Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Press Conference on Prison Isolation Ongoing in Turkey

The Justice Ministry's Circular 45/1, issued on January 22, 2007 caused a pause to be declared in the Death Fast Resistance, which had started on October 20, 2000 in opposition to prison isolation and continued for seven years. Today, a year has passed since the circular was issued and a meeting was held to evaluate how it has been put into practice.

A press conference took place in the Istanbul Medical Chamber on January 22, 2008.

Those who spoke at the press conference included the lawyer Behic Asci, TAYAD's Ahmet Kulaksiz, the lawyer Nazan Yaman of the Contemporary Lawyers' Association, DISK (Revolutionary Confederation of Trade Unions) General Secretary Suleyman Celebi, Dincer Mete, speaking in the name of TMMOB (an engineers' and architects' association) and Istanbul Bar Association representative Lutfu Toprac.

Suleyman Celebi said:"Judging from letters received from the prisons, we learned that the circular is not being practised in any prison other than Izmir No.1 F-Type. Those who signed the agreement are not abiding by it... And I wonder, are they incapable of applying it?" he asked.

He said that here there was a problem about talking to them but he would see the Justice Minister in the near future, and if need be he would ask to see the Prime Minister. "On this subject we are expressing our willpower. And we call on those in responsible positions to show common sense. If the circular can be implemented in one place it can be implemented in them all. We will do whatever duty requires and follow this matter up," he said.

Finally Ahmet Kulaksiz (TAYAD) spoke: "I lost my dear daughter Canan on April 15, 2001 and two and a half months later I lost my dear daughter Zehra. My brother has been in jail for 14 years. There are those who say, 'What do we do if new Death Fasts start up?'. Under what conditions do Death Fasts start in this country? It is necessary that we abide heart and soul by our promise to pursue what we agreed to. Let all of our friends do this. Let us not lose any more sons and daughters. We who are outside the prisons have done what we have done for the democratic struggle, and those inside the prisons also have rights," he said, ending the press conference. (turquie.rebelle@gmail.com, January 23, 2008)

Arbitrary Arrest of IHD Adana Cahirperson Ethem Acikalin

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.

The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği - IHD) about the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Ethem Açıkalın, Chairperson of the IHD branch in Adana.

According to the information received, on January 23, 2008, Mr. Ethem Açıkalın was arrested in Adana and accused of “being a member of an illegal organisation” (Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code, with reference to Article 220/6 of the Penal Code in the Turkish Law N° 5237) and “making propaganda of an illegal organisation” (Article 7/2 of the Anti Terror Law N° 3713).

These charges are related to Mr. Ethem Açıkalın’s participation in a press conference organised on December 17, 2007 by the Front for Rights and Freedoms of Adana (Adana Haklar ve Özgürlükler Cephesi) in order to denounce the assassination on December 10, 2007 of Ms. Kevser Mızrak, reportedly a member of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi - Cephesi - DHKP-C), in Ankara. Ms. Mızrak was allegedly killed by police forces. During the press conference, a document was read, denouncing extrajudicial executions and calling upon the security forces to prevent such human rights violations.

As of issuing this urgent appeal, Mr. Açıkalın is detained at the F-Type Prison in Adana. He was accused of being a member of the DHKP-C (on the basis of Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code), along with six other opponents who were also arrested on January 23, 2008, and faces from one to seven years and a half in prison.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about Mr. Ethem Açıkalın’s arbitrary detention, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities, and recalls that as a Participating State of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Turkey acknowledges that “the [...] UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders [... places] a responsibility [...] on states to adopt and implement adequate legislation and administrative procedures that would provide for a conducive environment for human rights defenders to promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and recognises “the need for particular attention, support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its Institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States”.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.

The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax: OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
E-mail : Appeals@fidh-omct.org

Arrest of HÖC Representatives in Istanbul and Ankara

According to press releases of the HÖC (Front for Rights and Freedoms), its representatives were arrested by police  in Istanbul and Ankara when they made press statements on the theme "the common enemy is America".

At the Taksim Square tram stop in Istanbul, police intervened in the reading of a press statement. As a result of the police attack, Necdet Dernek, Umut Kocaeli, Alisan Sevilmis, Tolga Sevilmis and Devrim were detained.

The Association statement noted: "The attacks on us show the democracy game they play is functioning less and less. On the one hand while everyone refers to how "democratic" everything is, on the other opposition is confronted with evermore repression, violence, detention and imprisonment. Today in Taksim there happened what has already taken place in Ankara, Adana,  Elazig and various other places in the country - arbitrary detention and imprisonment."

In Ankara, HÖC members were attacked by police as they handing out "the common enemy is America" leaflets. The names of those who were arrested: Ugur Eyilik, Berna Yilmaz, Onur Yildirim, Bahtiyar Bodur, Celal Elmaci. (www.halkinsesi.tv, January 23, 2008)

Human Rights Activists Protest Against Militarism

On Saturday (26 January), members of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) gathered in Taksim, central Istanbul, to set a sign against the rise in militarism and nationalism in the country.

Holding a banner reading “Don’t kill anyone, and don’t make anyone else kill”, the protesters said:

“We oppose the racist, nationalist and militarist mentality which blesses blood, death and war, and which encourages school children to make a flag with their blood and dream of killing and dying.”
What are all the dead bodies for?

IHD branch president Gülseren Yoleri read a statement:

“According to the latest statements, between 200 and 250 people were killed in the cross-border operations [which the Turkish Armed Forces carried out against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq]. This number does not include those who were killed when shelters and caves were bombed from the air, nor the many wounded taken to hospitals.”

“The statements did not mention any soldiers or civilians killed. They were part of an announcement that operations would continue, yet nothing was said about what was being aimed for by stepping on dead bodies.”

Yoleri described how militarism and racism had increased among the media, the army and society during this time:

    * Seven young lives were extinguised with a bomb exploding in Diyarbakir. In Silopi [south-eastern province of Sirnak], two little girls died after finding a grenade in the street and thinking it was a toy. The Chief of General Staff showed a Turkish flag made by high school students with their own blood and sent to him as a present; he said, “This is how great a nation we are.”
    * The Tercüman newspaper handed out promotional copies of the “flag of blood”, and printed the pictures of the “exemplary pupils” on the back. The newspaper then targeted journalists Perihan Magden and Ece Temelkuran, who criticised the “flag of blood” and any approval of such behaviour, and threatened them.
    * When there were skirmishes after a commemoration event of journalist Hrant Dink on the first anniversary of his murder, the police shot and injured a person.
    * In Adana, IHD branch president Ethem Acikalin and seven other representatives of democratic organisations were arrested for listening to the press release of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in front of their district party office. The police intervened with tear gas and truncheons. Many people were detained and many injured.

Yoleri also touched on the “Ergenekon operation”, i.e. last week’s detention of 33 people suspected of membership in an ultra-nationalist gang planning a coup.

“All these events show clearly that there are planned attempts, also using state resources, to push society into chaos and violence. The aim is to destroy society’s rights and freedoms, people’s hopes fort he future, and turning them into breathing, but weak-spirited, lifeless creatures, and to ensure that the dirty machinery turns.”

“No one should die on this soil anymore. There should be no more odes to being killed and killing in this country. Let there be no applause and tears for such pathological expressions on this soil. Let there be no more discourse of “martyrs.” (BIA, Emine Ozcan, January 27, 2008)

Décès d'un Turc prisonnier de la guérilla colombienne

Recep Yildirim Musa, un turc, prisonnier depuis novembre 2007, de l'une des guérillas de Colombie, l'ELN, est mort  vendredi à la suite d'une intervention de l'armée pour le libérer, ont annoncé les autorités civiles colombiennes.

"Au cours de l'opération trois ravisseurs sont morts, mais malheureusement le prisonnier, qui était d'origine turque, est également décédé", a annoncé à la presse le gouverneur du département d'Antioquia qui a pour chef-lieu Medellin.

Selon Ramos, Musa, 43 ans, est décédé des suites de ses blessures à l'hôpital de Medellin à la suite d'un accrochage entre une unité anti-guérilla de l'armée colombienne et des membres de l'ELN.

Musa, qui était marié avec une Colombienne, était arrivé dans le pays, il y a quelque mois, pour s'occuper d'un élevage de brebis dans une propriété rurale de la commune de Santo Domingo, près de Medellin.

L'Armée de libération nationale (ELN) est la deuxième guérilla de Colombie après celle des Farc, les Forces armées révolutionnaires de Colombie (FARC) d'obédience marxiste.

 L'ELN, inspirée des idées révolutionnaires de Che Guevara, compte 4.O00 combattants. Elle est principalement déployés dans les zones pétrolières situées à la frontière avec le Venezuela au nord-est du pays.

 L'ELN avait engagé en décembre 2005 un début de dialogue avec le président Alvaro Uribe dans le cadre de négociations de paix, qui est actuellement au point mort. (AFP, 25 jan 2008)

APCE: Les procédures de listes noires contre les droits de l'Homme

L'Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l'Europe (APCE) considère que les procédures employées par le Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies (CSNU) et l'UE pour inscrire sur liste noire des personnes et des groupes soupçonnés d'avoir des liens avec le terrorisme bafouent les droits fondamentaux individuels et sont « totalement arbitraires ».

Par conséquent, les parlementaires ont demandé son réexamen « dans l’intérêt de la crédibilité de la lutte internationale contre le terrorisme ».

« L’injustice est la meilleure alliée du terrorisme. Il faut la combattre aussi », a souligné le rapporteur Dick Marty (Suisse, ADLE), en ouvrant le débat. Son texte signale qu’il y a quelque 370 personnes dans le monde qui ont actuellement leurs avoirs gelés et qui ne peuvent voyager car elles ont été inscrites sur une liste noire par le CSNU. Une soixantaine d'entités figureraient sur une autre liste noire de l'UE. Ces sanctions peuvent être imposées « sur la base de simples soupçons ». Cette situation « est déplorable et viole les droits de l’homme et les libertés fondamentales ».

« Même les membres du comité chargé de décider l’inscription d’une personne sur liste noire ne connaissent pas tous les motifs à l’origine du dépôt de la demande d’inscription. La personne ou l’entité concernée n’est le plus souvent ni avisée de cette demande, ni entendue, ni même parfois informée de la décision prise – jusqu’à ce qu’elle tente de passer une frontière ou d’utiliser un compte bancaire. Aucune mesure ne prévoit de réexamen indépendant des décisions prises. »

Une telle procédure est « indigne » d'institutions internationales comme l'ONU et l'UE et fragilise la légitimité de « sanctions ciblées » dans la lutte contre le terrorisme, ont souligné les parlementaires. Or, les Etats qui sont contraints d'exécuter ces sanctions, risquent de violer les obligations qui leur incombent au titre de la Convention européenne des Droits de l'Homme. (http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Press/StopPressVoir.asp?ID=1999)

Europe's human rights court: Turkey worst offender in 2007

The European Court of Human Rights is facing a huge case backlog and at its current pace would need 46 years to rule on all complaints, a survey said Wednesday.

The court, underfunded and lacking judges, is struggling with almost 80,000 cases, some of them pending from the mid-1990s, according to the court's annual survey.

Last year, the court issued 1,503 verdicts and threw out more than 27,000 complaints, the survey found.

Turkey was the worst offender, with its government found guilty of human rights violations in 319 cases in 2007, notably concerning the right to a fair trial and the right to liberty and security. Russia followed with 175 cases involving rights violations.

Four countries — Russia, Turkey, Romania and Ukraine — accounted for more than half the court's outstanding cases.

As a final appeals court for European citizens, the Strasbourg-based court hears cases challenging national courts' decisions that plaintiffs claim infringe on the 1949 European Charter of Human Rights, which applies in all European countries but Belarus.

Implementing the European court's rulings, however, can sometimes take years, as the court cannot directly enforce compliance.

The court, overseen by the Council of Europe, has become popular with citizens of some Eastern European and Balkan countries, where judicial systems are still influenced by politicians and prone to corruption.

Its budget for 2007 was $72 million — inadequate for dealing with the deluge of cases, according to Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe, the continent's premier human rights watchdog. (Associated Press,  January 23, 2008)

Manifestations pour la solidarité avec l'association Lambda Istanbul

L’Etat turc s’en prend une nouvelle fois à l’association Lambda Istanbul, organisatrice de la plus grande Lesbian & Gay Pride du pays. Le procès visant à la dissolution de l’association LGBT turque et à la condamnation de ses responsables aura lieu le jeudi 31 janvier 2008 à 10h40. L’association aurait selon ses accusateurs "des buts immoraux".

Bien qu’officiellement la législation turque ne criminalise plus l’homosexualité depuis des années, le harcèlement judiciaire constitue pour le gouvernement un réel moyen de pression sur les personnes et mouvements LGBT turcs, ainsi qu’un gage démagogique envers son électorat le plus réactionnaire. Deux audiences ont déjà eu lieu dans cette affaire en juillet et octobre 2007.

Des personnalités politiques françaises, du parti communiste notamment, se rendront à Istanbul lors de la prochaine L&G Pride. Le PCF exige des autorités turques qu’elles abandonnent toutes les poursuites contre cette association et qu’elles garantissent la liberté des défenseurs des droits humains en Turquie.

Manifestations:

A l’appel d’Amnesty Belgique et d’associations LGBT, une manifestation aura lieu ce samedi 26 janvier 2008 à 14h devant l’ambassade de Turquie à Bruxelles.

Le PCF appelle avec d’autres organisations à un rassemblement ce vendredi 25 janvier à 18h30 devant l’ambassade de Turquie à Paris. (source : Amnesty Belgique et le PCF)

New Turkish Judge of ECHR: "Article 301 bars freedom of expression"

Professor Ayşe Işıl Karakaş, who was recently elected to represent Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights, supports the view that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) is an obstacle to freedom of expression and should therefore be amended.

“As seen in the EU reports, Article 301 is a problematic article ‘characterized with troubles in its implementation’,” Karakaş, the chair of the international law studies at the Galatasaray University faculty of law, told the Anatolia news agency after her election to the post. Noting that when the article was first introduced, the government adopted a “wait and see the implementation” approach, she said: “But the implementation brought no new perspectives as suggested. As far as I see, there are numerous cases brought [under this article]. Therefore, as a legal expert, I think that this article should be amended.”

Concerning the top court’s judgment about Leyla Şahin’s application and about the headscarf issue in general, Karakaş refrained from expressing a clear opinion, saying: “At this stage, I cannot say anything about this issue. There is already a court ruling about it. The court’s ruling will be applied to subsequent similar cases and similar decisions will be given.” She added that if, after new legal arrangements are made concerning the headscarf, applications are filed with the European court by exhausting domestic remedies, the court will make its assessment accordingly. “Of course, the previous rulings will be taken into consideration,” she said.

Karakaş further noted that every country that has accepted the European court’s jurisdiction was required to ensure its domestic legal system was compliant with European law and that to the extent this is done by Turkey, the number of cases brought against Turkey at the European court would diminish. The primary duty of Turkey is to concentrate on legal arrangements and their implementation with a view to minimizing violation claims, she maintained. For her, the reason for why Turkey is one of the top contested countries at the European court can be found in problems in the implementation of domestic legal arrangements.

“As in the case of Article 301, we may see different implementation of the articles of the TCK,” Karakaş said, emphasizing the discrepancy between theory and practice of the reform discourse. “Therefore, legal arrangements are important, but domestic judicial bodies have important duties in this respect in my opinion. The duties of the convention, the organs set up by the convention and the European court are secondary. In other words, we must seek to ensure human rights are protected in the domestic law. Why? We know that exhaustion of domestic remedies is a requirement [for applying to the European court]. For this reason, protection must be afforded by the own domestic law of each country. If there is a human rights violation that cannot be remedied in the domestic law despite all efforts, then the applicant is allowed to apply to the European court. For this reason, protection must be guaranteed by the domestic law. This is what Turkey should do. If this can be done, international remedies, i.e., application to the European court, will be used less,” she said.

Individual liberty and state sovereignty

Karakaş indicated that she has long been studying the issue of state sovereignty and that the European human rights law has emerged as a law, distinct from the international law, and that it considerably contains and restricts state sovereignty. She maintained that current state sovereignty is very different from the state sovereignty in the 1950s when the European Convention on Human Rights was first signed and that the convention has gone through an evolution with its being better understood and construed in time. “Accordingly, the convention now directly affects the sovereignty of the nation-state, restricting it and extending individual rights and freedoms. In other words, sovereignty of nation-state is restricted for the sake of individual rights and freedoms. This is compliant with our observations both in terms of human rights and other elements of the EU legislation,” she said.

Concerning her election as a judge at the European court, Karakaş said that she was “honored to be given such a duty.” She noted that she will be the first woman judge at the court from Turkey and will live in Strasbourg as long as she serves at the court. “I hope I will be able to fulfill the duties this elated position requires,” she said. (Today’s Zaman, January 24, 2008)

Des nationalistes voulaient tuer Pamuk et des politiques kurdes

La police turque a découvert un réseau ultra-nationaliste qui voulait assassiner Orhan Pamuk, lauréat du prix Nobel 2006 de littérature, et des personnalités politiques kurdes, arrêtant 33 personnes, rapporte mercredi la presse.

Parmi les suspects arrêtés à Istanbul figurent des officiers à la retraite, des avocats connus pour leur positions nationaliste et des mafiosi, a indiqué un procureur de la métropole turque dans une déclaration écrite adressée à la presse.

Leur interpellation s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une investigation concernant la découverte l'an dernier de grenades et d'engins explosifs dans une maison de cette ville, ajoute le document, sans autres précisions.

La police croit savoir que les suspects complotaient dans le but de tuer Pamuk, le journaliste pro-islamiste Fehmi Koru et des politiques kurdes comme Leyla Zana, Osman Baydemir et Ahmet Türk, selon le journal Milliyet.

La police enquête en outre pour savoir si les personnes appréhendées mardi lors d'une opération d'envergure sont impliquées dans plusieurs attaques à caractère politique, comme celle du meurtre en 2007 du journaliste d'origine arménienne Hrant Dink, écrit le quotidien Sabah.

Kemal Kerinçsiz, avocat d'extrême-droite qui est à l'origine des poursuites pénales à l'encontre de Pamuk et de plusieurs intellectuels pour avoir nié la version officielle des massacres d'Arméniens pendant l'empire ottoman -qui ne constituent pas un génocide pour Ankara-, est également interrogé par la police.

Autre suspect de marque: le général à la retraite Veli Küçük, figure très connue des milieux ultra-nationalistes.

Sabah notamment s'est félicité d'une rafle au sein de l'"Etat profond", terme employé pour désigner certaines mouvances des forces de sécurité qui agiraient en dehors des lois pour préserver, selon eux, les intérêts de l'Etat turc. (AFP, 23 jan 2008)

Ex-Anti-terror General Charged with Coup Attempt

Retired Major General Veli Kücük, nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, lawyer Fuat Turgut, who is the defense lawyer of Yasin Hayal, a murder suspect in the Hrant Dink case, Aksam newspaper journalist Güler Kömürcü, retired Colonel Fikri Karadag, who is the leader of the ultra-nationalist Kuvayi Milliye Association, and Turkish Orthodox Patriarchy spokesperson Sevgi Erenerol, are under police custody.

All 33 taken from their homes on Tuesday (22 January) are charged with forming a clandestine group to plot against the governmnet, and attempts at the lives of Kurdish politicians, a well as storing weapons in a secret arsenal.
Immediate broadcasting and publication ban

According to the NTV news, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution made a written statement about the detentions and then immediately announced a broadcasting and publishing ban on the case.

The detained persons underwent a medical check-up and were then taken to the Anti-Terrorism Branch for questioning. The house of Veli Kücük in a village in Bilecik, Western Anatolia, was searched.

According to the CNN Türk news, those taken into custody are being questioned for “obtaining secret state information, disclosing secret state information, and taking part in the creation of a terrorist organisation.”

The Radikal newspaper today reports that 40 homes in Istanbul, Bursa and Izmir were searched by the police.  The newspaper also adds that the current investigation may shed light on the attack on the State Council in Ankara in 2006, in which one judge was killed and four wounded, bomb attakcs on the Cumhuriyet newspaper, in which bombs of the same series as found in the arsenal were used, as well as the Hrant Dink murder.
Nationalist connections and the "Deep State"

Fourteen people had been arrested previously, including retired military captain Muzaffer Tekin and writer Ergün Poyraz. Tekin has been alleged to have been involved in the planning of the attack on the State Council.

Lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, known for causing the trials of writers like Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak under Article 301 and for attempting to become a third-party plaintiff in the trial against Hrant Dink, was the defense lawyer for Tekin and Poyraz.

Veli Kücük’s name is linked to the notorious Susurluk scandal which rocked Turkey in 1996 and revealed connections between politicians, the police and organised crime. The scandal did much to confirm the public skepticism that a "deep state" controlled the country. Kücük is also related with threats against Hrant Dink. (BIA news centre, Tolga KORKUT, January 23, 2008)

Arrest of a criminal ultranationalist organization's chiefs

A confidential operation was conducted against the Ergenekon organization, which has been monitored for 2.5 months. Thirty-three people were taken into custody in 3 different locations. Those arrested for founding a terrorist organization include the Kuvayı Milliye (National Forces) Association chairman, Fikri Karadağ, and retired general Veli Küçük.

Retired Gen. Veli Küçük and journalist Güler Kömürcü were also held in the operation, although the latter was released in the evening. The 33 individuals taken into custody on Tuesday included Küçük, a retired major general who is also the alleged founder of an illegal intelligence unit in the gendarmerie, the existence of which is denied by officials; the controversial ultranationalist lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, who filed countless suits against Turkish writers and intellectuals who were at odds with Turkey's official policies; Fikret Karadağ, a retired army colonel; Sevgi Erenerol, the press spokesperson for a group called the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate; Güler Kömürcü, a columnist for the Akşam daily; and Sami Hoştan, a key figure in an investigation launched after a car accident in 1996 near the small town of Susurluk that uncovered links between a police chief, a convicted fugitive who was an ultranationalist and a deputy. Ali Yasak, a well-known gangster linked to the figures in the Susurluk incident, was also detained in the operation.

The gang is suspected of involvement in a number of political attacks on individuals and institutions, including the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The suspects are accused of many individual crimes, but what they have in common seems to be the links they have to clandestine gangs that function similarly to Operation Gladio -- a post-World War II NATO operation structured as "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and clandestine operations. In fact many analysts believe such networks of groups in Turkey today, sometimes referred to as the "deep state," are remnants of the Turkish leg of the actual Gladio.

The suspects, who were detained after police monitoring of their phone conversations, were being interrogated, police said. The police have been observing the actions of the suspects for over eight months as part of an investigation into a house full of explosives and ammunition found in İstanbul's Ümraniye district eight months ago.

Yesterday's arrests are part of a series of raids by counterterrorism police teams organized recently in the cities of İstanbul, Adana, İzmir, Düzce and Malatya, İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler said yesterday speaking to members of the press. Sources at the İstanbul Police Department say yesterday's arrests brought the number of suspects detained so far in the operations concerning the group to 60.

Suspect Küçük is allegedly the founder of a clandestine organization known as the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counterterrorism Service (JİTEM), which is commonly believed to be behind many bombings, attacks and assassinations attributed to other groups. Although officials have repeatedly denied that such a unit exists, it is widely accepted in Turkey that the gendarmerie in fact has a special team for behind-the-scenes operations.

Plotting to kill Pamuk

Police sources say the suspects were considering a number of possible assassinations. The names the police found on a "death list" compiled by the group had on it the names of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies Ahmet Türk, Leyla Zana, Sebahat Tuncel, Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir, Nobel Prize-winning author Pamuk and journalist Fehmi Koru, who is also a regular columnist for Today's Zaman.

Evidence showed that the group operated through a structure they called "Ergenekon," the name of a legend that describes how Turks came into existence.

Assassinations, bombings and attacks against Christians

The group is also suspected of involvement in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink in January of last year, a shooting at the Council of State in 2006 that left a senior judge dead, a hand grenade attack on the hard-line secularist Cumhuriyet daily's İstanbul office and recent non-fatal attacks on two priests. The number of people in custody on suspicion of having links to the gang is said to have surpassed 50 with the recent detentions, sources say.

"It is a huge operation. I am very curious about its result," Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat said, commenting on the operation.

The adventures of Veli Küçük

Küçük, who is likely to prove a key suspect in the investigation into the shady links the suspects have to each other and possibly gangs within the state and the military, had been seen on many occasions with Kerinçsiz, an ultranationalist lawyer who filed criminal suits against Armenian journalist Dink, who was shot dead outside his newspaper office by an extremist teenager last year, and Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's first and only Nobel Prize for Literature winner, as well as many other writers and journalists for "denigrating Turkishness," defined as a crime under Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301. All those facing charges had expressed opinions contradictory to official state policies on a number of issues.

The media had previously printed photographs of Küçük, showing the retired general standing next to Alparslan Arslan, the hit man in an attack on the Council of State in May 2006, in which a senior judge was killed.

Küçük's name had appeared in newspaper reports shortly after the killing of Dink on Jan. 19, 2007. Erdal Doğan, an attorney for Dink, in a statement made shortly after the killing had stated that Küçük had harassed and threatened Dink on several occasions. "Hrant Dink told us that he was threatened on the phone by Veli Küçük a few times five or six months ago. We didn't give it too much thought then because he was receiving hundreds of threats. But he himself said he was much more unnerved by Küçük's threats than the hundreds of other threats," said Doğan in his statement.

Aydın Engin, a journalist and columnist for the Agos weekly -- which was launched and run by Dink until his death -- in a statement he made after Dink's death, stated, "When they were throwing change at us and swearing at us and attacking us during Hrant's [301] trial, Veli Küçük was there in the courtroom with the friends of Kemal Kerinçsiz."

Dink's brother Orhan Dink had testified in the Dink murder trial, saying: "My brother had said, 'Küçük came to the court and wouldn't leave us alone.' Now, we all know the history of democracy in this country. We do know what Küçük means and also what Kerinçsiz really signifies. My brother was saying, 'I am being made a target.' He took the Küçük group very seriously. He knew that both Kerinçsiz and Küçük were extremely serious and dangerous." (Today's Zaman, Baris Altintas,  January 23, 2008)

Le président de l'APCE demande le renforcement des progrès démocratiques

"Les progrès démocratiques doivent être renforcés par des réformes constitutionnelles et législatives"  ''Je rends hommage au ferme engagement des autorités turques de poursuivre les réformes démocratiques'', a déclaré le Président de l'Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l'Europe (APCE), René van der Linden, à la fin de sa visite officielle en Turquie (Ankara et Konya), où il s'est rendu du 13 au 15 janvier 2008.

''Les élections législatives et présidentielles de 2007 ont confirmé la stabilité de la démocratie turque avec la composition d'un parlement plus représentatif et pluraliste, marqué par une participation accrue des femmes et des parlementaires du Sud-Est de la Turquie », a déclaré le Président. ''Cependant, les discussions doivent se poursuivre sur l'abaissement du seuil de 10% pour le Parlement, qui reste le plus élevé d'Europe.''

''Les réformes démocratiques doivent être stabilisées et renforcées par des mesures constitutionnelles et législatives adéquates, comme l'a demandé l'Assemblée lorsqu'elle a mis fin à la procédure de suivi en 2004.''

''Ces mesures doivent, entre autres, renforcer les garanties en matière de liberté d'expression et de religion, d'indépendance de la justice, de lutte contre la corruption et créer une véritable institution du Médiateur.''

Dans ce contexte, M. van der Linden a instamment prié les autorités turques de modifier l'Article 301 du Code pénal afin de le rendre conforme aux normes du Conseil de l'Europe. ''J'ai été encouragé par l'engagement du Président turc de progresser sur cette question, comme il l'a également déclaré dans son discours devant l'Assemblée à Strasbourg en octobre 2007,'' a-t-il souligné.

La poursuite du processus de réformes est selon M. van der Linden le meilleur moyen d'enregistrer des progrès dans les négociations d'adhésion avec l'Union européenne. ''Si la Turquie honore ses engagements démocratiques, l'UE devra aussi tenir ses promesses en ce qui concerne l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union.'' Le Président de l'APCE a invité la Turquie à utiliser pleinement les possibilités que lui offrent le Conseil de l'Europe et ses instruments, notamment l'expertise de la Commission de Venise.

''En tant que pays musulman démocratique, la Turquie joue un rôle indispensable dans la promotion du dialogue interculturel et interreligieux. Preuve en est l'initiative conjointe des premiers ministres de Turquie et d'Espagne en faveur d'une « Alliance des civilisations », qui tient aujourd'hui son premier forum à Madrid. Le Conseil de l'Europe, avec son Assemblée qui rassemble des représentants de différentes cultures et religions, est un partenaire naturel de cette Alliance.''

Enfin, le Président de l'APCE a souligné le potentiel de l'Assemblée en vue de contribuer à la recherche d'une solution à la question chypriote. Il a mentionné, comme exemples concrets de cette contribution à ce jour, la réunion d'importance historique, organisée sous ses auspices en février 2007, qui a rassemblé les chefs religieux des deux communautés, et le fait que l'Assemblée soit la seule institution européenne à associer des représentants élus de la communauté chypriote turque à ses travaux.

''J'ai choisi la Turquie pour ma dernière visite officielle en tant que président de l'APCE afin de souligner l'importance de ce pays pour l'avenir de l'Europe. La Turquie est appelée à jouer un rôle de plus en plus important, à la fois en termes économiques et géopolitiques, et il est dans l'intérêt de tous d'avoir la Turquie comme partenaire respectueux des valeurs européennes,'' a conclu M. van der Linden.

Pendant sa visite, M. van der Linden s'est entretenu à Ankara avec le Président de la République, Abdullah Gül, le Président de la Grande Assemblée nationale, Köksal Topta, ainsi qu'avec le Ministre d'Etat en charge des Affaires économiques, Mehmet SimSek, le Président de la Commission sur les relations de la Turquie avec l'Union Européenne, Yasar Yakis, et le Président de la Commission des Affaires Etrangères, Murat Mercan. A Konya, il a également rencontré le Gouverneur et le maire de la ville. (newspress.fr, 17 janvier 2008)

One-Week Human Rights Report

17 January 2008

Investigation on the news Reports on the Case of Eight Soldiers

Van Military Court announced that the prosecution services are taking action against the media institutions who reported on the case file of eight soldiers who were kidnapped by PKK in Dağlıca but later on released. The Court said that the court had issued a ban on reports on the case on 21 October which still applied.

Birtan Altunbaş Case...

Four police officers, who had been sentenced to eight years', ten months' and 20 days' of imprisonment in connection with killing Birtan Altunbas -a student of Hacettepe University- in detention with torture in 1991, on charges of murder with torture on 23 March 2007, surrendered to Ankara Elmadag Prison on 11 January. The four police officers will be in prison for 21 months due to the "Law of Conditionally Release and Postpone" which is known as "Rahsan Oblivion" in public opinion and which was amended in 1999. Nuh Mete Yuksel, one of the ex-prosecutors of the case of murder of Birtan Altuntas and ex-chief prosecutor of State Security Courts, was with the police officers as they surrendered to prison (Milliyet, 17 January)

Right-wingers Attacked on University Students...

Three people who claimed to kidnapped and beaten two Kurdish students of Afyon Kocatepe University were released to tried without arrest on 14 January (atilim.org, 16 January)

Investigation against the News about Eight Soldiers...

Van Chief Public Prosecution Office launched an investigation against the media organs which had published news about the case of eight soldier who were kidnapped by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Daglica Clash on 21 October 2007 and were arrested after they returned to Turkey, on charges of "opposition to Article 19 of Law on Media and attempting to effect the fair trial" (Taraf, 17 January).
 
16 January 2008

Ill Treatment in Mental Hospital...

S.S. -a mentally retard person living in Fatih Quarter of Adana- entered into Adana Dr. Ekrem Tok Mental Hospital on 2 January. His mother saw cyanosis around his eyes and several injury marks on his son's body in her visit on 11 January. With the complaint of the mother, hospital management launched an investigation (Milliyet, 15 January).

Violence in Primary and High Schools...

On 14 January İstanbul Sisli Endüstri Vocational School's religion teacher M.K, had beaten his student B.T., because he checked his cell phone to know the time. Teacher went on strangling and kicking the student outside the classroom and the student was taken to hospital by other teachers. School administration launched an investigation against the teacher M.K. (Radikal, 16 January).

On 11 January İstanbul Kadiköy Hüseyin Ayaz Primary School's teacher H.E. had beaten his student O.Ö. because the student involved in a quarrel. The student had cyanosis on his face and his family made an official complaint to the Kadiköy Chief Prosecution Office (Sabah, 16 January).

Teachers Coerced to Report their Students...

Mersin Yahya Günsur Anadolu Computer High School's administration, demanded from the teachers to take records of students who "have sympathy to terror incidents on 29 December 2007. The teachers declined the demand because it is irrelevant with their work. (Sabah, 16 January).

Coercion in Prisons...

14 prisoners in Silifke (Mersin) M Type Closed Prison were sentenced to prohibition of open visits and social activities for 2 months in connection with the hunger strike they began on 11 January in the framework of "That is Enough" campaign (Gündem, 15 January).

Panel Hindered in Siirt...

"Multiculturalism and the New Constitution" Panel organized by Siirt Work Group of Peace Assembly of Turkey, Human Rights Association (HRA) and The Siirt Bar could not be hold in Siirt because organizers could not find a place. The panel was held in Kurtalan District of Siirt on 13 January under high security expediencies. Siirt Governorate refused the application for the hall of Siirt Culture Directorate because the panel is "unsuitable" (Bianet, 14 January; Taraf Newspaper, Orhan Miroglu's article "Debates on Constitution Prohibited in Siirt", 16 January).

Clashes and Attacks in the Southeast

Turkish General Staff publicised that Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) targets in Zap-Sivi, Avasin-Basyan and Harkurk regions of Northern Iraq were hit with an air raid on 15 January (ntvmsnbc.com, 15 January).

Detentions and Arrests...

Four of the seven people who were detained on 13 January in Silopi District Sirnak, were arrested on charges of "making propaganda of an illegal organisation" on 15 January (Gündem, 15 January).

15 January 2008

Investigation against a Deputy of DEP...

Kars Chief Public Prosecution Office launched an investigation against the ex-deputy of Democracy Party (DEP) in connection with his application to Kars Municipality to give the names of Deniz Gezmis, Vedat Aydin, Kemal Akbulut and Oruç Korkmaz to parks and gardens on charges of "praising crime and criminal". Investigation was launched with the demand of Kars Security Directorate (Vatan, Evrensel, 15 January).

Investigation against the Commemoration of Seyid Riza ...

On 14 January Kars Chief Public Prosecution Office launched an investigation against Bahar Köse in connection with the public statement which she read in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the execution of Seyid Riza in Elazig on 18 November 2007 on charges of "despising openly the memory of Atatürk" under Article 27 of Law No. 5187 (Evrensel, 15 January).

Detentions and Arrest...

Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 10 arrested 3 of the nine university students who were detained on 14 January on charges of "being a member of an illegal organisation", "making illegal protests" (Gündem, 14 January).

14 January 2008

Sentenced Party Executives...

Bulanik Penal Court of First Instance sentenced three executives of Democratic Society Party's (DTP) Bulanik District of Mus Province branch to 6 months' of imprisonment in connection with the incident in which three executives hindered to go to DTP's Mus Province Congress in 2007 on charges of "despising openly the soldiers of Turkish Republic" (Gündem, 13 January).

Hold of Publication...

Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No.12 decided to hold of publication of weekly SeventhDay Newspaper (Yedincigün Gazetesi) for 30 days on charges of "making propaganda of an illegal organisation (Kurdish Workers' Party-PKK)" on 13 January (ANF, 13 January).

Detentions and Arrests...

12 of the 14 people who were detained in connection with the funeral of Kevser Mirzak -Mizrak was killed in police's home raid in Ankara on 8 January- were arrested on charges of "inciting crime and criminal", "helping and harbouring organisation" and "being a member of an illegal organisation" on 11 January (halkinsesi.tv, 11 January).

Socialist Platform of the Oppressed's (ESP) Tunceli Province representative Ali İhsan Çiplak was arrested in Elazig on 12 January and sent to Elazig E Type Closed Prison on charges of not paying a fine of 600 YTL. (atilim.org, 12 January).

Eight of the 13 people who were detained in operations in Istanbul and in Hakkari, were arrested on 12 January (ntvmsnbc.com, 13 January).

Sirnak Penal Court of Peace arrested 15 of the 30 people on charges of "making propaganda of an illegal organisation" "being a member of an illegal organisation". They were detained on 7 January in Sirnak (Evrensel, 13 January).

Kurtulus Tayiz a Journalist of Taraf Newspaper was detained in Diyarbakir on 13 January (Gündem, 13 January).

Intervention to Distribution of Bills...

İstanbul People's House (Halkevi) Chairperson lawyer Oya Ersoy, mentioned that three people from her organisation were detained while they were distributing bills about the amendment of Social Security and General Health Insurance Law by police officers with aiming guns to their head and firing to air on 11 January (Cumhuriyet, 14 January).

La mort tragique d’un futur sans-papier

Ismail Yilmaz est né en 1981 à Adana. Dès le lycée, il fréquente les milieux de gauche et lutte pour un enseignement démocratique, ce qui lui coûte d’être expulsé de l’école. Il continue malgré tout à aider le mouvement révolutionnaire. En 2005, son domicile est perquisitionné pour avoir défilé le 1er mai à Adana sous les couleurs de la milice du DHKP-C. Ce défilé lui coûte un procès pour appartenance au mouvement révolutionnaire.

Le 1er mai 2007, il est violemment tabassé par la gendarmerie sur la place Taksim à Istanbul.

Entre-temps, à Adana, il participe activement à la création de l’association pour les droits et les libertés fondamentaux. Il en est d’ailleurs encore et toujours un membre du conseil d’administration.

Mais les conditions d’existence difficiles et les risques de condamnation en Turquie contraignent Ismail à chercher un travail et une vie plus paisible à l’étranger.

Il y a peu, il faisait ses adieux à ses amis et ses camarades, des adieux qui allaient prématurément devenir définitifs. Son corps vient en effet d’être découvert, congelé, à la frontière entre la Bulgarie et la Grèce. On ignore exactement la date et les circonstances de sa mort.

Dans son communiqué, l’association pour les droits et les libertés fondamentaux reproche le gouvernement AKP de semer la faim, la misère et la répression qui cause le départ de milliers de concitoyens vers des destinations incertaines, parfois au prix de leur vie.

Ismail Yilmaz sera inhumé demain dans le cimetière de Sariçam à Adana.  (Halkin Sesi TV, www.halkinsesi.tv, 17 janvier 2007)

Murder Suspect Police Officer Released

Police officer on trial in İzmir for shooting Baran Tursun, a young driver, allegedly Police officer Oral Emre Atar, who was under arrest for having shot a young man dead who did not obey his orders to stop, is released amid angry protests, in the first hearing of the trial on Monday. 

Baran Tursun, who was driving his luxury jeep was shot in the midnight, 24 November, he lost his life in hospital five days later. The police claimed that they had been following Tursun, who was driving with his two friends, and that he did not obey the order to stop. The officer on trial claimed that he fell and that a shot was released from the gun because of the fall. However, one bullet hit Tursun in the neck, and three other bullets were found in the car.
Police intimidation

Lütfü Demirkapi, president of the Izmir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) attended the hearing. He said, "There was a high level of security at the court, to the extent that people were made uncomfortable. When the high level chiefs of the Izmir Police Department came, the court was crammed full with police. They want to threaten. I could not bear it and left the hearing."

Demirkapi told bianet that the hearing started in a tense manner at 9.15 am. He said that the statement of the police officer who caused the death was very different from what the public had been told: "Evidence has been destroyed, and evidence to match the scenario has been produced."

Demirkapi said that, following a request by the lawyers, the judge asked witness police officers to draw the barrier, which Tursun allegedly drove through; the three police officers drew exactly the same diagram. In addition, the judge aided the witnesses by correcting statements which clashed with others.

The police, so Demirkapi, was trying to pass the event off as a car accident, but a doctor in hospital saw the bullet in Tursun's head when he requested a tomography: "I do not know what will happen", he said pessimistically. (BIA news centre, Nilufer ZENGIN, January 15, 2008)

Solidarité avec Mehmet Desde, victime d’un procès inéquitable
 
Mehmet Desde est actuellement emprisonné en Turquie à cause de ses opinions non violentes, après cinq années d’un véritable cauchemar judiciaire.

Bien que naturalisé Allemand dans son pays d’adoption, Mehmet est arrêté une première fois alors qu’il passe ses vacances à Izmir en juillet 2002, et torturé pendant sa détention.

En même temps que sept autres personnes, il est soupçonné d’appartenir à une «bande armée illégale», le Parti bolchevique du Kurdistan, un parti politique non violent considéré comme terroriste par les autorités turques, auquel il a toujours nié avoir appartenu.

En juillet 2003, la Cour de sûreté de l’Etat d’Izmir le condamne à 30 mois de prison, bien que le procureur ait requis l’abandon des poursuites. Les seuls éléments retenus contre Mehmet étaient des documents retrouvés chez lui appelant à manifester le 1er mai, des aveux extorqués sous la torture et les témoignages de codétenus eux aussi torturés.

Par ailleurs, le parti incriminé, non violent, ne tombait pas sous le coup des lois antiterroristes invoquées par la Cour.

Ayant formé un recours en cassation, Mehmet est remis en liberté (à condition de ne pas quitter la Turquie).

La Cour de Cassation à Ankara, annule la décision d’Izmir.

Mais le procès est renvoyé devant le même tribunal (qui entretemps est devenu la Cour d’Assise spéciale), ce qui est contraire à toutes les règles des pays démocratiques.

Mehmet est de nouveau condamné en mars 2006, pour appartenance à une organisation illégale.

Cette fois, bien que le procureur demande de nouveau l’abandon des poursuites, la 9è Cour de Cassation confirme le verdict le 25 décembre 2006.

Entretemps, Mehmet avait attaqué en justice les quatre policiers qui l’auraient torturé en 2002.

Il escomptait que ce procès aurait une incidence sur la décision de la 9è Cour de Cassation.

Or, les policiers ont été acquittés. Il a fait appel de cette décision devant la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme.

C’est ainsi que Mehmet a été de nouveau arrêté le 8 juin 2007, afin de purger le restant de sa peine jusqu’en décembre 2008. Il est à la prison d’Antalya, dans le sud de la Turquie.

Déclaration publique de Mehmet Desde, juste avant d’être arrêté le 8 juin 2007 pour la seconde fois:

  « Dans ce pays, j’ai été impliqué dans une bataille juridique pendant 5 ans.
    Je n’ai pas été autorisé à retourner en Allemagne, où je vis, et dont je suis citoyen.
    J’ai été forcé de vivre en Turquie.
    Si je l’avais voulu, j’aurais pu prendre la fuite depuis longtemps, et retourner en Allemagne.
    Mais, au lieu de m’échapper, j’ai essayé de me battre contre l’injustice, et de faire entendre ma voix.

    Lorsque vous lirez ces lignes, je serai en prison.
    Je ne dis pas adieu à la liberté de plein gré.
    C’est ce système qui me prive de liberté. Mais j’ai une certitude. Ils peuvent me mettre entre quatre murs, ils peuvent même m’isoler.
    Ils peuvent me priver de liberté.
    Mais personne ne peut enchaîner mon coeur et mes pensées.
    La vie continue, même entre ces quatre murs. Je continuerai à faire entendre ma voix, depuis la prison, et j’expliquerai ces injustices au public.”

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL intervient

   - pour la libération immédiate de Mehmet Desde
   - pour l’amélioration du système judiciaire turc, et notamment, pour que les aveux extorqués sous la torture ne soient plus utilisés comme preuve ;
   - pour l’ouverture de nouveaux procès après des condamnations prononcées à l’issue de procès inéquitables.

(www.amnesty.fr, 12 janvier 2008)

La Turquie condamnée pour traitements inhumains ou dégradants

La Turquie a été condamnée mardi pour traitements inhumains ou dégradants dans la disparition il y a dix ans d'un militant du Parti de la démocratie du peuple (Hadep, pro-kurde) et les brutalités infligées en garde à vue à un étudiant turc résidant à Berlin.

La première affaire concerne l'épouse de Mehmet Özdemir, un militant du Hadep qui avait fait l'objet d'enquêtes criminelles en raison de liens soupçonnés avec le parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) avant d'être enlevé par des hommes en civil armés en 1997, alors qu'il était dans un café de Bagivar, près de Diyarbakir (sud-est).

La Cour a estimé qu'il n'y avait pas eu d'enquête effective de la part de la justice turque concernant cette disparition, que celle-ci constituait une violation du droit à la vie, et enfin que son épouse a été victime de "traitements inhumains ou dégradants" compte tenu de "la manière dont ses plaintes ont été traitées par les autorités".

Elle a alloué 63.500 euros à la veuve de ce père de huit enfants au titre des dommages subis.

Dans la seconde affaire, Ercan Ayaz, un ressortissant turc résidant à Berlin avait été interpellé et placé en garde à vue en 1993 lors d'une escale à l'aéroport d'Istanbul, alors qu'il était étudiant à l'université libre de Berlin et se rendait en Irak pour le compte d'un groupe de travail universitaire sur le Kurdistan.

Il disait avoir été brutalisé par les policiers, roué de coups et avoir été victime d'attouchements sexuels. La justice turque avait estimé qu'il s'était infligé lui-même ces blessures, mais la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme a jugé cette explication "peu plausible".

La Cour lui a alloué 5.000 euros pour tous dommages confondus.  (AFP, 8 jan 2008)

Appel à mobilisation pour Lambadaistanbul, menacée de dissolution

L'association LGBTI (lesbienne, gai, biEs, trans', intersexe) Turque Lambdaistanbul vient d'annoncer dans un communiqué que le procès, visant à la dissolution de cette association et à la condamnation de ses responsables aura lieu le jeudi 31 janvier 2008 à 10h40.

Dans le même communiqué, Lambdaistanbul rappelle  que:

"Depuis juin 2007, la pression judiciaire, la menace de dissolution de l'association et de condamnation de ses responsables sont incessantes, alors même que la législation turque ne criminalise pas les personnes LGBTI. Deux audiences ont déjà eu lieu dans cette affaire en Juillet et Octobre 2007. Ces poursuites fragilisent Lambdaistanbul et entravent ses activités de défense des droits des personnes LGBTI, d'organisation de la marche des visibilité d'Istanbul, de support auprès des personnes LGBTI isolées et de prévention SIDA/Infections Sexuellement Transmissible.

"Le 31 janvier 2008, pour la première fois, la justice Turque va statuer sur le droit d'association des personnes LGBTI.

"Lambdaistanbul doit être soutenue, afin de défendre le droit d'association des personnes LGBTI en Turquie comme ailleurs, afin que continue la marche des fiertés à Istanbul comme ailleurs, afin que les droits des personnes LGBT soient défendus à Istanbul comme ailleurs.

"À travers le sort de Lambdaistanbul se joue le droit de s'associer, de s'assembler, de se défendre et de s'émanciper. Un droit qui ne va pas de soi et qu'il faut sans cesse défendre. Toujours et partout.

"Ce que vivent les personnes LGBTI de Turquie fait écho à certaines situations que nous connaissons notre propre pays. La marginalisation et la répression des personnes LGBTI, même si elles diffèrent d'un pays à l'autre, se retrouvent partout, en Turquie, comme dans notre propre pays, comme ailleurs.

"L'existence des associations et des collectifs LGBTI et la solidarité internationale sont une nécéssité.

"Cette campagne s'inscrit dans la solidarité, par-delà les frontières, dans la lutte contre le racisme, la lesbophobie, l'homophobie, la transphobie, l'hermaphobie, le sexisme, et contre toutes les discriminations."

Pour les détails de la campagne, contact direct avec Lambdaistanbul (écrire en anglais): lambda@lambdaistanbul.org
Site de Lambdaistanbul: www.lambdaistanbul.org

Recent violations of human rights

DTP March Stopped by Commandos

Tensions continued to rise in Mersin’s Yenice province following a 32 year old man Necati Balkara from Diyarbakır injured his landlord and killed his relative. The relatives of the landlord set fire on Balkara’s house and attacked local DTP office. DTP members wanted to have march protesting the attack. Yet Commandos arriving in the province held their own march chanting “everything for the motherland”. DTP members called off the march.  (www.antenna-tr.org, January 9, 2008)

Detentions and Arrests...

22 people, including DTP's Sirnak chairperson and his daughter, a journalist of Gündem Newspaper, members of municipality council and workers of municipality, were detained in Sirnak and its districts in synchronized operations on charges of "helping and harbouring a terror organization" on 7 January. With the demand of Sinak Chief Public Prosecution Office, Sirnak Heavy Penal Court took secrecy decision (TIHV-Evrensel, 9 January; Gündem, 8 January).

Ten people were detained in Ankara on charges of attending to the commemoration of Kevser Mizrak near her grave on 8 January (halkinsesi.tv, 8 January).

Right-wingers Attacked on University Students...

A right-wing group kidnapped and beaten two Kurdish students of Afyon Kocatepe University. Students were taken to hospital and they got a health report indicating disability for service for one month. Ten of the attackers were detained and 7 of them were released later. Police continue to seek the other five attackers (TIHV-atilim.org, 8 January).

Sentenced Party Executives...

Van Heavy Penal Court No. 4 sentenced Democratic Society Party's (DTP) Yüksekova District of Hakkari Province ex-chairperson Bedirhan Alkan to ten months' of imprisonment and a fine of 500YTL in connection with his words in a public statement on 11 February 2007 on charges of "praising crime and criminal" under Article 215 TPC. He said in the statement "Honourable Öcalan brought to Turkey with an international plot" (TIHV-Gündem, 8 January).

Detentions and Arrests...          

Igdir Penal Court of Peace arrested three people who were monitoring a trial in Igdir on charges of "making the propaganda of an illegal organization" on 4 January (TIHV-Gündem, 6 January).               

Death in Detention...

According to information obtained by Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), Halil Kiliç was killed in detention in Nusaybin Demirkurt Gendarmerie Station on 12 December 2007. He was 67 years old, unbalanced person who was detained in Nusaybin District of Mardin on the grounds that he was trying to cross Turkish-Syria border. Human Rights Association (IHD) made a public statement about this incident on 2 January (TIHV, 3 January).

Human Rights Violations after the changes in the Law on Duties and Authority of Police...

On 2 January, Izmir Public Prosecution Office launched a case in Karsiyaka Heavy Penal Court No. 1 against the police officer O.A. who shot death Baran Tursun on the grounds that he did not obey the "stop" warning in Karsiyaka Quarter of Izmir on 24 November 2007 on charges of "homicide with probable intention". Prosecutors demanded 25 years' of imprisonment for O.A.. (TIHV-ntvmsnbc.com, 2 January)

Sentenced Party Executive...

On 2 January Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 sentenced Ayhan Karabulut, DTP's Batman Province ex-chairperson, to nine years' and three months' of imprisonment in connection with the funeral of four militants of the armed wing of PKK, People's Defence Forces (HPG), on 28 March 2006 on charges of "helping and harboring PKK" and "making propaganda of an illegal organization" (TIHV-ANF, 2 January).

Attack on Association Building...

On 31 December unidentified people attacked on Basic Rights and Freedoms Association building in Bahçelievler Quarter of İstanbul with stones. Material damage was occurred (TIHV-halkinsesi.tv, 31 December)

Raid to Party Building...

On 1 January Anti-terror Teams of Gaziantep Security Directorate raided to Democratic Society Party's (DTP) Gaziantep branch office on the grounds that there could be illegal printed material. The police confiscated many mewspapers, magazines and photographs (TIHV-Gündem, 1 January).

Un attentat contre l'armée turque fait cinq morts à Diyarbakir

Cinq personnes ont été tuées et environ 70 blessées dans l'explosion d'une voiture piégée jeudi à Diyarbakir, la principale ville du sud-est de la Turquie, ont annoncé des responsables de cette région majoritairement peuplée de Kurdes. La déflagration s'est produite au passage d'un véhicule militaire sur une route du centre ville, à une centaine de mètres d'une base de l'armée turque, selon la police. Elle a été si puissante que les vitres de nombreux bâtiments aux alentours ont été brisées. Deux des personnes décédées sont des lycéens qui suivaient des cours privés dans l'un des bâtiments.

Le gouverneur de Diyarbakir, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, a précisé que les auteurs de l'attentat, pour le moment non identifiés, avaient fait exploser à distance une bombe placée dans une voiture. Plusieurs blessés sont très grièvement touchés, selon les autorités.

Le maire de Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir (DTP) a tout de suite condamné l'attentat qui qu'en soit l'auteur.

Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a condamné un "acte terroriste". "Le terrorisme a ressorti son horrible visage. Mais ce type d'événements n'infléchira pas notre détermination à combattre le terrorisme à la fois dans le pays et à l'extérieur", a ajouté le chef du gouvernement.

L'Armée a annoncé que le chef d'état-major Yasar Buyukanit se rendra à Diyarbakir pour se renseigner sur l'attentat.
 
L'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Ankara a également dénoncé, dans un communiqué, cette explosion qualifiée d'"exemple horrible de ces tragédies insensées causées par le terrorisme". Les Etats-Unis "réitèrent leur détermination à se tenir aux côtés de la Turquie dans la lutte contre tous les types de terrorisme", selon le communiqué.

La police turque a indiqué être à la recherche de deux personnes que des témoins ont vu fuir peu après l'explosion.

Les blessés incluent une trentaine de soldats et de nombreux civils dont des lycéens, selon des sources hospitalières. L'explosion a détruit cinq voitures en plus du véhicule militaire et a déclenché un important incendie qui a été maîtrisé.

La police a mis en place un périmètre de sécurité et a éloigné les journalistes, arguant d'une mesure de précaution pour le cas où surviendrait une autre explosion. Des artificiers ont été envoyés sur les lieux de l'explosion pour en déterminer les circonstances, a constaté un journaliste de l'AFP.

L'explosion de jeudi coïncide avec une multiplication des opérations de l'armée turque contre le PKK qu'Ankara accuse de mener des attaques depuis le nord de l'Irak voisin.

L'état-major turc a confirmé trois raids aériens contre des positions du PKK dans le nord de l'Irak depuis le 16 décembre ainsi qu'une opération terrestre pour empêcher un groupe de rebelles de s'infiltrer en Turquie. Des responsables du nord de l'Irak ont affirmé qu'il y avait eu deux autres raids aériens. (AFP, 3 jan 2008)

Incendies de voitures à Istanbul comme à Paris?

Alors que les attaques de l'État turc dans les zones de guérilla du sud du Kurdistan se poursuivent sans interruption, apparaissent à Istanbul et dans d'autres villes de Turquie des scènes qui rappellent celles vues en banlieue parisienne. Ainsi, à Istanbul, plus de 50 véhicules ont été incendiés lors des 16 derniers jours.

Les incendies ont commencé en protestation contre l'isolement d'Öcalan et la répression contre la population kurde. Généralement se sont des limousines de luxe qui sont visées par les attentats des jeunes kurdes. Mais des autobus urbains ont aussi été incendiés. A Istanbul une unité de la police spéciale a été créée. Le Premier ministre Erdogan s’est particulièrement énervé quand ces actions ont touché son quartier natal, le quartier Kasimpasa d’ Istanbul. Quelques heures plus tard, où brûlait à nouveau un véhicule.

Dans d'autres villes, il semble que la forme d'action soit devenue encore plus populaire. A Yüksekova le 25 Décembre, une grenade à main a été lancée devant la maison du président local de l’AKP, la voiture d’un sous-officier et la succursale postale ont été atteintes par un cocktail Molotov. Déjà, le 22 Décembre, deux autres voitures de sous-officiers avaient été prises pour cibles.

A Adana, ces derniers jours des voitures où se trouvaient des drapeaux turcs ou l'emblème du MHP ont été incendiées. Dans la ville, les propriétaires de station-service ont été invités par la police à signaler avec des caméras de sécurité les "personnes suspectes" qui achètent des bidons d'essence. (ANF, 3 janvier 2008)

Peace Parliament: Solve Kurdish Question in 2008

In a New Year’s message, the Peace Parliament addressed the unresolved Kurdish question:

“As a first step towards peace, the Turkish Peace Parliament invites the government to give up its assimilationist policies, to accept different identities, and to offer the resources to develop these identities. The [planned] constitutional reform is very important in this respect.”
Peaceful and political solution needed

The statement further said that the Kurdish question was one of the most important factors influencing peace in Turkey, and emphasised that the issue urgently needed to be solved in a peaceful and political manner:

“ Similar attempts in the past have shown that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will not be able to solve the problem by trying to improve Article 221, related to ‘remorse'. Legal and economic plans which do not aim at democratisation and political freedom show that the policy of assimilation is being continued in the area.”

The statement argued that the violence used and the policy of conflict have caused deaths and have increased suffering.

“We invite the government to end cross-border operations and tensions and to implement a peace project which will solve the Kurdish question within the borders of the country and with the dynamics of this country. The conflict is pulling the government towards a state of emergency. Those who oppose the official discourse are being branded as proponents of violence or as terrorists.”
Rising nationalism

“This attitude which feeds and supports the rising nationalism has made targets out of political parties of the opposition, of NGOs, academics and human rights activists.”

“After the murder of Hrant Dink, Turkey is again being perceived as a country in which political murders can be carried out. Three Christians were killed in Malatya. The accusations made against the [pro-Kurdish] Democratic Society Party (DTP), which formed a group in parliament, have turned into political lynching.”
Police violence and biased judiciary

The Peace Parliament pointed out that the police had been given more powers, which had resulted in the use of excessive force, threatening the right to life.

“There were seven deaths in detention and prisons in 2007, two of them caused by police guns. There has been an increase in torture and maltreatment cases, and the methods of violence have become more extreme. In order to guarantee social peace, we invite the government to respect the values and criteria of a state of law which is based on human rights.”

The statement further called on effective investigations into crimes committed by members of the security forces, and a neutral and independent judiciary process.

The Peace Parliament further announced that it would found organisations all over Turkey and thus increase its effectiveness. “There will be activities, and solutions will be developed. We wish all our people and the world fair and sustained peace, health and happiness.” (BIA, Gökce Gündüc, January 1st, 2008)

Not Enough Children's Rights in 2007

There have been some developments in children's rights in 2007, but more needs to be done. Turkey still does not have a comprehensive policy on children.

As far as children are concerned, 2007 brought the following developments:

    * On 22 November, the International Law on Child Kidnapping was passed. Turkey has ratified this law, which goes a great way to solving the problems of children from broken homes.
    * There were changes made to the Law on Social Services and the Society for the Protection of Children, which legally framed the types of institutions for the care and social rehabilitation of children.
    * The Agenda (Gündem) Children's Association has worked towards the creation of a policy on children.
    * Twenty institutions have come together and founded the "Platform for the Prevention of Child Neglect and Exploitation".

The economic situation of children

According to  Turkish Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (Türk-Is), the poverty line was set at 605,22 YTL (around 355 Euros) for the month of November 2006. This meant that at least 2,473,000 families started the year 2007 on the bread line, i.e. with a monthly income below that. If an average of two children per family is assumed, this means that around 5 million children were left hungry in 2007. They have suffered malnutrition and deficiencies in mental and physical development which will cause unrecoverable damage.

Much neglect and abuse

According to official numbers, 667,000 girls and 444,000 boys are not going ot school.

Children have mostly come to the attention as victims of physical violence and sexual abuse. The media have continued to violate the right of children to maintain privacy.

Frequent news were girls in primary and middle school wearing headscarves and ceremonies which children had to attend.

Had there been effective mechanisms in place to prevent neglect and exploitation, many events could have been prevented. The latest case was the exposure of 22 boarding school students and 6 teachers to tuberculosis microbes.

As in 2006, one of the most important problems facing children is the danger of living in an area of armed conflict.

Around the world, many children died or lost their health in war, and many children continue to live without the most basic rights. Some children even use arms themselves. We do not know exactly how the culture of violence that is also created in Turkey by armed conflict is affecting children.

A positive development has been the opening of new children's courts and of protection and rehabilitation centres for children who have been pushed into crime.

However, there is no network of services or a comprehensive policy towards children. In 2006, the "Prime Ministerial Circular on Preventing Violence Towards Women and Children" was publihsed, but no effective or lasting mechanisms have been put into place. This needs to be amended in 2008.

Turkey's treatment of girls in particular is shown up by the fact that a man who, when 30 years old, married a 15-year old girl, could become President. This shows that much remains to be done in order to increase public awareness of neglect and exploitation.
What needs to be done in 2008?

There needs to be coooperation on creating mechanisms which prevent child neglect and exploitation.

As a matter of urgency,

    * Marriages at an early age need to be prevented.
    * The employment of children in bad conditions has to be ended
    * Policies which impoverish children need to be changed. Services must be offered not only to children living under the poverty line but also around the poverty line.
    * In order to make up for the negative effects of armed conflict, there must be educational, social and cultural support.
    * There must be effective and institutional services aimed at children in order to prevent violence and "honour" killings. (BIA, Seda Akco, January 1st, 2008)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Confiscation of Che calendars

On January 22, 2008, Dersim Basic Rights and Freedoms Association was subjected to an arbitrary search. In a statement, workers in the Association stated the following about the police behaviour, which was of an unrestrained kind not exactly unfamiliar from the past:

"As had happened before, dozens of uniformed and plainclothes police blockaded the street and the building. During the search nobody, including Association members, was allowed to approach. OK, with a democratic association what security precautions (!) did they need to take?"

"During the search they found something which our Association printed for 2008, as stated in the police search protocol, ' a calendar with a picture of Che Guevara on it'. It is known that Che has international value as someone loved and respected by the peoples all over the world, and since he continues to be a symbol of hope for the peoples, this makes the AKP's police very uneasy. However, we must say that even if they confiscate a calendar for its pictures of Che Guevara, like they have confiscated thousands of books, posters, T-shirts, hats, necklaces and more important items, he cannot be erased from the hearts of the peoples." (www.halkinsesi.tv,  January 22, 2008)

Professor Yayla sentenced to 1 year in jail for insulting Atatürk

A professor was sentenced on Monday to one year, three months in jail for insulting the nation's founder, M. Kemal Atatürk, in a speech he made in Izmir a year ago.

The professor's sentence was suspended for two years by the court; however, if he commits the same offense one more time in this probation period, his sentence will be carried out. Atilla Yayla, a political science professor at Ankara's Gazi University and head of the Association for Liberal Thinking, was convicted of insulting the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded secular Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, and who is still revered nearly 70 years after his death. His portraits adorn walls in all government offices.

Yayla’s conviction comes as the country -- which aspires to join the European Union -- has been condemned for not doing enough to protect freedom of expression. Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers -- including Nobel Prize in Literature winner Orhan Pamuk -- have been tried under another law that bars insulting “Turkishness” and state institutions.

At the last hearing in July before yesterday’s reprise, Yayla had defended himself, saying to the court: “In that speech, I did not speak about Atatürk or his legacy. I talked about Kemalism. I said, ‘The republic is said to have saved us from the medieval ages; this is controversial.’ And as for the controversial nature of this argument, I said, ‘They [Europeans] will ask us why there are pictures and statues of Atatürk everywhere’.”

Murat Dinçer, Nalan Erkem and Raşit Sarıkaya, legal counsels representing Yayla, participated in yesterday’s trial. Dinçer said in his defense statement that it was not certain that his client had committed the crime of “insulting” Atatürk, and suggested that there was a considerable amount of reasonable doubt since the only written record of his client’s words from that date were reported by Yeni Asır daily correspondent Nuray Kaya, who later said she did not remember verbatim what Yayla had stated. “Other witnesses also said they believed they had listened to an academic speech with no words of insult being included.”

The counsel said they expected the judges to take the side of the Turkey of the 21st century with its humanist, contemporary, rational, modern and enlightened values that hold freedoms dear. The lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.

Yayla was charged after saying in a speech in 2006 that the era of one-party rule under Atatürk, from 1925-45, was not as progressive as the official ideology would have Turks believe. He said it was “regressive in some respects.” He also criticized the statues and pictures of Atatürk, saying Europeans would be baffled to see the portraits of just one man on the walls.

Yayla rejected the charges against him, insisting that he was not insulting Atatürk but questioning his legacy. He said he was also challenging the rigid way in which some followers interpret Atatürk’s principles as opposing liberal reforms and their imposition of strict secular laws such as the ban on headscarves at universities.

“As an academic, I must be free to think, to search and share findings,” Yayla said in a December 2006 interview with The Associated Press. “If Turkey wants to be a civilized country, academics must be able to scientifically criticize and evaluate Atatürk’s ideas.”

Gazi University fired Yayla over the controversy, but he was later reinstated. Yayla has also contributed articles to Today’s Zaman. (Today’s Zaman, January 28, 2008)

IPA écrit à l'Union Européenne pour protéger Ragip Zarakolu

M. Olli Rehn
Commissaire Européen à l’Elargissement
Rue de la Loi 200, 1040 Bruxelles
Belgique

Monsieur le Commissaire Rehn,

Inquiétudes pour les droits de l’homme en ce qui concerne le procès visant l’éditeur Zarakolu
Demande de suivi formel du procès de Ragip Zarakolu (prochaine audience : 31 janvier 2008)

L’Association Internationale des Editeurs (IPA) est grandement inquiète au sujet du traitement réservé à l’éditeur Ragip Zarakolu pour sa publication d’un livre de George Jerjian, intitulé Gerçek bizi Ozgür Kilacak (1). Nous estimons que les droits fondamentaux de l’éditeur Ragip Zarakolu à un procès équitable, à la liberté d’expression et à la liberté d’édition sont violés dans cette affaire. Nous vous prions donc aimablement, vous et votre Directeur général, de prêter attention à ce procès, en envoyant dans l’idéal un représentant de l’Union Européenne depuis Ankara, afin qu’il soit observateur lors de la prochaine audience du tribunal, le 31 janvier 2008, et/ou de demander formellement aux autorités turques les informations en cours concernant cette affaire.

Comme nous vous l’avons précédemment signalé, Ragip Zarakolu, co-fondateur et propriétaire des éditions Belge, est accusé à Istanbul d’ « outrage à l’Etat »