by Arnold Winkleried
Amnesty International
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for its efforts to promote global observance of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a worldwide movement of people acting on the conviction that governments must not deny individuals their basic Human Rights.
Its mandate
Amnesty International works to promote awareness of, and adherence to, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights accords. It also pressures governments and non-governmental organizations to
Human Rights violations in Turkey
Republic of Turkey
Head of state: Süleyman Demirel
Head of government: Bülent Ecevit (replaced Mesut Yilmaz in January)
Capital: Ankara Population: 63.5 million
Official language: Turkish
Background
Recently Turkey was involved in an armed conflict between its security forces and the Kurdish independence fighters (PKK). Turkey has also been accepted as a candidate for European Union membership. As a condition of membership the human rights situation is being monitored and Turkish laws are screened for compliance with European Union standards.
Torture
Torture continues to be widespread, mainly in police or gendarmerie custody in the days following arrest. Offences under the jurisdiction of State Security Courts may cause a prisoner to be hold incommunicado for up to four days (often longer in practice), and the procedures relating to registration of detainees and notification of families are often ignored. Torture methods include severe beatings, being stripped naked and blindfolded, hosing with pressurized ice-cold water, hanging by the arms or wrists bound behind the victim's back, electro-shock torture, beating the soles of the feet, death threats, and sexual assaults including rape. Among the victims are children, women and elderly people, villagers, political activists and the socially disadvantaged. Several people reportedly died as a result of torture.
Impunity
AI is campaigning against impunity for torturers in Turkey. Detainees frequently cannot identify their torturers because they were almost invariably blindfolded during interrogation. Medical evidence of torture is frequently suppressed. Medical officers who falsified reports have been promoted, and doctors who scrupulously carried out their duties have been put on trial or imprisoned. Prosecutors were reluctant to investigate security officers. Judges failed to investigate allegations of torture. This also contributed to unfair trials. Statements allegedly elicited under torture were frequently admitted as evidence in trials. In the rare cases in which security officers were convicted, sentences were light. AI welcomes a new law for the prevention of torture (1999?), which increased the penalties for torture and ill-treatment and penalized health personnel who conceal torture.
Pressure on human rights defenders
Human Rights activists who have referred to the violations committed against supporters of the PKK have received death threats and some have been arrested and imprisoned.
Prisoners of conscience
Writers, publishers, trade unionists, teachers, local and national politicians, human rights defenders and many others continue to be imprisoned or tried after they exercised their right to freedom of expression. Those particularly targeted had expressed opinions on issues related to the Kurdish question or the role of Islam in politics.
Prison conditions
Representatives of the human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are currently in Turkey to research prison conditions and the transfer of prisoners to new "F-type" prisons. Sources consistently indicate that prisoners were beaten and some tortured before, during and after transfers to the new prisons. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch sought talks with the Justice Ministry as well as access to the prisons, but on both counts the requests were refused. They did meet with representatives of the Human Rights Commission of the Turkish Parliament and the Human Rights Association. At least 300 prisoners are on hunger strike, and many have been fasting for more than 70 days. It appears likely that deaths will occur in the next few days.
Individual Case
Amnesty International asks you to write a letter for Zeynep Avci (subject: Alleged rape and sexual abuse in custody)
Zeynep Avci was reportedly tortured, including being raped and sexually abused, while held in incommunicado detention. The alleged perpetrators have still not been investigated.
The 21-year-old Kurdish woman was arrested in Izmir on 24 November 1996 on suspicion of being a member of the illegal armed opposition group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
She was reportedly held by the anti-terror branch at Izmir police headquarters until 3 December before being transferred to the same branch in Istanbul, spending a total of up to 25 days in incommunicado detention. The maximum period for detention in police custody then permitted by the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code was 15 days.
Zeynep Avci said that during her detention at Izmir police headquarters she was given electric shocks repeatedly over several hours; a truncheon was inserted into her anus and she was forced to sit on it until she bled; and one officer, believed to be of a high rank, then raped her.
A formal complaint was submitted by Zeynep Avci's lawyer in May 1997, but the Izmir prosecutor decided not to investigate the charges because he was told it was impossible to get medical verification of her claims. When her case, which is still ongoing, went to the European Court of Human Rights the Turkish authorities reportedly tried to tarnish her reputation by alluding to previous sexual encounters.
Zeynep Avci, who has been in Gebze prison since her arrest and still awaits the outcome of her trial, began receiving psychological therapy in March 1999, though she stopped after three sessions because security officers insisted on being present. In November 1999, she was diagnosed as suffering from chronic post traumatic stress disorder.
Please write, calling for a full and impartial investigation into Zeynep Avci's allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
You can either write your own letter to the following address:
Professor Hikmet Sami Türk
Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakani
Adalet Bakanligi
06659 Ankara
Turkey
Or you can print and send out the letter below. (copy and paste it to your word processing program)
If you choose to write your own letter, please read the guidelines here. The first and most important rule is "Always be polite".
Please DO NOT WRITE after 24 February 2001. If you receive an answer to your letter, please e-mail the author of this article.
Sample letter
Professor Hikmet Sami Türk
Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakani
Adalet Bakanligi
06659 Ankara
Turkey
Your Excellency:
I am writing to you concerning Zeynep Avci. Zeynep Avci was arrested at Izmir on 24 November 1996 under suspicion of belonging to the PKK. She was reportedly held at Izmir police headquarters until 3 December before being transferred to the same branch in Istanbul, spending a total of up to 25 days in incommunicado detention. The maximum period for detention in police custody then permitted by the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code was 15 days.
Zeynep Avci said that during her detention at Izmir police headquarters she was given electric shocks repeatedly over several hours, and that she was sodomized by a truncheon and raped by a police officer.
A formal complaint was submitted by Zeynep Avci's lawyer in May 1997, but the Izmir prosecutor decided not to investigate the charges because he was told it was impossible to get medical verification of her claims. Her case is still ongoing and she has yet to know the outcome of her trial. She is currently being held in Gebze prison.
I am writing you to call for a full and impartial investigation into Zeynep Avci's allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
Sincerely,