Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Peace Meetings To Announce Non-Violent Solution Is Possible

“Turkey Is Meeting For Peace! Democratic Solution For The Kurdish Problem” meeting, arranged by the Turkish Peace Assembly, will meet in İstanbul, Diyarbakır and Adana on August 31, Sunday.

The September 1 Peace Day meetings defend the position that “All problems, including the Kurdish problem, can be solved with methods appropriate to the human rights and the principle of democracy and by predicating them on the idea of full equality of and freedom for all cultures and peoples.”

“The Kurdish problem has not been and will not be solved by violence”

One of the Turkish Peace Assembly spokespersons Necmiye Alpay, with whom bianet met, calls all those who “say peace instead of war, life instead of death, brotherhood instead of hostility” to the meeting and explains its primary purpose as “defending peace against the armed struggle of both sides, whether Kurdish and Turkish.”

“The recent clashes in the past one month and the violent atmosphere we have been experiencing actually show how much we need peace. Therefore, these meetings are even more meaningful; we defend peace exactly because the Kurdish problem have not been and will not be solved by violence. It is the principle of being against all forms of violence, regardless of who uses it, which forms the meaning of these peace meetings.”

Alpay says mainly the left wing political parties, feminists, the human rights defenders and mostly Kurds will come to the meeting that will take place in Kadıköy, Istanbul. She adds that peace is everyone’s concern and it will be very pleasing to see a wide participation.

“Society is hoping for peace in spite of government’s attitudes”

One of the Peace Assembly initiators Murat Çelikkan, too, says that the interest in the meetings arranged in three provinces indicates that there is a pro-peace and egalitarian expectation in the society in spite of the attitudes of the political parties and the government:

“It is necessary to let know the decision makers and public that it is possible to use equality, brotherhood and peace rather than violence in the Kurdish problem and it is not very difficult to implement this demand. The Peace meeting reminds everyone one more time that the Kurdish problem needs to be solved by peaceful means.” (BIA, Ceyda Ulukaya, August 27, 2008)

Publisher Tanrikulu reports murders with unknown perpetrators

Publisher Mehdi Tanrıkulu applied to Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution service arguing that if an investigation was launched many murders with unknown perpetrators could be solved.

Tanrıkulu argues that the actions reported in the book contains many crimes including “murder without trial, misconduct, neglect, destroying evidence, torture, violating the integrity of someone’s dead body, setting up illegal armed gang in the army.” Two of Çakan’s reports among many he compiled in the book are below:

Pushed off from a helicopter

In July 1992, I began my service in Mechanized Brigade Num.7, Mechanised Troops Num.1, Mechanised Section Num.1. in Kars-Kağızman. At noon hours of 04.04.1993 there were confrontations between the troops and PKK militants in the location between two Mounts Ararat. On the following day, military officials picked up a captured and wounded PKK militant whose name was Doğan and had left the second year of İnönü University in Malatya. He was to be taken to Erzurum by a helicopter. I learnt through both military and civilian sources that Doğan was pushed off from the helicopter over Tendürek Mountain for refusing to speak.

Raped a Dead Body

I was serving in Mechanised Brigade Num.7, Mechanised Troops Num.1. On 27 May 1994 at around 09.20 in the morning PKK ambushed a military patrol. Eight soldiers and a NCO lost their lives. One male and one female PKK members too had lost their lives and their bodies had remained in the valley. Special Operation Teams moved into confrontation region on the following day. Our troops followed them. When we arrived where they were two special team police officers were standing by the dead bodies. Male body were torn apart with bullets while female body had been shot on the head. Police officer named Ramazan who was from Adana was behind a big rock. Our section commander Captain Mehmet Özpolat asked; ‘what are you doing?’ Police Ramazan shouted ‘don’t come I am doing the dead terrorist’. Captain said “What! Don’t be stupid, how can you do it to a dead body.’ Captain said ‘This is not right, you lost your minds, this is too much.’ I lost my temper and swore at Ramazan. Ramazan pulled his gun at the captain. I fired twice in the air.” (Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin, 29 August 2008)

When a prosecutor confuses people who are supposed to be charged…

Former military non-commissioned officer Kasım Çakan compiled reports of murders with unknown perpetrators he witnessed as he was an officer in the East and the South East of Turkey. “They pushed off a PKK member from a helicopter... A special team police officer raped the dead body of a female PKK member...” are some of what Çakan wrote giving names of people, dates and names of places.
 
While his eyewitness reports should have been treated as report of crime, a prosecutor filed a case against writer Çakan and Publisher Mehdi Tanrıkulu charging them with ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organisation’ (ATL 7/2) in September 2007. The charges were based on the fact that Çakan referred PKK members as guerrillas in the book. His confessions were totally ignored in the indictment. (Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin, 29 August 2008)

Death due to Beating Left Uninvestigated

It was claimed that a prisoner in Mardin Prison Abdülaziz Ekinci died as a result of the beating by guards. Ekinci’s family reported crime against the guards however prosecutor decided that there was no need for investigation.

Ekinci’s mother applied to HRA Diyarbakır branch and said that her son had been beaten up since he went in to prison. Ekinci said, “My son would come to open visit with black eyes. He used to speak with me but then he stopped.”

Ekinci said that they sent 20 letters to Ministry of Justice with no reply. Ekinci said: “My son said during a visit the names of two guards. He was scared, he whispered. He said ‘they beat me up’. I cried.”

HRA branch chair Muharrem Erbey said that they applied to Justice Ministry, Prime Ministry HR Chair, Parliamentary HR Commission, Mardin Governor and Mardin Public Prosecutor. Erbey said that the family complained against chief guard Mehmet Zahir Aydın and guards Seyithan Tosun and Mehmet Şirin Bayık but Mardin Prosecution decided not to investigate the case. (antenna-tr.org, August 29, 2008)

Zero Tolerance To Torture Equals 4719 Complaints

Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin claimed that in Turkey, 4719 individuals, among whom 471 children, had faced “torture”, “excessive torture” and “excessive violence” just in 2006 and 2007.

Replying to the motion of question by Batman deputy Ayla Akad Ata for the Democratic Society Party (DTP), Şahin gave information about the investigation and prosecution statistics for the security and gendarmerie officials in accordance with articles of 94, 95 and 256 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) that regulate the excessive torture and use of disproportionate force by the public officials.

According to the information supplied, 3866 cases were filed, 9716 police officers, 616 gendarmerie officials and 554 other type of officials were accused. Adding the 796 files taken over from 2005, 2654 cases with 6397 officials resulted in “no need for prosecution” verdict. On the other hand, 1423 suspects in 614 investigations ended up facing criminal charges.

There were many applications to the human rights organizations for torture in 2007: to the Human Rights Association (İHD) 687, to the Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed People (MAZLUMDER) 163, to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) 452. There were 67 applications to MAZLUMDER and 112 to TİHV in the first five months of 2008.

While these numbers contradict the “Zero Tolerance to Torture” motto of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the fact that the numbers given by Minister Şahin are much higher shows that there is actually no zero tolerance at all. This confirms the arguments by the human rights defenders and organizations that torture still goes unpunished. On the other hand, Şahin does not talk at all about the “deaths under custody” and “torture in open space”.

In 2007, there were 2 deaths under custody according to the records of the MAZLUMDER and 6 according to the TİHV.

According to the TİHV report, 54 people applying to the treatment centers stated that they had been tortured either out on the street or in open space, in a house or a vehicle, or in some other place. İHD’s 2006 records state that the number for “Torture and Bad Treatment in Places Other Than the Official Custody Places” was 261.

Moreover, why is the information about the identity of the officials who are punished and the type of the punishment they received not made public immediately?

The most pressing issue, as was stated by TİHV president Yavuz Önen on June 26 of this year, that is, on the Solidarity Day With Those Tortured, is the fact that torture goes unpunished.

Finally, it should be reminded that Turkey has not ratified the UN’s Optional Protocol Against Torture.

When Ata brought up the subject of torture in F Type prisons some time ago, Şahin had said, “If anyone says the prison where there is systematic torture is in Turkey, I will deny it completely.

*This report was prepared using material from gundemonline, Taraf and Radikal news organizations. (BIA, August 26, 2008)

JITEM’s illegal actions cost Turkey a fortune

Turkey ranks second after Russia in the list of countries with the largest number of human rights violation cases open at the European Court of Human Rights, with 9,000 cases currently pending. Two-thirds of the applications made to the European court regard violations of fair trial and property rights. There are currently 440 cases opened against Turkey regarding torture, ill treatment and violation of the right to live.

According to statistics from the Foreign Ministry, Turkey was sentenced to 33 million euros in 567 different cases between 1990 -- when Turkey allowed individual applications to the European court -- and 2006. A majority of these cases are related to events that took place in southeastern Anatolia when it was declared that the region was in a state of emergency. This label was officially applied to the Southeast between July 1987 and November 2002 due to terrorist activities perpetrated by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

Turkey, which accounts for 9.5 percent of the cases at the European court, has been fined many times due to the violations of human rights that took place in the Southeast at that time, where JİTEM -- a secret and illicit military intelligence agency -- was active.

JİTEM has now come up again on Turkey's agenda after retired Col. Arif Doğan was detained in the investigation into Ergenekon, a criminal network suspected of plotting a coup against the government.

Doğan confessed during his interrogation that he was the founder and head of JİTEM. The Yüksekova Gang was an illegal organization formed in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari, headed by three high ranking military personnel and various politicians, that smuggled drugs and weapons. The gang's activities -- first revealed in 1996, causing the name of JİTEM to be mentioned in a court record for the first time -- are only one part of the JİTEM activities that have been sent to the European court, which in total have cost Turkey a fortune. Doğan was one of the suspects tried in the frame of the Yüksekova Gang, known by the public as "the gang with uniforms." Though local courts sentenced the members of the Yüksekova Gang to imprisonment many times, all of these punishments were cancelled by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The European court then fined Turkey 103,000 euros for its decisions about the Yüksekova Gang.

Doğan is also mentioned in the investigation of the murder of Kurdish writer Musa Anter, who was killed at the age of 72 in 1992 in Diyarbakır, where he had gone to participate in a festival. Abdulkadir Aygan, a defected PKK terrorist who was a JİTEM member for 10 years, explained many years after the Yüksekova case that one of the JİTEM teams, which were under control of Doğan and Cem Ersever (who was also later killed by the Ergenekon gang in 1993), killed Musa Anter in 1992 in his hotel room. Aygan was also with the team that killed Anter. Turkey was found guilty of this murder 14 years after it took place and was ordered by the European court to pay a total of 28,500 euros in 2006.

One of the most famous decisions of the European court against Turkey concerned an incident in which the resident's of the village of Yeşilyurt in the Cizde district of southeastern Anatolia province Mardin were forced to eat excrement during an operation administrated by Maj. Cafer Tayyar Çağlayan in 1989. Çağlayan was tried in Turkey after the villagers complained, and he was sentenced to three months of imprisonment. However, this punishment was delayed and later commuted to a monetary fine. The villagers then applied to the European court, which fined Turkey 300 French francs in 1994 for torture.

Hundreds of court cases from Turkey

Turkey, which ratified the European Convention of Human Rights in 1954, accepted the right to apply to the European court individually in 1987. Turkey agreed to accept the decisions of the European court and to pay the fines it was leveled in 1989, and this agreement became valid in 1990. The first individual application to the European court from Turkey was made in 1993, and the European court made its first decisions on Turkey in 1995. The number of decisions that the European court has made since then is as follows: three in 1995, five in 1996, eight in 1997, 18 in 1998, 19 in 1999, 39 in 2000, 218 in 2001, 99 in 2002, 123 in 2003, 171 in 2004, 290 in 2005 and 300 in 2006.  (Today's Zaman, Melik Duvakli, 27 August 2008)

“Idle Environmentalists” Released From Custody, After Protest

The participants of the Ekotopya (Ecologic Utopias) Youth Park, who were raided by the Gendarmerie and told to shut down their camp by Sinop’s governor, held a protest meeting in front of the governorship.

Police took into custody the 33 activists who lay down on the street. One of the camp participants R.G., who declined to give his/her name, told bianet that those who were taken into custody were released early in the morning. 

The Ekotopya Youth Camp was raided by the Gendarmerie on Friday (August 22). Following the raid, the governor had ordered the immediate shutdown of the camp.

R.G. said that the street where the Sinop City and Life Without Nuclear Association (SİNYAD) was under police blockade for two days and that they did not even give water to the environmentalists who were apprehended.

The co-chairpersons of the Greens Party, Bilge Contepe and Ümit Şahin said, “This has shown one more time how democratic the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is. It is clear that the Prime Minister supports this kind of behavior, as he attacked the environmentalist in Rize when the Sinop Police was putting pressure on them in Sinop.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his speech in Rize, a city at the far eastern end of the Black Sea Coast of Turkey, that he was an environmentalist, his government was environmentalist, but they were not of those idle environmentalists. (BIA,August 25, 2008)

Ardahan Security Chief Confesses Torture
 
Former boxer and Ardahan Security Chief Kemal Sonunur said that before European Union integration laws he “beat up” many burglars and rapists, “I used to beat up the burglars. We plead them to confess their crime now. And they confess in order not to refuse our kind request.”

Kemal Sonunur was the bodyguard of former president Turgut Özal once and became controversial with pictures where he kissed the hand of Fethullah Gülen, the leader of a religious order. Sonunur began his job as the security chief of Ardahan by reminiscing over the old days.

Sonunur said:

"Integration laws took our beating of criminals from our hands. However I beat up many burglars and rapists before the laws. I am not denying. Our fists have fine adjusted. I used to adjust it to his built and in dosage. But now there is Penal Procedural Laws, integration laws.”  (antenna-tr.org, August 25, 2008)

Racist murder campaign from Turkish Revenge Squads …

The website of Turkish Revenge Squads (TIT) which declares Kurds, AKP and Islamic movements as enemies now launched a campaign, ‘Hey Turk get armed and you shoot an enemy too.’ A declaration signed by the general president of TIT Savaşan Atsız published on the website defended Ergenekon and said:

“We keep our right to hold armed action against AKP leaders, their hired prosecutors, pens of imperialism… Taraf, Yeni Şafak, Zaman dailies and other writers and newspaper editors who encourage them!”

The website publishes a list of points where arms can be bought.  (antenna-tr.org, August 25, 2008)

29 étrangers arrêtés lors d'une manifestation anti-nucléaire

Vingt-neuf ressortissants étrangers, dont plusieurs français, et trois Turcs ont été arrêtés samedi lors d'une manifestation contre un projet de construction d'une centrale nucléaire près de la ville turque de Sinop, sur les rives de la mer Noire, selon une organisation de défense de l'environnement.

La police a confirmé ces arrestations, affirmant que la manifestation n'avait pas été autorisée.

Les forces de l'ordre ont dispersé la manifestation devant le bureau du gouverneur local et interpellé 29 manifestants, selon Niklas Hartmann, de l'ONG European Youth for Action.

Parmi les interpellés figurent au moins deux ressortissants américains et plusieurs Allemands et Français, selon Niklas Hartmann. Les manifestants campaient près de Sinop depuis le 9 août.

Les autorités turques ont annoncé leur projet de construire une centrale nucléaire près de Sinop, après la construction de leur première centrale près de Mersin, sur les bords de la Méditerranée. (canadianpress.google.com, 23 août 2008)

Un attentat à la voiture piégée fait 16 blessés à Izmir

Seize personnes, pour la plupart des policiers et des militaires, ont été blessées par l'explosion d'une voiture piégée visant les forces de sécurité jeudi à Izmir, dans l'ouest de la Turquie, ont affirmé les autorités.

La police n'a pas fait de déclaration sur les instigateurs possibles de l'attentat, mais un ministre a émis l'hypothèse d'une implication des rebelles kurdes luttant pour l'indépendance du sud-est anatolien à la population en majorité kurde.

La voiture, garée au bord d'une route, a explosé vers 07H45 (04H45 GMT) au passage d'une voiture de l'armée et d'un bus de la police, ont affirmé les services du gouverneur d'Izmir.

"L'explosion s'est produite dans une voiture vide stationnée sur les lieux de la déflagration. Nous pensons que celle-ci a été provoquée par des explosifs déclenchés à distance", a déclaré le gouverneur d'Izmir Cahit Kiraç, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Un porte-parole du gouverneur a déclaré que l'explosion avait blessé sept policiers, trois soldats dont un colonel et six civils.

"Un des soldats blessés est dans une situation critique et est en train d'être opéré", a déclaré cette source, parlant sous le couvert de l'anonymat.

Une fumée noire s'échappait de la carcasse d'une voiture carbonisée, devant un minibus de la police, alors que les forces de l'ordre installaient un cordon de sécurité autour de la scène, selon des images diffusées par la télévision NTV.

Les vitres des bâtiments alentour ont été soufflées par la déflagration, décrite par les résidents comme puissante.

Le ministre des Transports Binali Yildirim a suggéré que l'explosion était l'oeuvre de "l'organisation terroriste", un terme habituellement employé pour désigner les rebelles kurdes du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK), a rapporté Anatolie.

L'agence a cité M. Yildirim affirmant que les rebelles s'étaient lancés dans une campagne d'attentats à la bombe visant les centres urbains depuis que les opérations militaires les empêchaient d'agir dans le sud-est anatolien.

L'attentat d'Izmir intervient deux jours après l'explosion d'une bombe à Mersin (sud). Le poseur de bombe supposé, poursuivi par la police, a déclenché la bombe, se tuant et blessant 12 policiers. (AFP, 21 août 2008)

12 policiers blessés dans un possible attentat suicide

Douze policiers ont été blessés dans l'explosion d'une voiture, vraisemblablement déclenchée par un kamikaze qui a trouvé la mort mardi près de Mersin, dans le sud de la Turquie, ont rapporté des responsables locaux et des médias.

"Nous envisageons la possibilité d'un attentat suicide", a déclaré à l'agence de presse Anatolie le gouverneur de Mersin, Huseyin Aksoy.

Selon lui, le conducteur, seul à bord du véhicule, a déclenché l'engin explosif qu'il transportait lorsque des policiers à sa poursuite ont tenté de l'arrêter dans la banlieue de la ville.

Douze policiers ont été blessés, dont deux étaient hospitalisés dans un état grave.

La police estime que la bombe comportait une trentaine de kilos d'explosif plastic C-4.

Les forces de l'ordre, prévenues qu'un attentat-suicide se préparait dans la ville, avaient commencé à suivre le véhicule mardi matin, après qu'il eut quitté la province voisine de l'Adana, où il était arrivé en provenance de Diyarbakir. Le conducteur ne s'est pas arrêté malgré les avertissements répétés de la police et a actionné la bombe après que les forces de l'ordre eurent ouvert le feu, a poursuivi Anatolie.

Selon les enquêteurs, le kamikaze, qu'ils tentent d'identifier, entendait frapper le siège de la police à Mersin dans l'après-midi, au moment où les personnes qui y travaillent quittent le bâtiment, a ajouté l'agence  (AFP, 20 août 2008)

Police violence turned towards human rights defenders

Latest communiqué of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD):

About 44 people, including administrators of Democratic Society Party (DTP) provincial and district organizations in Adana, Küçük Dikili Mayor Ms. Leyla Güven and Misis Mayor Mr. Burhan Ars were detained from their house in early morning on 14.08.2008. Within the framework of these detentions, police and gendarmerie forces planned to raid Adana DTP provincial organization. After an application via phone to Human Rights Association (İHD) Adana Branch, the president of the branch Mr. Ethem Açıkalın and an administrator Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz went to the scene to become observer and determine human rights violations at the scene immediately.

POLICE FORCES GO ON BREAKING ARM!

When the president Mr. Ethem Açıkalın and the administrator Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz enter into DTP building, they see police raid. After a while, police force members ask our administrators that why they did come there. The president and administrator say that they came because they got a call and getting information and preparing report about detentions and releasing these reports to the public part of their activities. After a short argument, police forces attacked against them and took the President Mr. Ethem Açıkalın and the Treasurer out. They take our administrators forcibly to door of DTP building, which is in the 3 floor, and throw them from DTP building to stairs. As a result of this attack, Mr. Beyaz’s arm is broken. Mr. Beyaz is taken to the State Hospital in Adana and broken arm is proved by doctors. He gets a medical report that states he will be disable for service for next two months.

ALTHOUGH POLICE FORCES ARE OFFENDER, THEY FILE A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT!

As Adana Police forces are aware their attack has serious outcomes against them, they immediately file a complaint against our administrators in regard to resisting against police forces. Prosecution office, which calls our administrators immediately, is surprised when they see situation of our administrators.

IHD Adana Branch is going to file a criminal complaint today (18.08.2008).

The Government is responsible for the action of the security forces that think it can apply any kind of violence and act in this way. Security forces have such an opinion with changes, which have been made in June 2007, in Law on the Duties and Competencies of Police. İHD condemns the attack against our administrator Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz who conducted determining and observing human rights violations that is in the nature of human rights defending and the basic mission of human rights defenders.

We invite the Government to conform to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, and start all judicial and administrative investigation. (ihd@ihd.org.tr, August 18, 2008)

Six Arrested In An Anti-Nuclear Protest

According to the announcement the Greens Party made today (August 20), the six people protesting the planned nuclear plant by having a sit-in in front of the Turkish Atomic Energy Institution (TAEK) in Sinop were taken into custody.

Four of those taken into custody are Ekotopya camp members and three among these four are foreign nationals. The other two are the members of Sinop’s City And Life Without Nuclear Association (SİNYAD). The six people are still at the police station.

Co-spokesperson of the Greens Party Ümit Şahin said, “As the Greens Party, we condemn the impatience shown to those who are trying to use their legitimate right to oppose. We ask the government to cancel the nuclear bidding that they are planning to get done with by September 24, instead of bothering those who are against nuclear plants. (BIA, August 20, 2008)

Three More Apprehended For Ergenekon With 280 Grenades

The special authority in Beşiktaş, which is attached to the investigation conducted by Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor, organized an operation to two addresses in Beykoz/İstanbul and in Ankara.

In the Beykoz address, which is claimed to be retired Gendarmerie Colonel Arif Doğan’s real estate office, three long-barreled rifles, three guns, shells for these weapons, 280 hand grenades and many documents were found.

Retired colonel Arif Doğan and two unidentified individuals were apprehended in connection with the operation.

According to the cnnturk.com, retired colonel Arif Doğan is a close associate of retired brigadier general Veli Küçük, one of the major suspects in the Ergenekon case.

Former acting president of the intelligence office of the Head of the Police Department Bülent Orakoğlu had identified Arif Doğan in one of his comments as the founder of JİTEM, the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti Terror Unit.

Turan Çömez, who is in London for language education, and Levent Ersöz, who is thought to be in Russia, are to be arrested for the Ergenekon investigation.

The Ergenekon investigation had started when the police had found some weapons and hand grenades in a shack in Ümraniye in Istanbul on June 13 in 2007. (BIA - hurriyet.com.tr - cnnturk.com, August 15, 2008)

IHD Demands Investigation Of Human Rights Violations In Three Prisons

Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) has announced that Ahmet Kırboğa, who has applied to them countless times for having been badly treated and tortured in Bitlis Prison, was insulted and threatened by the soldiers during his transfer to Erzurum H Type Prison on July 11, 2008. 
According to the İHD, Kırboğa was undressed naked, subjected to bad treatment by the prison officials, kept in his cell for three days, not given sheet and blanket although he was cold, and his items of personal hygiene such as toothbrush, soap, detergent and towel were not returned to him although they were in his bag.

There were 174 applications to İHD’s Diyarbakır branch and all the other branches in the eastern and southeastern Turkey in the first six months of year 2004 for bad treatment. These applications were 191 in the first six months of 2005, 242 in the first six months of 2006, 172 in the first six months of 2007 and 434 in the first six months of 2008.

Emphasizing the increase in the figures about torture and bad treatment, the İHD says, “We, the human rights defenders, want an investigation especially about the increase in human rights violations in Bitlis, Siirt and Erzurum prisons in Eastern Turkey. However, they also add that they have so far gotten no results to their inquiries.

İHD’s Diyarbakır branch calls upon Bitlis, Siirt and Erzurum Chief Prosecutors, the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) who declares “zero tolerance to torture”, the Parliament and every institution and organization concerned with the subject to launch an investigation by sending inspectors to these prisons. (BIA, August 12, 2008)

Peace Assembly To Have Meetings In Diyarbakır, Adana and Istanbul

Turkish Peace Assembly has organized a press release named “Turkey Is Meeting For Peace! Democratic Solution For The Kurdish Problem” today (August 12) together with the Revolutionary Confederation of Labor Unions (DİSK) in its Istanbul branch building.

Necmiye Alpay emphasized that pushing the Kurdish problem towards no-solution by resorting to military operations and militaristic methods had been increasing the death toll.

“They prevent people from returning to their villages. In addition to the operations, they are forming new cadres for the paramilitaristic village defenders. The war economy is causing the poor to become poorer; our bread is getting smaller every day.”

The announcement pointed out to the effort to make enemies out of the peoples who have been living together for years by fomenting militarism, chauvinism and racism in the political atmosphere. They also added that all of the problems, including the Kurdish problem, could be solved by using methods appropriate to the principles of the human rights and democracy and basing them upon the understanding of full equality between peoples and cultures and their total freedom.

Peace Assembly promoters are inviting everyone who says peace against war, life against death, brotherhood against hostility to the meeting named “Turkey Is Meeting For Peace! Democratic Solution In The Kurdish Problem” that will take place in Diyarbakır, Adana and Istanbul Kadıköy simultaneously on August 31. (BIA, Nilay VARDAR- Zeynep GÜNER, August 12, 2008)

Blacklists seized in Ergenekon probe Special Forces' knack

Former Major Fikret Emek, who was detained as part the Ergenekon probe after incriminating documents together with some bombs, bullets and explosives were seized from his mother's house, said keeping records of people was one of the “routine tasks” of the Turkish Special Forces, a branch of the Land Forces Command.

Emek, alleged to have been a member of the military wing of the Ergenekon gang, is also a retired staff member of the Turkish Special Forces. The records, or “blacklists,” seized in his mother's house included names of hundreds of residents of Istanbul who were described as members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), DHKP/C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front), extreme leftists, Süleymancı (member of a religious congregation called Süleymancılar) or Nakşibendi (member of a Sufi order called Nakşibendi). However, he reportedly said in his statement at the Security Directorate that the records were prepared by units working under his official assignment and was one of the Turkish Special Forces' routine tasks.

Emek's replied to questions asked of him at the Security Directorate about the records referred to in the Ergenekon indictment, saying the following:

“He said the documents shown to him were prepared in line with information acquired by intelligence units on terrorist organization PKK, DHKP/C, TİKKO (Turkish Workers Peasants Liberation Party), Nakşibendi and other similar groups of organizations, and were part of his tasks during his office at the special forces. Additionally, he said the documents shown to him were reports prepared by units under his official assignment and was one of their routine tasks.”

Emek reportedly said in his statement that he took the records -- which had been kept while he was still in office -- with him after he retired. Emek served in the Special Forces from 1986 to 2004.

According to press reports, three blacklists, two of which are made up of seven pages each and one of which had been written on 10 pages, cover all food factories, furniture stores, groceries, and barber shops in all neighborhoods of Istanbul. The records kept by intelligence units not only categorize people as members of this and that group but also various nongovernmental organizations and/or institutions as backers of organizations such as DHKP/C, Dev-Yol, PKK, MLKP (Marxist-Lenninist Liberation Party) and TİKKO, or religious groups such as Süleymancılar, Kadiriler, Nurcular, Milli Görüşçüler or Nakşibendiler.

Kurds blacklisted too

Some of the records seized at Emek's house include lists of a number of companies that belong to Kurdish businessmen. According to a document included in file No. 19 of the Ergenekon indictment, a file that was prepared by the intelligence units serving in the special forces' command that was titled “sponsors of the PKK terrorist organization” includes a list of 164 private companies. That such a list was seized at the house of a person detained under the Ergenekon probe gave rise to suspicions that the main aim was not simply limited to gathering intelligence.

One of the documents seized at the house of Ergenekon detainee Emek, also known as “Major Şamil,” includes information about an organization called the “New Kurdistan Movement.” The document, with a note marked “confidential” attached to it, reportedly describes the New Kurdistan Movement -- whose name is unheard of by the public -- as “an organization that seems to be more dangerous than the PKK.”

In the document, the intelligence units that serve in the special forces also describe the New Kurdistan Movement as “an organization whose members are also the accomplices of PKK and HADEP.” According to a scheme that is reportedly provided in an appendix to the document, two well-known deputies from central right parties serve as president and deputy president of the alleged “New Kurdistan Movement.” (Turkish Daily News, August 8, 2008)

Parliament Discusses The Special Forces For Keeping Files On People

Akın Birdal, Diyarbakır deputy for the Democratic Society Party (DTP), submitted a motion of question for keeping files on hundreds of people in Istanbul, which was described by retired major Fikret Emek, one of the accused in the Ergenekon case, as “a routine job of the Special Forces Command Post.”

Talking to bianet, Birdal says the government should show the necessary will to go against this unlawful practice and to uncover the perpetrators: “AKP should want this and we should support it.”

Did keeping files go on?

Birdal’s questions, which he wants to be replied by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, are:

1. Is it true that the units responsible for the internal security kept files by subjecting individuals and institutions to political evaluation?

2. Which institution kept files on people?

3. Does keeping files cover only the period of 1999-2000? Or, is keeping files on people comes all the way to the present?

4. Is it legal according to the official regulations that an institution can keep files on individuals and institutions? If it is legal then which institutions can keep files on people? What is the purpose of keeping files?

5. Was your ministry aware of this procedure of keeping files on people?

6. Has the individual or the institution which keeps files on people ever been investigated because of keeping files? If there has, then what was the result?

7. Has there been an administrative or judicial investigation about the individuals or institutions that have been politically evaluated through keeping files on them?

8. Do you think keeping files is justifiable in the context of human rights and freedoms and personal safety and freedom, including the right to live?

9. Do you think there should be a parliamentary inquiry about this unlawful practice that is against democracy and human rights?

Birdal says there must be an investigative commission and the parliamentary group of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) told bianet that they were planning to form an investigative commission.    

According to the documents uncovered in the Ergenekon investigation, individuals are filed with descriptions such as “PKK, DHKP/C, TİKKO, MLKP, radical left, reactionary religious,  Nakşibendi, Süleymancı, Nurcu” across their names. The acronyms represent the radical leftist and Islamic congregations deemed dangerous.

Retired major Emek, in whose house these files were found, describes the whole thing as one of the routine duties of the Special Forces, which he had to do when he was assigned to this post. (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, August 7, 2008)

Former Governor Was Business Partners With A Major Ergenekon Accused

Adil Serdar Saçan, former Branch Director of Istanbul’s Fight Against Organized Crimes Department, who is accused of trying to cover up the Ergenekon investigation in 2001, praises Oktay Yıldırım in a letter he wrote to Bekir Öztürk: “My brother Oktay is a hero, a  veteran master sergeant.

Hasan Özdemir, Gaziantep deputy from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Istanbul’s police chief at the time, who, according to Saçan, knew about the investigation at the time, said, “I did not see that document. The prosecutor must have sent it directly to the Istanbul Intelligence Branch.”

Another person whom Saçan presented as a witness about the allegations in connection with the Ergenekon investigation, that is, Erol Çakır, Istanbul governor at the time, was business partners with Veli Küçük, one of the accused in the Ergenekon case.  

According to the documents that were recovered in the Ergenekon investigation, the high-level commanders of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had a meeting about the “problems of the country” on July 15 – 16, 2003.

The target was the government. The commanders were of the opinion that they had to make a decision or accept their fate. To accomplish this, they thought it was necessary to insult the prime minister in special meetings. They also thought that they needed a good media support.

As the communications between the chief prosecutor of Istanbul and the Gaziantep Prison were added to the Ergenekon indictment, the identity of one of the secret witnesses, the one who is a Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) informant, has been revealed.

The election zones and brief life stories, with additional notes, of  the Justice and Development Party deputies for the 22nd term were found on a document among the files of accused Halil Behiç Gürcihan, owner of the internet site “acikistibahrat.com” (open intelligence), who was arrested in June 2008.

Keeping files encompassed the Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan and Balıkesir deputies. (BIA, August 8, 2008)

Police Department Backs Another Trigger Happy Police Officer

Istanbul Police Department backs another trigger-happy police officer, who shot a youth for no police business whatsoever. According to the Police Department, police officer Mustafa Atasoy shot Cem İnci when his weapon misfired during a verbal argument between the two.

According to the explanation of the Police Department, the reason the police officer was not handcuffed was because he was an officer and there was no flight risk. The same explanation described the excessive hugging and kissing between the police officers while the accused was on his way to the prison as police solidarity.

The last paragraph of the explanation concluded by stating that a police officer was a human being, too, that they all had to wait for the result of the trial. The report did not fail to accuse the reporters for describing the police officer in negative terms.

No explanation for preventing the necessary medical aid to the victim

The Police Department did not say anything about the prevention of help to the victim by the accused. According to the witnesses and victim’s relatives, accused police officer prevented people in the scene who attempted to help the victim with his weapon.

“My son could not even call his mother when he was dying”

According to Elvan Ezber’s report from daily Milliyet, victim’s father Zihni İnci said, “According to the people there, the police officer did not let anyone approach his son, holding his gun against them. Instead of calling an ambulance, he called his police friends and told them that he shot someone. Only after other police officers arrived at the scene, they called an ambulance. When my son tried to call his mother, the officer did not let him.”

According to accused police officer Atasoy’s statement, victim İnci and his friends harassed him, he tried to get away first, but they did not let him, and when he got his gun out to scare them, it misfired. (BIA, August 8, 2008)

The Ergenekon documents: Big Ergenekon Watching Us

İsmet BERKAN
(Editor-in-chief of daily Radikal)

Since the day it was revealed, I have been reading the Ergenekon indictment. But sluggishly reading a 2,500-page document written in poor Turkish is not easy.

You don't have a chance to scan it through either. A word by word reading is necessary in order to catch the minute details.

The moment I finished reading it, I was presented another file filled with the documents from the additional indictment. I have been scanning them over the last two days, but I am just at the beginning.

Big Ergenekon watching us

Most of my colleagues feel free to share their opinions about the indictment. And I do have opinions on the piece too, but I share my evaluations in private conversations time to time.

I don't want to write them down here because we are talking about a case being processed in the Court for Serious Crimes, although the content is worthy to determine whether or not we will have democracy. Trials take place inside the courtroom, not on the pages of newspapers or in columns. No one should expect me to reinforce or disapprove the indictment. This is the prosecutors' and defense council's business.

The only thing I, or my newspaper, can do is publish pieces that we are convinced by, pieces that are newsworthy and pieces we can confirm through multiple sources. No one should expect us to use various letters of speculations or eyewitness depositions. For instance, daily Radikal's headline yesterday, concerning some documents. These documents were found in the house of an Ergenekon detainee, along with dozens of guns and explosives.

Unfortunately, they belong to a homeland security institution. We see in the documents that track records are kept on every single county in Istanbul, including barber shops, grocery stores, individuals who are suspected of links with some terror organizations and some religious sects.

But this is not the issue here. The issue is that such documents exist.

First of all, is it legal to keep track records on people who are neither arrested nor convicted of a crime to link them with such and such terror organization?

Secondly, what kind of legal procedures were launched by the officials or institutions holding such records on these people? If the bookstore X in Beyoğlu is owned by the terror organization DHKP-C and if security forces have this information in hand, why didn't they transfer it to the prosecutor's office? If they did, what was the end result?

Enemies within?

Thirdly, why were these records, which were kept for intelligence reasons, found in the house of an Ergenekon suspect? What if a barber or a grocery man or an industrialist or an association head that is linked with the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, or DHKP-C becomes a murder target? (As you may know, someone who perpetrated such a plot a decade ago is also among the Ergenekon suspects.)

And finally, who kept these track records? We have solid information beyond predictions by official confirmation of this document is more critical? Don't we have a parliamentary representative who believes in democracy and human rights and who can submit a motion for investigation and require information from the Interior Minister? Isn't there a parliamentary human rights committee to examine this from a human rights perspective? Come on! (Translated into English by TDN's staff - www.turkishdailynews.com.tr, August 7, 2008)

Trois explosions à Istanbul: trois blessés

Trois explosions ont eu lieu jeudi matin à Istanbul, faisant trois blessés légers, ont indiqué un responsable local et les médias turcs.

Une chaîne de télévision a affirmé que les explosions avaient été causées par des tirs de mortiers visant une caserne de l'armée, près d'un bâtiment de la mairie de quartier d'Üsküdar, sur la rive asiatique d'Istanbul.

L'une des explosions s'est produite dans un camion de ramassage d'ordures sur le parking du bâtiment municipal, les deux autres dans un cimetière proche de celui-ci, a indiqué à l'agence de presse Anatolie Mehmet Cakir, le maire d'Usküdar.

"Trois ouvriers ont été légèrement blessés", a affirmé sur les lieux le chef de la police d'Istanbul, Celalettin Cerrah, indiquant que des experts en explosifs menaient l'enquête mais qu'il était prématuré de conclure à une tentative d'attentat contre le bâtiment municipal.

La chaîne de télévision NTV, citant des sources policières, a rapporté que quatre obus de mortiers avaient été tirés depuis le cimetière et a suggéré que la cible de cette attaque pouvait être une caserne militaire située à quelques centaines de mètres de là.

Des témoins avaient auparavant déclaré que des explosifs avaient été jetés par des personnes cachées derrière des arbres du cimetière, selon Anatolie.

Des grenades ou des petites bombes destinées à provoquer du bruit plutôt qu'à tuer auraient été utilisées, a indiqué de son côté la télévision CNN-Türk.

CNN-Türk a précisé que deux personnes à motocyclette avaient été vues prenant la fuite. (AFP, 7 août 2008)

Directive to improve conditions in F type prisons remained on paper

Human Rights Association’s first half of 2008 report on the conditions of seven prisons in Marmara Region showed that the directive to improve conditions remained on paper. The directive named after Behiç Aşçı carried ‘10 convicts to spend 10 hours per week with other prisoners’ has not been implemented except in one prison. Ban on languages other than Turkish continues, violence is exerted during transfers to courts.

HRA Istanbul branch reports:

Tekirdağ Num 1 F Type

-Visits and telephones rights suspended.
-‘Conversation right’ reduced from 9 hours to six per week
-Cameras were placed in common room. Political prisoners do not use conversation room anymore.
-Water pets were seized, fresh water was not available.
-Books brought by German Consulate to Erdener Demirel was seized.
- periodical in Kurdish was seized.
-Agos paper’s pages in Armenian were seized.
-Speaking in other than Turkish banned

Tekirdağ Num 2 F Type

-Restriction on conversations and water problem,
-Naked body search and beatings.
-Neglect of medical needs.

Bolu F Type Prison

-Violence
-naked body search.
-No medical service.
-No Kurdish
-Poor food.

Similar problems prevail in Edirne F Type, Kandıra F Type, Gebze M Type and Maltepe Children’s prisons.
(antenna-tr.org, August 8, 2008)

Report States 833 Lost Children In Turkey

Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Directorship (İHB) stated that there were 7183 lost children reported in 2007. 6350 of these were found and 833 of them are still lost.

The provinces with the highest number of lost children were Istanbul, Balıkesir, Bursa, Ankara, Şanlıurfa and Mardin.

According to the figures of the Police Department, there were 1446 lost children as of January 15. The reason behind this discrepancy is the disagreement on the concept of lost children.

İHB defines the concept of “lost child” as the child between the ages of 0-18 who ran away or taken away form his/her family without their knowledge and thus is in danger and sends no information about his/her welfare. These figures do not include the “unrecorded children”, whose status is not communicated to the necessary public institutions.

According to the report, the reasons the children are lost are the following:

- Children born to early marriages may not get enough attention from their parents. Too many children may also lead to abuse.
- Excessive violence, poverty, unemployment may force children to leave their families.
- Migration, inability to adapt, and limited employment opportunities for young people.
- Kidnapping children for various reasons.

According to the report the children groups under risk are:

- Those under institutional care.
- Those lost because of accidents and natural disaster.
- Those forced to commit crimes.

The report indicates that the negative programs in the media may affect the children. Similarly, it places the negative use of the internet as one of the reasons.

The report recommends giving support to the children and the families under risk in the cities with high migration rates.

The report also recommends that the sexual abuse of  children should be taken out of the category of crimes that require formal complaint first. It also recommends that the authorities fight against the employment of children. (BIA, August 6, 2008)

Human Rights Defender Ridvan Kizgin's Torment

Helmut Oberdiek, spokesman of the Democratic Turkey Forum (DTF), has released the following report about a series of unlawful legal proceedings against Ridvan Kizgin, former chair of the Bingöl branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD):

On 3 March 2008 Ridvan Kizgin was taken to Bingöl Prison to serve a sentence of 2 years and 6 months' imprisonment (see case 2). This may only be the start for a lengthy time in prison. In April 2008 the chief prosecutor at the Court of Cassation asked to confirm a sentence of five years' imprisonment against Ridvan Kizgin (see case 3). According to an article in the Internet Portal "AjansDogu" of 8 March 2008 a total of 107 investigations had been launched against him and 67 had ended in court cases. While some charges had been dropped or resulted in acquittal, others ended in convictions. In some of these cases Ridvan Kizgin was fined in others he was punished with imprisonment.

Samples cases against Ridvan Kizgin

Ridvan Kizgin has been targeted by the authorities since the foundation of a branch of the HRA in Bingöl province. In December 2001 Bingöl Governor Tamer Ersoy dismissed him as the chair of the branch, but in January 2002 realized that he was not entitled to do so. He stayed in pre-trial detention between 25 January and 8 March 2002 in connection with a press statement on the "disappearance" of two politicians in Silopi in January 2001. Further examples of the various cases against Ridvan Kizgin can be found in the daily bulletins of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT, download a collection of English reports as word-file). In a report of October 2005 (word-document in Turkish, 700 kB) the Bingöl branch of the HRA listed 86 cases against Ridvan Kizgin between 2001 and July 2005. In connection with the activities of the Bingöl branch a total of 209 cases had been launched. The cases that had resulted in conviction were listed as

• Defendants Ridvan Kizgin, Edip Senkozat, suspended fine of 142,360 TL (2001)
• Defendants Ridvan Kizgin, Edip Senkozat, S. Kayamolak, suspended fine of 218,103 TL each (2002)
• Defendants Ridvan Kizgin and board members, fine of 218,103 TL was lifted on appeal (2002)
• Defendant Ridvan Kizgin, fine of 2,831,550 TL (2003, appeal against the verdict pending)
• Defendant Ridvan Kizgin, suspended fine of 2,429,970 TL (2003)

The background to these cases were alleged violations of the Law on Association such as not providing required documents, accepting members with a criminal record or showing missing board members in minutes of meetings. The report also listed a trial in Elazig, where Ridvan Kizgin had been fined 1,112,000 TL for having used the Kurdish word "Cewlik" for Bingöl province in the multi-language letter head (also in English). This case is referred to in a report of Amnesty International of 1 March 2006. In a report of FIDH of 18 March 2008 two convictions of Ridvan Kizgin that are pending before the Appeal Court are listed as:

The first case is related to the denunciation by Mr. Kizgin of a case of rape in Bingöl through the publication of a press release. On May 22, 2007, Mr. Kizgin had already been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 570 YTL by the Bingol 2 Criminal Court. He had appealed this sentencing and the case is still pending.
The second case relates to the sentencing on November 14, 2006 of Mr. Kizgin and Ms. Kiraz Bicici, IHD Vice-president, to five months’ imprisonment, for “denigrating Turkish identity”. The sentence was later turned into a 1750 YTL fine. Both had appealed this sentencing, and the case is still pending.

Events leading to current imprisonment

• In mid-2003 the situation in Bingöl province was rather tense and the HRA felt obliged to comment on various kinds of atrocities including acts of killings that officially were attributed to the Kurdish Workers' Party PKK (at the time also operating under the name of KADEK), but for which KADEK had denied to be responsible. The chronology of incidents (as far as they are relevant to the subsequent proceedings against Ridvan Kizgin) includes
• 15 June 2003: two militants of the PKK are killed in Karakoc (Pul) hamlet, near Yumakli (Pakuni) village (names in brackets are the original Kurdish names of the villages). Villagers were ordered to get their mules to carry the corpses to the road.
• 2 July 2003: a villager (from that area) told Ridvan Kizgin that six armed men who had not been seen there before used to come to villages and ask for support. The villager said that he had informed the gendarmerie, but no measures had been taken.
• 3 (6) July 2003: Mr Kizgin made the complaint public calling on the authorities to take action. Reports appeared in the national press on 7 July 2003.
• 8 and 9 July 2003: Ridvan Kizgin received phone calls in the name of the gendarmerie. He was told to see the commander of the gendarmerie in Bingöl and retract his statements.
• 10 July 2003: Amnesty International intervened on behalf of RK (see UA 205/03, EUR 44/019/2003, 10 July 2003; for an earlier UA see Urgent Actions UA 57/02, EUR 44/014/2002, 21 February 2002 and follow-ups) and called for an investigation into the intimidation against him.
• 10 July 2003: Five villagers were killed in Karakoc (Pul) hamlet, near Yumakli (Pakuni) village. Officially the PKK was blaimed for it, but the PKK disclaimed responsibility.
• 12-14 July 2003: Ridvan Kizgin gave several interviews on the incident including a phone conversation on 14 July with the Kurdish TV station Med TV. He referred to the complaints of villagers as one reason that the PKK might not have committed the massacre.
• 15 July 2003: On demand of the HRA's HQ in Ankara and order of Bingöl Police HQ Ridvan Kizgin was provided private protection by four police officers (until 20 October 2003)
• 20 July 2003: The Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) sent a delegation to the village
• 22 July 2003: The HRA sent a delegation to the village. Its report was published on 29 July 2003 (the report as word-document in Turkish).

Assessment of the convictions

An expert of the German support group of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), the Democratic Turkey Forum (DTF) has made an intense study of the court files and relating documents. The summary of the cases are a result of the study. His conclusions can be summarized like this:

Since the beginning the authorities have tried to hinder the work of the Bingöl branch of the HRA. In the beginning legal action focused on formalities (violation of the Law on Associations). Investigations were launched into almost all statements issued by the branch and its chairperson Ridvan Kizgin. When the authorities discovered that press statement could not be termed "illegal distribution of leaflets" the charges changed to "insult and denigration of the security forces", but only in very few cases the relevant courts would pass a guilty verdict. Therefore, additional (criminal) charges were presented.

In connection with the events of July 2003 the authorities were particularly disturbed that Ridvan Kizgin accused the security forces with intimidation and that he refused to blame the PKK for the killing of five civilians on 10 July 2003. Among the subsequent cases,

Case 1 is a good example of how objective investigations should be conducted. Had the prosecutors and judges involved in case 2 and case 3 been as unbiased as the prosecutor looking into case 1, Ridvan Kizgin most likely would not have been convicted.

Case 3 is an obvious example for an unjustified sentence. This means that Ridvan Kizgin was convicted without judicial evidence. In consequence, he was convicted for his non-violent activities as a human rights defender. The wrongful quotes from statements he made as a human rights activist back up this argument.

Case 2 may not be such a blant denial of justice, but in convicting Ridvan Kizgin and not even charging a prime suspect and acquitting another one this court as well showed its bias against Ridvan Kizgin. It used everything against the defendant, but ignored all elements in favour of the defendant. All this is a strong indication that the purpose was to target a human rights activist by using criminal charges as the pretext.

Short CV of Ridvan Kizgin

Ridvan Kizgin was born in Lice district (Diyarbakir) in 1953. The family later moved to Solhan district (Bingöl province) where Ridvan Kizgin finished primary education. In 1971 he graduated at Mus Agricultural Lyceum and started to work as a technician. He got married in 1973. After the military coup of 12 September 1980 he was taken into custody. Traces of the torture can still be seen at his feet. In 1982 Kizgin stayed in detention for 45 days, but there was not enough evidence to put him in pre-trial custody. After another detention in 1983 Ridvan Kizgin was suspended from duty.

Having lost his status as civil servant he engaged in politics and became active for the social-democratic party SODEP that later merged with the SHP. He later left the party and while he participated in the founding effort of the pro-Kurdish People's Labour Party (HEP) he won his case at the Supreme Administrative Court and could return to his job as an agricultural technician. He was appointed to Aksaray. In 1999 he asked to be transferred to his "home town" Bingöl, but worked there only for a short time. In 2000 he asked for retirement. After retirement he engaged in human rights work. He did not only chair the Bingöl branch of the HRA, but also became a member of the general board of the HRA HQ in Ankara. (helmutob@web.de, August 5, 2008)

Prosecutor Says No Need For Special Laws To Protect Atatürk

Beyoğlu/Istanbul  prosecutor Muzaffer Yalçın saw no need to try Nuray Canan Bezirgan and Kevser Çakır, who were accused of insulting Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, because of their statement that “I do not like Atatürk, I like Humeyni.”

According to the report by ntvmsnbc, prosecutor’s reasoning was that there was no need for special laws to protect Atatürk’s value.

Although the prosecutor says this, the Law 5816 About Crimes Against Atatürk, which went into effect in 1951, is still in place. Many people, among them writer Mustafa İslamoğlu, journalist Hakan Albayrak, owner of Peri Publishing Ahmet Önal, Professor Atilla Yayla, journalist İpek Çalışlar, publishers Ragıp Zarakolu and Fatih Taş, translators Lütfi Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yıldırım, administrator of Özgür-Der Children’s Club Zehra Çomaklı Türkmen, journalists Mehmet Terzi and Oral Çalışlar,  were tried because of this law. Some of these individuals received jail sentences. 

In the television program she was interviewed, Bezirgan had asked if she had the right not to like Atatürk.

According to Prosecutor Yalçın’s reasoning:

“Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is a national hero. As a national hero and a revolutionary, he took his place in the histories of Turks and Turkish Republic as well as the World History. As Atatürk’s value will not diminish just because someone said a bad thing about him, there is no need for special laws to protect his value. It is true that there are those who do not like Atatürk. Liking someone is a matter of heart; it is inside one’s heart. (BIA, Erhan Ustundag, August 1st, 2008)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Author of the book "Language of Suffering: Woman" in prison

Two cases were filed over the book ‘Language of Suffering: Woman’ written by Murat Coşkun and published by Peri publishers in January 2002, one in Istanbul State Security Court Num. 4 (became high criminal court num 12); and the other in Beyoğlu Criminal Court Num.2. Istanbul High Criminal Court Num.12 condemned Coşkun to 12 months and 15 days of prison sentence for ‘inciting hatred and hostility among the people’ (TPC 216). Coşkun who was not aware of the trial was arrested in Adana on 22 August 2008 and put in prison.

The other case was under the charge of “insulting the military forces” (TPC 301). Murat Coşkun and the owner of Peri publishing house Ahmet Önal are charged together in that case which was sent to the Ministry of Justice for permission due to change in law.

Solidarity Platform for Journalists in Prison (SPJP) issued a statement and “protested writer Murat Çoşkun’s imprisonment for his ideas expressed in the book." SPJP demanded the immediate release of Coşkun, and called on everyone sensitive about freedom of expression to raise solidarity with Coşkun. According to the information provided by SPJP the number of writers and journalists in prison in Turkey is 21 including Coşkun. (Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin, 29 August 2008)

Last week’s trials of freedom of expression :

o Demirer is charged with “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation” under ATL article 7/2, over his speech at Tunceli 7th. Munzur Culture and Nature Festival on ¨Turkey’s Future, Political Crises and Democracy.

o A CD containing Demirer’s speech was sent to Criminal Medical Institute for transcription. As the Institution replied that it was not their field of expertise, court decided a new expert would examine the CD. The next hearing will be on 30 October 2008, at 10:00 am. (Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin, 29 August 2008)

No tolerance for Kurdish Music and Nazim Hikmet's Poem

Censorship on music in Turkey sometimes works through banning of melodies and sometimes in prosecuting and condemning the producers. System while supporting the pop songs in the lines of “I take my darling and take a walk on Bebek coast” puts on trial the ones like Ferhat Tunç for saying during his concert “My heart bleeds for every soldier and guerrilla who gets killed.” A children’s choir have been on trial for performing a Kurdish march ‘Ey Raqip’ in San Francisco’s World Music Festival.

Two more incident have been added this week:

Driver Fined for Kurdish song

Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor demanded a five year prison sentence for the driver of a advertising lorry hired by DTP Diyarbakır MP Selahattin Demirtaş during 22 July general elections. Prosecutor accused the driver with making propaganda for an illegal organisation   through playing the song "Le Amedê." The indictment argued that the song had been popular since the beginnings of ‘90s and Hozan Şemdin wrote the lyrics. Diyarbakır High Criminal Court N°5 gave driver Mustafa Tüzün 10 month’s prison sentence. Tüzün and not take it to appeal court since the lower court delays publishing the verdict.

Condemned for singing folksong

Folk music performer Hasan Sağlam has been given one year prison sentence for “making propaganda for an organisation” by singing the song ‘Vuruldu Sevdamız Kirvem’ at Munzur Festival last year. Malatya High Criminal Court N°3 condemned Sağlam. Sağlam noted that he was a folk singer and added “the only way for me to express myself is folk songs.”

Freemuse which started off with the slogan "Music is universal and cannot be censored" supports censored musicians on its website. For a list of censored musicians including Ferhat Tunç, Dixie Chicks and Madonna and why they suffered censorship see: www.freemuse.org 

Last week’s trials of freedom of expression

7 of 13 members of Rights and Freedoms Platform (HOC) who are on trial over marching in Adana on 8 of March Women’s Day, chanting slogans  "Revolutionary Martyrs live forever", "Women will win" and a press statement, and reading out Nazım Hikmet’s poem, were in prison.

13 HOC members are charged with "making propaganda for a terrorist organisation."

7 on remand have been released at the latest hearing. Adana High Criminal Court N° 7 will have the next hearing on 10 November 2008. (antenna-tr.org, August 25, 2008)

412 Internet Sites And Blogs Protest Internet Censorship

The number of internet sites and blogs protesting the internet censorship in Turkey, court orders banning the sites, has risen to 412.

The protest campaign launched by elmaaltshit.com, which had lost its video and information sources when the video sharing sites youtube.com and dailymotion were banned, received the support of the sites like http://www.odtununsesi.org/, the Voice of the Middle Eastern Technical University ODTÜ, and http://www.e-adalet.org/, the Law Workers Association (YARDER).

Those sites which are part of the campaign titled “The Access To This Site Is Denied By Its Own Decision” warn the authorities that if the Communications Ministry and the Turkish Courts go on with the current practice of banning the internet sites whose content they find offensive, the future of Internet Publishing will enter a very dark period. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, August 20, 2008)

Websites blocked and a newspaper confiscated

Another video-sharing website, Kliptube.com, has been blocked, as the YouTube.com and Dailymotion sites have been. YouTube.com, the biggest video-sharing website, has been blocked in Turkey for three months. Since the beginning of August 2008, access to Dailymotion.com has been blocked too. There is no information as to when and why the Kliptube site was ordered blocked. Users attempting to access Kliptube.com find a notice, "Access to this website has been blocked by court order." The same thing applies to the Dailymotion website.

In a separate development, on 13 August 2008 Ankara High Criminal Court Number 11 blocked the broadcasting of the website gundemonline.net, which focuses on Kurdish issues, for publishing a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) statement.

Website administrators said that the site had been blocked four times before and added, "We have not been informed (of the reasons that access was blocked), apart from the notice on the webpage. Lifting the ban through legal proceedings is too long a process for us. Hence, we continue our broadcasting under another extension."

In a second development related to coverage of the PKK, "Birgün" daily newspaper has been ordered confiscated. The Istanbul High Criminal Court Number 12 ordered the confiscation of "Birgün" newspaper over an interview done by Hakan Tahmaz with a leader of the PKK Murat Karayilan, in Mount Kandil. The report, entitled "Unilateral Ceasefire Aggravates the problem", was published on 9 August. The newspaper was ordered confiscated for "publishing a statement of the PKK", an offence under Anti-Terror Law article 6/2.

In a third development relating to Kurdish issues, the use of the Kurdish-language in the public sphere has again been blocked by the authorities. The Diyarbakir Kayapinar Council's initiative to give Kurdish flower names to five parks has been stopped by Diyarbakir Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu. Governor Mutlu based his refusal on an article on "separatist names" in the Directive on Addresses and Numbering and sent his decision to the council on 21 July. (Antenna-TR/IFEX, August 19, 2008)

Writer Ergün Sönmez' reaction against his publisher's condemnation in Turkey

The Heavy Penal Court N°14 of Istanbul condemned on June 23, 2008, the Director of the Tevn Publications, Mehdi Tanrıkulu, to a 18-month prison term for having Dr. Ergün Sönmez’ book entitled "The Kurdish Freedom Movement in the Imperialist Process of Capitalism and the PKK's Role". Sönmez too risks the same imprisonment if he returns to Turkey.
 
The court's verdict claims that there was in different chapters of the book the propaganda of an outlawed organization, for example by reproducing a declaration by Murat Karayilan, chairman of the PKK's Executive Council and that there was an evident misuse of the freedom of thought and expression recognized by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
 
The author of the book, Dr. Ergün Sönmez who could not be tried because of his living abroad, has protested against the condemnation of his publisher Mehdi Tanrıkulu.
 
In a written declaration Dr. Sönmez said:
 
"The court's decision shows once again that the majority of the Turkish courts, with the exception of a little number, are not independent of the Turkish State's official ideology and of the Turkish militarism's war doctrine.
 
"Already many officials of the regime had to admit that Turkish tribunals are not independent. For example, the notorious prosecutor of the Ankara State Security Court, Nusret Demiral, had already said to the Turkish Daily News that "Since the terrorism puts in danger the very existence of the Turkish State, our tribunals and the Cassation Court see themselves in the obligation of pronouncing their judgment against the accused."  (Özgür Ülke, 26.08.1994)
 
"For this reason the sentence of the Heavy Penal Court N°14 of Istanbul against Mehdi Tanrikulu, director of the Tevn Publications, is not a juridical decision. It is simply a political decision conforming to the State's official ideology and to the militarist war doctrine."
 
"My book analyses the two subjects of the fight carried out by the Kurdish Liberation Movement in Turkey: The Turkish State and the Turkish Militarism in the service of the former, on the one hand, and on the other, the PKK which carries out an armed fight in the name of the majority of the Kurdish People.
 
"My book, as a whole, is an academic work based on scientific studies. I already underlined in the preface that my work was carried out on the basis of dialectical and historical materialism method.
 
"The court's claim that the work was made for the propaganda of a terrorist organization is completely ridiculous and absurd since it is based on facts and extracts of the declarations of the two fighting sides.
 
"The court's decision also conforms to an earlier declaration of the new Chief Of Staff, General Ilker Basbug. He said 'Any pessimist evaluation of the situation is not other than a support to the [terrorist] organization.' ( www.milliyet.com.tr. April 12, 2008) 
 
"This sentence also puts in evidence that this country which is candidate to the European Union still remains very far from adapting itself to the criteria such as the independence of tribunals and from respecting human rights as defined in the European Convention of Human Rights.
 
"By this sentence, not judicial but political, the tribunal condemns not only Mehdi Tanrikulu, director of the Tevn Publications, but also the democratization process and the future of Turkey." (Info-Türk, August 18, 2008)

Another Internet Site Is Banned in Turkey

After the internet sites youtube.com and dailymotion, the access to the site of  kliptube.com is denied to the internet users in Turkey.

The biggest video sharing site of the internet, youtube.com, has been closed in Turkey for three months now. Dailymotion.com has just recently been added to the list.

The latest victim is another video sharing site, kliptube.com. However, it is not possible to find out how, when and why the access to this site is banned by going to the site itself.

Those who visit the site are greeted by the sentence that “The access to this site is barred by a court decision”. The same happened to the dailymotion in the beginning of August.
Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court banned gundemonline.com, a site about the Kurdish problem, on August 7 without any justification. However, it is not known what particular page of the site led to the banning.

According to one of the site authorities, Ramazan Pekgöz, their site has been closed by court orders four times so far. He says that nobody gives them any explanation about the situation. Since it is a very long process to remove this court order, they simply continue their existence by changing names. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, August 14, 2008)

Copies Of Daily Birgün Seized For Interviewing A PKK Official

Istanbul’s 12th High Criminal Court seized the copies of daily Birgün for Hasan Tahmaz’s interview with Murat Karayılan, one of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) authorities.

The reason behind the seizing decision was based on interview’s “giving place to PKK explanations” under article 6/2 of the Law for Fight Against Terror (TMY). The title of the article that caused the seizing was “One Sided Ceasefire Makes The Problem Worse,” which appeared on August 9, 2008.

In the interview, Karayılan says although the person on the street does not want violence anymore, they will continue with their activities of “legitimate defensive war”.

Contrary to the desires of the peace activists in Turkey, Karayılan does not speak promisingly for ending the problem, underlining that it was not easy for the PKK any longer to declare a one-sided ceasefire. He states in the interview that this would make the problem worse. 

Karayılan: We want to do politics as PKK

Karayılan stated in the same interview that they did not want to have a separate state, they were on the mountains because the Kurdish problem was denied, the Democratic Society Party was an intermediate step for them, they wanted to do politics as PKK and they did not see any contradiction in going to continue with their “legitimate defensive war.”

The newspaper was seized by the decision of Judge Necdet Ede of Istanbul’s 12th High Criminal Court on August 10.

It is not clear yet if a lawsuit will be filed against the newspaper, but according to article 6 of the TMY, those who publish the explanations or the announcements of terrorist organizations receive prison sentence from one to three years.

Istanbul’s Beyoğlu Chief Prosecutor had seized daily Birgün before, on December 29, 2005, for a news report about the Egyptian Bazaar case. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, August 11, 2008)

Bianet.org And NTV Sued For Reporting About Dink’s Murder

Police officer Muhittin Zenit filed a lawsuit for damages against bianet.org for reporting the telephone conversation between Zenit and Erhan Tuncel about Hrant Dink’s murder. Tuncel is on trial for instigating the murder of Hrant Dink.

Zenit is suing bianet.org for the news reports appeared on the site on September 30, 2007 under the title “Vurulacak Şekil Belliydi” (How he was going to be shot was known) and on April 28, 2008 under the title “Dink Cinayetinde Yeni Kanıt: Muhsin Başkan’la Yasin Konusunda Görüşeceğiz” (New evidence in Dink’s murder: We will converse with President Muhsin about Yasin). The amount Zenit is asking for damages is 25000 YTL (about 12500 Euro).

Zenit appears in these news reports as telling Tuncel during a phone conversation that “What, they shot him from the head…This is the only difference. He was not going to run away, but this one did.”

The case will be held at Ankara’s 25th Civil Court of First Instance on November 12.

Lawsuit against bianet for publishing the DHA and Btvmsnbc.com news reports

The source for the first news report that bianet is being sued for was Doğan News Agency (DHA) report by Murat Utku about one hour forty-seven minute long telephone conversation between police officer Zenit and one of the alleged conspirators of Dink’s murder, Erhan Tuncel.

While Zenit talks about the details of the murder and congratulates those who did it in the telephone conversation, Tuncel denies any responsibility for it.

The source for the second news was NTV report by Erdoğan Durna about the same telephone conversation, but this time the topic was how Tuncel told Zenit that he would discuss the situation of Yasin Hayal, who is on trial as an instigator of the murder, with President of the Great Union Party (BBP) Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu. Here Tuncel addreses Yazıcıoğlu as “President Muhsin” and gives Zenit his program of the Trabzon visit.

Zenit is suing the NTV, one of the major television channels in Turkey, and asking for 90000 YTL (about 45000 euro) in damages. The case will be heard by Ankara’s 1st Civil Court of First Instance in October.

Neither judiciary nor administrative investigation for Zenit

Denying the allegations about his involvement in Hrant Dink’s murder, Zenit indicates that the case against him was dismissed by Trabzon’s Chief Prosecutor and the objection to this decision was likewise denied by Rize’s High Criminal Court. The same process had repeated itself when Trabzon Governor had refused to give permission for Zenit’s investigation and the objection to the governor’s decision was rejected by Trabzon’s Regional Administrative Court. (BIA, August 11, 2008)

Le choix de recteurs par le président de la République provoque des remous
          
Un quinzaine d'enseignants turcs ont démissionné hier pour contester le choix par le président Abdullah Gül de recteurs d'université sympathisants de son parti islamo-conservateur AKP.

Ce nouveau front entre partisans de la laïcité et du parti au pouvoir s'ouvre quelques jours seulement après le renoncement de la Cour constitutionnelle à interdire pour «menées anti-laïques» la formation du président et du premier ministre Tayyip Erdogan, majoritaire au Parlement.

Gül a choisi les nouveaux recteurs de 21 universités, mardi, en écartant plusieurs candidats proposés par le Conseil supérieur de l'éducation (YOK), un organisme pro-laïque mis sur pied après le coup d'État militaire de 1980 pour coiffer l'enseignement supérieur.

Douze professeurs de l'Institut technique d'Istanbul ont démissionné pour protester contre la nomination de Muhammed Sahin, qui n'était pas le premier choix de l'établissement. Plusieurs autres enseignants ont démissionné, pour des raisons analogues, de l'université Gazi, à Ankara.

Neuf des 21 nouveaux recteurs, qui avaient été élus par leurs universités, ont été écartés par le président au profit de candidats arrivés en deuxième ou troisième place.

A ainsi été écarté Mustafa Akaydin, recteur de l'université d'Akdeniz, qui s'était élevé, en sa qualité de président du conseil inter-universitaire, contre la tentative avortée du gouvernement de lever l'interdiction du port du voile islamique pour les étudiantes.

Parmi les recteurs promus figurent nombre de partisans du rétablissement du port du voile islamique dans les universités, que la Cour constitutionnelle a jugé contraire à la loi fondamentale.

Les élites kémalistes laïques (armée, magistrature et monde universitaire notamment) soupçonnent l'AKP, parti issu de la mouvance islamiste, de vouloir procéder à une réislamisation rampante de la vie publique, ce qu'il nie farouchement.

Les analystes politiques ne se disent pas surpris des nominations de recteurs favorable à l'AKP, jugeant qu'elles résultent du système même de nomination politique mis en place par l'armée pour contrôler le système éducatif par l'entremise du YOK. Pour eux, les universités devraient être libres de choisir leurs propres dirigeants.(Reuters, 7 août 2008)

Another Internet Site Becomes Inaccessible

Following YouTube.com, the biggest video sharing site in the internet, which is still inaccessible in Turkey, another site, dailymotion.com, became inaccessible for insulting the memory of Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

The dailymotion.com site is a video sharing site, too. The decision to ban the site came without any explanation. 

Ankara’s 11th Criminal Court of Peace banned Youtube on April 24, 2008. Ankara’s 5th Criminal Court of Peace kept the site inaccessible with its April 30 decision. The banning was extended with another decision by Ankara’s 11th Criminal Court of Peace on June 6.

Speaking at the Abant meeting organized by the Ankara Bar and turk.internet.com, Press Prosecutor of the Office of Ankara Prosecutor Nadi Türkaslan said youtube.com removed the images only from the Turkish database and they would not open the site until they removed them from the rest of the world as well.

Answering the questions about the subject, Minister of the Communications Binali Yıldırım said youtube.com was closed because it refused to collaborate with the Internet Security Presidency.

According to Yıldırım, youtube.com refuses to open a tax paying agency in Turkey and get a document of authorization. Youtube.com says that they cannot accept these conditions since they do not operate in Turkey.

The courts banned the site for having videos that are insulting to the memory of Atatürk, the founder of the TurkishRepublic. 

Although Turkey is among the few countries where youtube.com is not accessible, such as China, Iran, Thailand, the International Reporters Without Borders (RSF) did not include Turkey in the list of countries hostile to the internet.(BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, August 4, 2008)

15-year prison for the victim, 10 years for shooters!

A youngster who was shot while selling a left wing magazine faces 15 years and the police officers who shot him face 10 years in prison.
19 year old Ferhat Gerçek who was shot by the police while selling Yürüyüş (March) magazine got paralysed.

He was charged with “violating the law on assembly, resisting officers, insult, and damaging property” facing a possible 15.5 years in prison.

Seven police officers were charged with “intentional injury exceeding the power of using force.” The gun which fired the bullets which wounded Gerçek could not be determined hence police officers were asked to be imprisoned for 10 years each. (antenna-tr.org, August 4, 2008)


Last week’s trials of freedom of expression

o DHA reporter Mehmet Bal was prosecuted for failing to report the slogans chanted during a funeral of a PKK member. Bal had told the court that he did not hear the slogans. Bal was acquitted in the case, yet the prosecutor charged him with perjury in a second indictment. The next hearing is on 19 September 2008.

o Democratic Society Party’s Van city chairman Abdurrahman Doğar who was arrested following Newruz celebrations on 22 March 2008 was charged with “membership to a terrorist organisation, inciting crime, resisting public official, damaging property” in Van High Criminal Court Num.4. The court decided to keep Doğar on remand and the next hearing is on 17 October 2008 at 09:30.

o The owner of Gerger Fırat newspaper Hacı Boğatekin was charged with “insulting public official, slander, and attempting to influence the outcome of a trial” over his article “Feto and Apo” published on 4 January 2008. Boğatekin who had criticised the army for giving a free hand to religious orders was on remand. Journalist Cumali Badur who published the case on www.gergerim.com is charged with “attempting to influence the case” under TPC 288. The court acquitted Boğatekin who had been in Kahta Prison for 109 days. Trial will continue on 15 October 2008 at 10:30. (antenna-tr.org, August 4, 2008)

Breakdown of daily newspapers published in Turkey

The deadlock which derived from Kurdish problem has brought many human rights violations in recent times. While the Turkish Military and the Government preparing for military action towards the Northern Iraq, on the other hand they have increased the pressure on any civilians and organisations which believe the question should be solved peacefully and through dialogue rather than violent or military actions. Its almost came to an attention that anyone declaring against the Government and Turkish Military Forces has became target or criminalised.

The censorship upon opposition media groups should also be handled within this context. Censorship has taken practice without overlapping with any practices of law. Newspapers and their publications are closing down one after another, people left out of freedom of receiving news.

Freedom of press and freedom of expression are main priorities of democracy. The practices and violent against press and broadcasting organisations highlights heavy wound that democracy has received.

Between the dates of 4th August 2006 and 25th May 2008, 14 newspaper has been stopped 33 times. The peak times were March 2007, October 2007 and November 2007. In March 2007 4 newspapers was clo