu said that as it "touches the essence of rights" and limits the freedom of expression in contradiction also to human rights conventions signed by Turkey, Sezer may return it for review.

"The whole of the text is a problem of respect to human rights anyway" Kaboglu said. "There is the possibility of a serious contradiction with the constitution".

He said the "balance between freedoms and security" was spoilt in favour of security with the new bill.

According to Kaboglu, the law is in violation against a ban on touching the essence of rights and freedoms described under article 13 of the constitution that guarantees for any limitations on freedoms to be in accordance with the constitution itself and the needs of democratic order and a secular republic.

He explained that article 26 of the constitution that secures the freedom of expression and article 90 that says international conventions signed by Turkey has have a priority are both being violated in practice.

Kaboglu said the President might return the bill to Parliament for articles against the constitution to be removed from its content and added "we wish that the President will seriously examine the law and send it back to Parliament".

"If he does not send it back, this will mean that he has personally not observed any contradiction with the constitution in the text".

"I'm worried about thought being punished"

Kaboglu is worried that when the law is enforced, thought as opposed to terror will be punished.

"My worry is that in the name of preventing terror, opinion will be punished instead of those persons and organisations involved in true terror. That the press, intellectuals and journalists who express their views by using mass communications will be placed under pressure" he said.

Kaboglu added that in this situation, the additional authority granted to security forces and prosecutors would boost the current trend against freedoms in Turkey.

He said that all sections of the society defending freedoms should debate this law calmly, object to it and continue to struggle to ensure the required amendments were made to it. (BIA News Center, Tolga Korkut, July 3, 2006)

Anti-Terror Law: Now everyone is a "terrorist"!

Anti-Terror Law which caused reaction from national and foreign human rights bodies and got postponed by the opposition party CHP on the grounds that it would bring amnesty to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was approved by the Parliament late last night, 29 June 2006. The range of crimes of terror has been broadened by the new law and adjourning the sentences and commuting them to fines are now prevented. Unarmed organisations are kept outside the scope of the law and the law brought new powers to the police including shoot to kill. Prosecutors will have the power to stop publications without a court order.

The law defines a new notion as the “person who is responsible for the publication" and its articles such as "publishing the statements of a terrorist organistion " or "propagandating for terrorist organisation" will spread imprisonment over expression of ideas.

The Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek who had argued the importance of implementation for TPC at the time argued the same thing for ATL. TPC has been applied to over 40 people in only a year.

Çiçek said after the approval of the law: "I hope this law will never be implemented. Even those who accept the necessity of the law are worried about whether it would be implemented to the innocent or not. The implementers have to be very careful".

Minister to the MSM senders: We tried to keep a balance

Minister of Justice said they did not intend to restrict freedoms and they tried keep a balance between public order and freedoms.

Çiçek continued: "Especially those who sent MSM messages should understand this we tried to keep a balance. We do not intend to restrict freedoms, implementers should interpret the laws accordingly".

Human Rights organisations had sent sms messages to the Mps calling them to vote no to the ATL.

Turkish Journalists Society (TGC), The Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) Turkish Publishers Union, Turkish Writers Union, PEN Turkey, PEN International, Book Translators Union and Press Council had made joint and separate statements against the ATL.

AKP' MP Yarbay: 'Security or Freedom?'

AKP MP for Ankara Ersönmez Yarbay said during the talks: ''Which one has the priority? Security or freedoms? Without freedom there can not be security. I bet that this law will not decraese terror''. Yarbay added that since 1991, the ATL has been amended 14 times but terror increased.

CHP: We are not happy but…

Party spokepeople made speeches before the vote in the parliament. A member of Justice Commission and CHP MP for Nigde Orhan Eraslan said “we will not stop the law but we are not happy with it”.

CHP spokeperson MP for Antalya Fikret Baloğlu expressed CHP’s criticisms on article 5. Baloğlu noted that article 5 gives prosecutors the power to close down newspapers. Baloğlu added: 'The regulations made by this article might cause embarrasment to us in the future. We are shutting down newspapers on order. This article will threaten all press and it will damage democracy.' (antenna-tr.org, July 2, 2006)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Mort d'une grande figure de la lutte pour les droits des femmes

Duygu Asena, célèbre journaliste et écrivain turque qui a consacré la majeure partie de sa carrière à militer pour les droits des femmes, est morte à l'âge de 60 ans d'une tumeur au cerveau, a annoncé dimanche l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Duygu Asena est décédée dimanche matin dans un hôpital d'Istanbul, où elle avait été admise trois jours plus tôt à la suite de fortes fièvres et de difficultés respiratoires, a précisé Anatolie.

Après avoir débuté sa carrière de journaliste au quotidien à grand tirage Hurriyet en 1972, Mme Asena avait été amenée à collaborer avec d'autres grands journaux nationaux et était rédactrice en chef de plusieurs magazines féminins.

Son premier roman, "Kadinin Adi Yok" (La femme sans nom, 1987), qui évoquait l'inégalité entre les sexes et la sexualité des femmes dans un monde dominé par l'homme, avait été un grand succès d'édition et adapté au cinéma.

L'ouvrage avait cependant été censuré par les autorités en 1998, au motif qu'il contenait des éléments obscènes. Mme Asena avait obtenu la levée de la censure au terme d'une bataille judiciaire de deux ans.

Mme Asena était également l'auteur de plusieurs livres dans lesquels elle appelait les femmes à militer pour l'égalité des droits et à se battre pour obtenir leur indépendance économique. (AFP, 30 juil 2006)

La romancière Elif Safak poursuivi pour des écrits sur la question arménienne

Un procureur d'Istanbul a requis jusqu'à trois ans de prison contre la romancière turque Elif Safak pour avoir "insulté l'identité nationale" dans un de ses livres, consacré aux massacres d'Arméniens sous l'empire ottoman, a rapporté vendredi l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Les propos incriminés sont ceux de personnages Arméniens du roman "Baba ve Pic" ("Le Père et le Bâtard"), initialement écrit en anglais -Mme Safak poursuit une carrière universitaire aux Etats-Unis- puis traduit en turc en mars 2006, a précisé Anatolie.

Le roman suit les pérégrinations de quatre générations de femmes entre les Etats-Unis et la Turquie pour raconter l'histoire d'une famille arménienne et des descendants d'un de ses enfants, abandonné en Turquie lors des massacres d'Arméniens de 1915-1917, qui s'est converti à l'islam et a vécu comme un Turc.

Elif Safak, 35 ans, est poursuivie au titre de l'article 301 du code pénal, qui a déjà servi de base à plusieurs autres procès contre des journalistes et des intellectuels et dont l'Union européenne, avec laquelle la Turquie a entamé des négociations d'adhésion en octobre, réclame l'abrogation.

Parmi eux figurent le directeur de la rédaction du quotidien bilingue turc-arménien Hrant Dink, condamné à six mois de prison avec sursis, et l'un des écrivains les plus connus de Turquie, Orhan Pamuk, contre qui les charges ont été abandonnées.

Comme dans ces deux affaires, la procédure contre Mme Safak a été engagée sur la base d'une plainte de Kemal Kerinçsiz, un avocat nationaliste qui s'est acquis une certaine notoriété pour sa "traque" infatigable des intellectuels questionnant la position officielle sur les massacres d'Arméniens.

Une première demande d'enquête contre Mme Safak avait été rejetée, mais cette décision a été cassée en appel. La date du procès n'était pas immédiatement connue. (AFP, 28 juil 2006)

AI: En Turquie, la liberté d’expression reste une chimère

L’article 301 du nouveau code pénal turc restreint la liberté d’expression. Il permet des condamnations pour «dénigrement» public de l’Etat turc, de l’armée ou des forces de sécurité. Ecrivains, journalistes, membres des milieux de l’édition et de défense des droits humains qui expriment des opinions contraires à l’idéologie dominante peuvent être l’objet de poursuites.

Vague et imprécis, l’article 301 peut être utilisé pour poursuivre arbitrairement une large palette de personnes qui ont le courage d’exprimer une opinion critique. Un article similaire existait déjà dans l’ancienne législation. En juin 2005, avec l’adoption du nouveau code pénal, la Turquie persiste et signe. Sera inculpé quiconque osera parler publiquement du génocide arménien, du massacre des Kurdes ou de tout autre sujet qui fâche. L’histoire est lourde à porter. On préférerait l’enterrer une bonne fois pour toutes. Mais voilà, il se trouve toujours quelqu’un pour la rappeler.

Ainsi Orhan Pamuk, qui a osé déclarer au journal zurichois Tages Anzeiger que 30’000 Kurdes et un million d’Arménien·ne·s avaient été tué·e·s. Cet auteur turc de renommée internationale a été poursuivi au terme de l’article 301. Interviewé le 5 février 2005, il a précisé que personne n’osait en parler, mais que lui le faisait et était détesté pour cette raison. La plainte a finalement été abandonnée sur décision du ministre de la Justice.

L’identité intouchable

Avec cet article, toute personne qui ose publier un ouvrage évoquant les atteintes aux droits humains commises par l’armée risque l’inculpation. Ainsi Fatih Tas, vingt-six ans, est accusé d’avoir insulté l’identité turque. Le procureur a demandé dix ans d’emprisonnement contre cet étudiant en journalisme et communication de l’Université d’Istanbul. Son délit: avoir publié la traduction turque du livre Le coût humain du commerce des armes par les Etats-Unis. L’ouvrage comporte une carte de la Turquie montrant que celle-ci est en grande partie traditionnellement kurde. Fatih Tas revient également sur les exactions de l’armée turque dans le sud-est du pays.

D’ailleurs, quiconque ose accuser l’armée de quoi que ce soit risque d’être condamné au titre de l’article 301. Ainsi, Murat Pabuc est poursuivi pour «dénigrement public de l’armée». Ce lieutenant de l’armée turque a dénoncé la corruption institutionnelle qui a suivi le tremblement de terre de ı999. Désabusé vis-à-vis de ses devoirs militaires, il a commencé par refuser d’obéir aux ordres avant de devoir suivre un traitement psychiatrique. A la retraite pour cause d’invalidité, il a pu exprimer grâce à son livre ce qu’il avait vécu au sein de l’armée.

Abroger l’article

Jusqu’à présent, les procès ont généralement abouti à des amendes ou à des acquittements. Mais ce n’est qu’une maigre consolation. L’ouverture d’une instruction pénale suffit à faire taire l’opposition et à restreindre la liberté d’expression. Dans toute l’Europe, Amnesty International attire l’attention sur la restriction de la liberté d’expression en Turquie et fait pression sur les autorités turques. C’est pourquoi l’organisation mène une campagne pour faire abroger l’article 301, qu’elle considère comme une insulte à la liberté d’expression.

Interview avec Waltraud Weber, experte-pays sur la Turquie pour la Section suisse d’Amnesty

Amnesty: La situation des droits humains a-t-elle évolué positivement en Turquie ces dernières années?

Waltraud Weber: Les changements de lois de l’année dernière en vue de l’adhésion à l’Union européenne ont été sans aucun doute positifs. La révision du code pénal, entrée en vigueur le 1er juin 2006, est présentée par la Turquie comme une réforme centrale quant à l’amélioration de la protection des droits humains.

Amnesty: Qu’en est-il de la mise en pratique des réformes administratives?

La mise en application des réformes laisse beaucoup à désirer. Bien qu’il y ait des améliorations sur le plan juridique, la torture et les mauvais traitements restent largement répandus, même s’ils sont moins sévères que dans les années nonante. En 2004, 922 personnes auraient déposé une demande de traitements des suites de torture auprès de la Fondation turque des droits humains.

Amnesty: Turquie remplit-elle les normes de droits humains de l’Union européenne?

Non. Il existe certes un nombre important de réformes dans le domaine des droits humains. Cependant, il continue d’y avoir en Turquie des violations graves des droits humains. Depuis la décision du Conseil de l’Europe, le 17 décembre 2004, d’ouvrir les négociations d’adhésion avec la Turquie, on observe un ralentissement des réformes entreprises et des reculs dans l’application. (amnesty.ch/fr, 27 juillet 2006)

La Turquie condamnée pour violation de la liberté d'expression

La Turquie a été condamnée jeudi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) pour avoir violé le droit à la liberté d'expression de l'ancien ministre Hasan Celal Güzel, alors président du parti de la Renaissance.

Auteur le 13 juin 1998 d'un discours critique envers le gouvernement turc dans la ville de Kayseri, il avait été condamné à un an de prison pour incitation à la haine sur la base d'une distinction fondée sur l'appartenance à une religion. La cour de sûreté avait ensuite prononcé un sursis à l'exécution de la peine pour une durée de cinq ans.

M. Güzel estimait que sa condamnation pénale avait enfreint son droit à la liberté d'expression.

Les juges de Strasbourg ont estimé que les motifs retenus par les juridictions turques ne sont pas suffisants pour justifier l'ingérence dans le droit du requérant à la liberté d'expression. "Celui-ci s'exprimait en sa qualité d'homme politique, n'incitant ni à l'usage de la violence, ni à la résistance armée et il ne s'agissait pas d'un discours de haine", selon l'arrêt.

La CEDH considère que le sursis à exécution de la peine a eu pour effet de censurer partiellement les activités de M. Güzel en tant que président du parti de la Renaissance pendant la période de sursis et de "limiter grandement son aptitude à exposer publiquement une critique qui a sa place dans un débat public".

La cour lui a alloué 4.000 EUR pour préjudice moral et matériel. (AFP, 27 juillet 2006)

Court Seizes Gay Cultural Magazine

The Ankara 12th Criminal Court of Peace has ordered for the confiscation of all copies of the latest edition of a magazine published by Turkey's Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Researches and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) citing as reason that it was deemed "immoral".

According to information from Kaos GL, the latest edition of the magazine was seized and confiscated at the printing house even before it went into distribution.

Attorney Oya Aydin, interviewed by bianet on the issue, said, the recent and confiscated edition of the magazine questioned pornography and that the content was in the scope of freedom of expression.

"This decision," she said, "is an intervention into freedom of expression. We are now appealing against the decision at the Criminal Court of First Instance.

In his decision, judge Tekman Savas Nemli said some of the content and photographs contained in the magazine's cover story on "pornography" were deemed to be in contrast with "protecting general morality".

Attorney Aydin says the decision cites no exact reason for the confiscation nor explains which part of the content or images were deemed immoral.

"There is no case law related to being against general morality in Turkey. The ban is largely political in nature. In Turkey, pornography and sexuality continues on the [image of] women and does not attract reaction" she explained.

Writers Ahmet Tulgar, Fatih Ozguven, Guner Kuban, Hasan Bulent Kahraman, Mehmet Bilal Dede, Meltem Arikan, painter Taner Ceylan and artistic photographer Bikem Ekberzade had contributed to the latest seized edition of KAOS GL where the relationship between pornography and homosexuality was being analyzed.

In a statement on the court order, Kaos GL magazine dubbed the verdict as being "sexist and homophobic" charging that the intention was to restrict the freedom of expression for Turkey's gay and lesbian citizens. "From the very beginning," said the statement, "we have been writing and struggling against homosexuality being seen only as sexuality and sexuality being seen analogous with pornography. It is evident that not homosexuals, but general morality will change."

Noting that pornography and sexuality based on images of women in the daily press constituted no problem, the association concluded "not pornography itself but to criticize and question pornography is banned." (BIA News Center, Tolga Korkut, July 26, 2006)

Danish artists call for free speech in Turkey

Two Danish artists on Monday plastered sarcastic stickers across Ankara, protesting limits on the freedom of speech in Turkey -- the latest stop in the pair's international campaign to use ironic and humorous messages to spark debate.

Pia Bertelsen and Jan Egesborg were focusing on restrictions against freedom of speech in Turkey.

"We know you love Kurdish television," read one of the stickers, featuring a picture of Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan on a TV screen. "We know you care about freedom of speech," read another.

Turkey has had several attempts to shut a Kurdish-language satellite television station that broadcasts from Denmark, saying that Denmark-based Roj TV supports the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging a separatist war against Turkish security forces in the country's southeast. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had once furiously left a press conference in Denmark early, after finding out that Roj TV reporters were among press members in the room.

The visit to Ankara was part of a global tour that has taken the artists already to Serbia and Belarus. They also took out local advertising space in Zimbabwe.

The two artists told the Turkish Daily News their intention was not to offend or provoke. Instead, they wanted to get people to think about freedom of speech issues. Although the stickers mainly concentrated on Kurdish TV, "It is more a general support of freedom of speech," Egesborg said. "We are worried about the situation because, if Turkey is going to be a member (of the EU), it has got to have freedom of speech."

Egesborg said he supported Turkey's European Union membership. "It would be a disaster if Turkey does not enter the EU."

"How to relate to minorities is an issue in Denmark and Turkey," Bertelsen said. "But in Denmark people can communicate what they think, in Turkey they can't." (BIA News Center, July 27, 2006)

Acquittement d'une journaliste défendant l'objection de conscience

Un tribunal d'Istanbul a acquitté jeudi la journaliste et romancière turque Perihan Magden, poursuivie sur une plainte de l'état-major pour avoir défendu dans un article le droit à l'objection de conscience en Turquie, a affirmé à l'AFP son avocat.

La cour a estimé que Mme Magden n'était pas sortie des limites de la liberté d'expression et que le délit de "décourager le peuple du service militaire par voie de presse", pour lequel elle encourait jusqu'à trois ans de prison, n'était pas constitué, a déclaré Me Fikret Ilkiz.

Dans un article publié en décembre par l'hebdomadaire Yeni Aktüel, l'auteur de plusieurs romans à succès, dont "Le Roman de deux Jeunes Filles" (2002), avait pris la défense d'un militant homosexuel refusant d'accomplir le service militaire obligatoire et proposé que soit offerte comme solution de remplacement la possibilité d'un service civil.

Tout Turc est appelé sous les drapeaux à partir de 18 ans pour servir de six à 15 mois selon son niveau d'éducation.

La Turquie ne reconnaît pas le droit à l'objection de conscience, les réfractaires pouvant encourir jusqu'à cinq ans de prison.

Lors de la première audience du procès, début juin, Mme Magden avait été conspuée dans les couloirs du tribunal par des manifestants nationalistes l'accusant de faire le jeu des séparatistes kurdes du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

Un important dispositif policier a été établi autour de la salle d'audience jeudi, a indiqué Me Ilkiz, précisant que Mme Magden n'avait pas assisté à l'audience. (AFP, 27 juillet 2006)

Turkish TV TGRT sold to Murdoch-Ertegun media partnership for 98 million dollars

The News Corporation, owned by media giant Rupert Murdoch, in concert with Atlantic Records' owner Ahmet Ertegun, has bought the Turkish media corporation Huzur Radyo TV, which owns, among other things, the broadcast rights to TGRT. The sale of the shares belonging to Huzur Radyo TV, which broadcasts 24 national channels, including the well-known TGRT, took place for a total of 151 million YTL, or 98 million dollars.

The previous largest share holder in Huzur Radyo TV was Ihlas Holding, though the shares to the media corporation now belong entirely to Murdoch-Ertegun.

Ongoing meetings between Ihlas Holding and the Ertegun-Murdoch partnership came to an official close yesterday, with an announcement coming in the afternoon that the sale had gone through. According to the agreement worked out, the new owners of the well-known TGRT channel will be able to use the logo, which is known across Turkey, for a long period of time, this despite the fact that not a single share has been left with Ihlas Holding.

The general manager of TGRT, Murat Akgiray, spoke positively about the change, saying "We believe that this experienced partnership will make valuable contributions to the media sector in Turkey." (Hurriyet, July 27, 2006)

TGC: Media Oppressed By Auto-Censorship

Executive board chairman of the Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) Ercan Ipekci has spoken out on the state of the national media criticizing it for an inability to resist censorship in the 21st century despite the success achieved in 1908 against the censorship of the oppressive Abdulhamit regime.

Ipekci's remarks coincide with events this week marking the 98th anniversary of the "lifting of censorship" in Turkey with newspapers no longer having to submit pre-prin