250th day of Behiç Aşçı’s hunger strike

Amnesty alarm as hunger strikers near death in wake of assault on Turkish prisons dominated by leftwing factions

Chris Morris in Istanbul
Monday January 8, 2001
The Guardian

The black smoke hanging over Turkey's prisons has gone, and the gunfire has stopped. But more than two weeks after security forces stormed prisons across the country to regain control of dormitories run by leftwing inmates, the problems continue.

Hundreds of prisoners are on hunger strike, with many reportedly prepared to die for their cause. While the government is trumpeting the triumph of the law, human rights groups have received reports of the torture and beating of prisoners transferred to smaller cells.

Negotiators who tried to mediate between the state and the prisoners before the violence say they have been used.

"We were deceived by the government," said Mehmet Bekaroglu, a member of the parliamentary human rights commission. "Now there is a frightening silence."

Thirty prisoners and two soldiers were killed in four days of clashes at the jails just before Christmas. The prisoners were devoted members of violent far left factions. Many of the security force members who intervened used excessive force. It was a lethal combination.

Operation Return to Life began on December 19 after more than a year of preparation. Detailed plans had been made to move thousands of inmates into new jails where they are housed in small cells rather than large dormitories.

At Bayrampasa prison in Istanbul, armed paramilitary police and soldiers took up positions on the roof, and began trying to force their way into dormitories by smashing holes in the walls and ceilings.

Accounts from surviving inmates have been brought out of prison by lawyers. They cannot be independently confirmed, but their stories are consistent.

"They saw us stand up and they started firing at us," said Hamide Ozturk, a convicted member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), who was in the women's ward. "After the shooting they started to bombard us with all kinds of bombs. They threw smoke bombs, sound bombs [an explosion where the main by-product is noise], nerve gas and pepper gas. We constantly answered them with slogans and insults.

"They kept shouting: 'Surrender or we will kill all of you.' We said: 'Come and kill us all if you like, but we will never surrender'."

What happened next is the subject of bitter debate. The government says that after several hours of clashes the prisoners refused to give in and began setting themselves on fire. The survivors say they were deliberately burned out of their dormitories with incendiary devices, and that several inmates died in the flames.

"The fire quickly spread all over the dormitory," said another DHKP-C prisoner, Suna Okmen. "Beds and furniture began to catch fire. The people could not breathe because of the gas bombs and the smoke. It was like being in an oven.

"Our hair began to catch fire, and because we had barred the door we were unable to get out. We forced the door open...and those who were still able to stand up had to drag us out. [The soldiers] had water cannons, if they had wanted to they could have put the fire out. All they did was watch."

The paramilitary police have given a different account. There is evidence that in some prisons the DHKP-C ordered its members to practise self-immolation rather than surrender.

"What terrified us most was seeing the leaders pouring flammable liquids on to the militants and setting them on fire with their own hands," said a gendarme quoted in the local press. "We were too far away to be able to intervene...we were under fire from makeshift bombs and guns."

One television image showed a woman handcuffed to a wall with her flesh on fire, but it is impossible to give a full account of what really happened.

Eventually the security forces achieved their objectives, and at Bayrampasa the prisoners were forced into the open.

"They surrounded us, attacked us and tried to pull us apart," Suna Okmen said. "They took us to other parts of the prison, beat us, kicked us, slapped us, swore at us and then collected us together."

The authorities insist they used no more force than was necessary. They have displayed an armoury of home-made weapons, including flame throwers, recovered from the burned-out dormitories.

"The situation we faced before the operation was like a stick which was dirty at both ends," said the minister of justice, Hikmet Sami Turk. "We did not know which end of the stick to touch. But now I can say comfortably that we picked the right end."

The control that the DHKP-C and other radical leftwing groups exercised in the prisons had been broken. For years, they had been running the dormitories as indoctrination camps. Prison officials said they had been unable to enter some areas inside the jails for nearly a decade.

"Terrorist organisations have been brainwashing our young people," Mr Sami Turk said. "Human rights will now be respected in all prisons. The necessary measures will be taken to ensure this is done."

But pressure groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have expressed alarm at the situation, while lawyers, human rights activists and relatives of prisoners say they have been inundated with allegations of abuse.

Some reports say prisoners who refuse to sing the national anthem have been badly beaten. Doctors say they have been denied access to the post-mortem examination reports of those who died.

So far more than 1,000 people have been transferred to new "F-type" prisons, where inmates are held in cells for up to three people. The government describes the prisons as a fresh start for a system which had degenerated into chaos.

Most diplomats in Ankara believe the authorities are sincere in their efforts to stamp out torture and ill-treatment in jails. But critics say the F-type prisons are being used to implement a regime of isolation. "In no way do these prisons meet international standards," said Jonathan Sugden of Human Rights Watch. "Both in terms of their architecture and especially in terms of the way they are run, there are serious causes for concern."

During the prison transfers, some inmates say they were beaten, others that they were raped with truncheons. The justice ministry has said it will investigate, but it refused to discuss the issue with human rights groups, and turned down their requests to visit the new jails.

The next stage of the crisis is looming. Hundreds of prisoners are on hunger strike, some reportedly for more than 70 days. Doctors expect deaths soon. The government initially said it would force medical experts to intervene, but it seems to have changed its mind.

"At this point, these young people are responsible for their own lives," the prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, said. "The state has done what was in its power."

The prison situation has also had wider repercussions. Human rights groups have been warned that criticism of the F-type prisons could be a criminal offence. Meanwhile, there have been running battles between leftwing demonstrators and the police, and yesterday police arrested 34 people after they tried to lay a black wreath outside the building of Mr Ecevit's Democratic Left party, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency.

Last week a man walked into an Istanbul police station and blew himself up, killing a police officer and injuring bystanders. The bomber's fingerprints identified him as a DHKP-C member.

F-Type prisons: Isolation and allegations of torture or ill-treatment / Amnesty Int.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Report
AI Index: EUR 44/025/2001
20 April 2001

''F-Type'' prisons: Isolation and allegations of torture or ill-treatment(1)

Prison conditions have been a subject of intense debate in Turkey in the past year. Prisoners have usually been housed in large dormitories that hold 60 or sometimes more prisoners, but the Turkish authorities have started to build new wings to existing prisons and 11 so-called F-Type prisons based on a cell-type system that were due to be brought into use in 2000. Prisoners and their families as well as many human rights defenders and other civil organizations have been concerned that under the new cell-type system regimes of isolation might be introduced which would increase the risk of torture or ill-treatment in prisons. Fears that the new system might lead to small group isolation or solitary confinement were founded in so far as Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law lays down a draconian regime of intense isolation, in which ''convicted prisoners will not be permitted contact or communication with other convicted prisoners''.

Following the start of the process of replacing dormitories with smaller cells there were major protests and clashes in prisons which were ended by force. From October 2000 more than 1000 political prisoners participated in a hunger strike in protest against the F-Type prisons. In early December the Justice Minister promised that no one would be transferred to F-Type prisons before Article 16 was amended, regulations for the F-Type prisons issued and a social consensus reached on their management. Yet on 19 December the security forces conducted an operation in 20 prisons during which some 30 prisoners and two soldiers died. Hundreds of prisoners were transferred to three newly opened F-Type prisons.

In early January 2001 Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted a joint mission to Turkey in order to investigate the December 2000 prison operation and the conditions in the new F-Type prisons. During the mission, the delegation paid particular attention to gathering information from different kinds of sources. They met lawyers, doctors, human rights defenders and a member of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission; that is, respected representatives of Turkish civil organizations and parliament who are themselves contributing to the investigation of the human rights situation in Turkey with a view to improving it. In addition, the delegation also received information from people directly affected by the prison transfers such as released prisoners and relatives of prisoners. The delegates repeatedly contacted the Justice Ministry before and during the mission seeking a meeting. Unfortunately, these requests were turned down by the Ministry. There was also no positive response to the delegates' request for permission to visit one of the new F-Type prisons in order to assess the current regime being implemented for transferred prisoners.

Amnesty International has received consistent reports that the prisoners were beaten and some of them tortured before, during and after the transfer. In the F-Type prisons the prisoners were held in small cells either on their own or with up to two other prisoners. In the first weeks they were not allowed in the small yards attached to the cells. Some of them had no human contact, except with guards, for days. Visits from relatives and lawyers were limited. Amnesty International is concerned that prolonged isolation could in itself amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and could facilitate torture and ill-treatment. Therefore, Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the authorities to allow prisoners association in larger groups for at least part of each day.

Isolation regimes

Amnesty International has previously expressed concern about the overcrowded dormitories and that the organization believes that prisoners should - if necessary - be protected from violence including intimidation and threats by other inmates. Amnesty International has repeatedly criticized deliberate killings of alleged ''traitors'' by armed opposition groups in Turkey, some of which took place in prisons. The organization believes that the separation of some prisoners might be appropriate in certain situations, for example in order to protect the general prison population from other particularly violent inmates. Yet such measures should only be taken in exceptional circumstances and as a last resort.(2) Amnesty International believes that prolonged isolation, including small group isolation, may have serious effects on the physical and mental health of prisoners and may in itself constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It can also facilitate torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Torture and ill-treatment are prohibited by international human rights treaties to which Turkey is a state party, particularly Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture).

It is not acceptable to isolate all prisoners who have been convicted or prosecuted for offences under the Anti-Terror Law.(3) Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law lays down a draconian regime of intense isolation, in which convicted and remanded prisoners will be held in specially constructed institutions with one or three-person rooms and will not be permitted contact or communication with other prisoners or to receive open visits. Amnesty International has previously urged the Turkish government to amend Article 16 in such a way as to ensure that all prisoners, including prisoners convicted or remanded for political offences, are given adequate exercise facilities and an adequate period of time each day during which they can associate with other prisoners outside the confines of their cells or dormitories. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) recommended in January 2001 that ''adoption of the draft Law amending Article 16 of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law, so as formally to make provision for prisoners covered by that law to take part in activities together with others (and to receive open visits from their families), should be accorded a very high priority.''(4)

Regimes of solitary confinement and small group isolation before the December operation: Imral2 island and Kartal Special Type Prison

Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed opposition group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has been held in solitary confinement on Imral2 island for more than two years since his apprehension on 15 February 1999. Amnesty International has been informed by Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers that he is kept in a 13 square metre single self-contained cell, that is, with toilet and shower in the same room. He is allowed outside one hour twice a day into an area measuring 45 square metres. This area is surrounded by very high walls and is covered at the top with wire netting. He is under continuous observation by the prison guards, with video cameras both inside and outside his cell. He is permitted to meet once a week for one hour with his lawyers and with his immediate family.

A delegation of the CPT which visited Abdullah Öcalan on 2 March 1999 stated that ''additional measures are required to counter the potentially negative effects on Mr Öcalan's mental health of being held on his own in a remote location under a high security regime. Those measures relate inter alia to his possibilities for contact with the outside world and the precise nature of the regime applied on him'' which ''should gradually be rendered less restrictive.'' The CPT stressed that ''Prisoners who present a particularly high security risk should, within the confines of their special unit, enjoy a relaxed regime (able to mix freely with fellow prisoners in the unit; allowed to move without restriction within what is likely to be a relatively small physical space; granted a good deal of choice about activities, etc.) by way of compensation for their severe custodial situation.''(5) Since February 1999 there have been no other prisoners on the island with whom Abdullah Öcalan can associate.

Abdullah Öcalan has been held for more than two years in solitary confinement. Amnesty International is concerned that this may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Turkish Justice Ministry to ensure that all possible steps are taken to provide Abdullah Öcalan with social contact with other prisoners and that other measures are taken to alleviate the possible adverse physical and psychological effects of prolonged solitary confinement.

Having evaluated reports of various human rights organizations S including the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and HRW S on the situation in Kartal Special Type Prison in Istanbul, Amnesty International is also concerned that the regimes of small group isolation and solitary confinement practised there may cause deterioration of the mental and physical health of the prisoners and amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The physical structure of the prison seems to violate the United Nations (UN) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules).

According to Amnesty International's information when prisoners are first brought to the prison they are held in solitary confinement in a two-person cell for at least a week, during which they are not permitted any exercise in the open air. After this initial period, prisoners are normally transferred to a bigger cell with other inmates. Connected to these cells, there are small yards. Their walls are so high that they do not see sunlight. In these separate yards prisoners cannot socialize with prisoners held in another cell. The cells have no windows; there is only electric light. The light switches are said to be outside the cells and thus out of the control of the prisoners. The lack of natural light in the cells and of exercise in a larger space violate international standards. The UN Standard Minimum Rules state that prisoners should be able to exercise daily in the open air and that there should be natural daylight in their cells.(6)

Amnesty International has been informed that there is no access to areas for common use of prisoners held in different cells. To our knowledge the Turkish government has not yet provided evidence that prisoners have access to the library and canteen that are said to exist in the prison. According to our information, prisoners who are under a regime of solitary confinement or small group isolation in this prison do not have the possibility to associate with any prisoners outside their cells at any time. They can only leave their cells if they are visited by their lawyer or relatives of the same surname. There are reports that some prisoners are suffering the physical and psychological symptoms recorded elsewhere as an effect of small group isolation, including depression and anxiety.(7)

Prisoners' protests ended with excessive force

Since the process of replacing dormitories by smaller cells has been initiated there have been major protests and clashes in Turkish prisons. In September 1999, 10 prisoners died and dozens were injured in a violent clash with guards and soldiers in Ankara Central Closed Prison. The circumstances of the deaths were disputed and lawyers and relatives of the dead were excluded from representation at the autopsies. A report on the incident by the Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Commission concluded that excessive force which caused deaths and injuries had been used by the security officials. They called for an investigation to be opened into those responsible. The Commission also criticized that the autopsy of the 10 deads did not comply with international standards and evidence was not protected with due diligence. The forensic reports commissioned by the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission stated ''that the findings found especially on the dead people were medically generally in conformity with facts defined by international and national documents as torture and acts with the intention to kill''.(8) One hundred and sixteen security officers involved have been on trial since March 2001; the prosecutor has demanded their acquittal.

On 5 July 2000 political prisoners in Burdur prison barricaded themselves in dormitories. According to the prisoners, the security forces threw smoke bombs, tear gas and nerve gas into the dormitories and started to break down the walls with bulldozers. The prisoners said the security forces attacked them with iron poles, truncheons, roof tiles and stones, dragging unconscious prisoners out of the dormitories with long-handled hooks. Lawyers permitted to meet some of the prisoners on 8 July noted that all had signs of severe injuries on the visible parts of their bodies, and had difficulty breathing and speaking. In April 2001 the governor of Burdur turned down the prosecutor's request to open an investigation into 405 security officers against whom a formal complaint had been filed.

During the Burdur prison operation Azime Arzu Torun, a woman aged 25 convicted of supporting a leftist organization, was reportedly separated from the other inmates at 10.30pm and brought to the second floor, rolled down the stairs, insulted, threatened with rape and beaten with a truncheon on her genitals while being lifted by her arms and legs. According to her account a chief guard tried to insert a neon tube into her vagina, then gendarmes and prison guards raped her with a triangulate truncheon. Two days later she was brought to Burdur State Hospital where she reported rape, but rejected a virginity test. A female inspector assigned by the Ministry of Justice heard her testimony, but reportedly asked insensitive and abusive questions. Azime Arzu Torun filed a formal complaint against the suspected torturers.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for prompt, thorough and independent investigations into these incidents with those responsible being brought to justice. The organization believes that failure to do this and the general climate of impunity contributed to the escalation of violence against prisoners at the end of 2000.

Deaths and allegations of torture and ill-treatment including male rape during the December 2000 prison operation

From October 2000 more than 1,000 political prisoners participated in a hunger strike in protest against the F-Type prisons. Human rights defenders, lawyers, doctors, politicians and the CPT tried to contribute to a solution. On 9 December the Justice Minister promised that the planned transfer of prisoners to the F-Type prisons would not take place until Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law was amended, a law on the establishment of prison monitoring bodies passed and legal regulations for the F-Type prisons issued. Yet, on 19 December the security forces conducted an operation in 20 prisons during which some 30 prisoners and two soldiers died. Hundreds of prisoners were transferred to three newly opened F-Type prisons in Edirne, Kand2ra (Kocaeli) and Sincan (Ankara).

The authorities claimed that some of the prisoners set themselves on fire, but did not explain how the other prisoners died. The CPT's interviews with prisoners in early January 2001 confirmed that ''a number of the regrettable deaths and injuries amongst inmates during the interventions were the result of acts of self immolation rather than action by members of the security forces. However, information gathered during the visit suggests that the methods employed by the security forces were not in all cases proportional to the difficulties faced. In particular, the delegation has grave doubts regarding the manner in which the intervention took place vis-à-vis the female dormitory C1 at Istanbul Prison and Detention House (BayrampaÕa). Six of the 27 women in that dormitory died and many of the others suffered burns and/or other injuries. The delegation interviewed several of the women who were held in dormitory C1 as well as other prisoners who witnessed parts of the intervention against that dormitory. According to the accounts received, the occupants of dormitory C1 did not offer violent resistance, but merely shut themselves in their dormitory; it is alleged that the women were nevertheless bombarded with gas grenades and other devices for several hours and shot at from time to time and that, at around 12.00 a.m., the top floor of the dormitory was set on fire as a result of the action being taken by the security forces. It is also alleged that the security forces were immediately told that prisoners were being burned on the top floor but failed to take prompt action to put out the fire, despite having the means (water hoses) to do so. In application of Article 8, paragraph 5, of the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the delegation requests that a thorough and independent inquiry be carried out without delay into the methods employed by the security forces during the intervention against dormitory C1 at Istanbul Prison and Detention House and into the precise causes of the deaths and injuries among the occupants of that dormitory.''(9)

Amnesty International has called for prompt and independent autopsies with the results made public. Continuing speculations about how and by whom these deaths were caused are detrimental to societal peace. Responsibilities must be carefully assessed and those responsible brought to justice. Not even the Turkish Medical Association or the lawyers representing the families of the dead have been given access to the full autopsy reports.

In a statement issued in February 2001 in response to the Amnesty International/
HRW news release of 6 January, the Turkish government admitted that ''there are convicts who had been injured during the operation and then transferred to the F-Type prisons''. Amnesty International received consistent reports that the prisoners were beaten and some of them tortured before, during and after the transfer to F-Type prisons. On their visit to Turkey from 10 to 15 January the CPT also received numerous and consistent allegations about beatings, primarily by gendarmes in the course of the prison intervention and on admission to the new prisons. Amnesty International has repeatedly called for prompt, independent and thorough investigations into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment during and after the prison operation. In early January the Justice Ministry appointed three inspectors in order to investigate the ill-treatment allegations. Amnesty International was very worried to learn during the January mission that independent bodies such as the Medical Association and the Bar Associations were excluded from such investigations. At the time of the mission, the Medical Association was refused access to the prisons and reliable information about the medical situation of the prisoners.

Credible allegations of rape were made against security staff, some of whom wore gendarmerie uniforms, although their language and behaviour were different from ordinary gendarmes. The Turkish government stated in its response to the joint press statement that the allegation that some prisoners were raped with truncheons on arrival in Kand2ra prison could not be true, because the prison guards do not carry attack weapons and the gendarmes, who are armed and responsible for outside security, are only authorized to enter prisons when intervening in riots. Yet all reports show that most of the security staff employed in the December operation were indeed gendarmes. Amnesty International believes that the allegations of rape deserve careful investigation to clarify which security staff were on duty in F-Type prisons at the time of the transfers and what their duties were, and which staff carried out interrogations of prisoners on their arrival at the prisons.

Due to allegations of torture, ill-treatment and unlawful killings of prisoners by gendarmes on several previous occasions Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Turkish government to ensure that gendarmes are not brought into contact with prison inmates. In their preliminary observations the CPT reiterated ''that it would be desirable in the long term to phase out the current role of the gendarmerie in relation to prisons and prisoner transfers. [...] Further, in the short term, members of the gendarmerie should cease to be called upon to carry out searches in the F-Type prisons now in service or in other establishments where small living units have been introduced.''(10).

The Turkish government states that ''initially no lawyer had filed a formal complaint'' concerning rape allegations. Yet copies of such formal complaints filed on 26 and 28 December 2000 have been printed in the report ''19 Aral2k Katliam Raporu'' prepared by the IHD Istanbul branch. In their formal complaints the lawyers requested medical forensic examinations in order to establish the truth of the allegations of rape and other forms of torture. According to the information received by Amnesty International such medical examinations were not initiated promptly, but only some three weeks after the alleged incidents. Amnesty International has urged the authorities to investigate the torture allegations by collecting all necessary information including by obtaining psychological reports. Those reasonably suspected of being responsible should be brought to justice, suspended from duty while under investigation and dismissed from the forces if convicted.

Nuri Akal2n reportedly raped with truncheon in Kand2ra F-Type prison

Nuri Akal2n, born 1977, was imprisoned in Ümraniye Prison on charges of involvement in an assault on a local head of the ultra-nationalist Nationalist Action Party (MHP). According to reports, after the prison operation he was transferred to Kand2ra F-Type prison on 23 December 2000 in the back of a prison bus. During the transfer he was continuously beaten and insulted and was interrogated. On arrival in Kand2ra he was again beaten and taken to a separate room where he was stripped naked and interrogated for approximately 45 minutes during which he was subjected to falaka [beating on the soles of the feet], sexual abuse in the form of squeezing of his testicles, beatings and rape with truncheon. The alleged perpetrators were wearing uniforms of the gendarmerie, but were also wearing surgical face masks and latex gloves. Their identity is not known to Amnesty International.

After the interrogation he was brought in his underwear to a doctor's office and was again stripped naked. The doctor (or someone he presumed to be a doctor) briefly looked at his head and then dictated a report. Nuri Akal2n had no chance to say anything. He was subsequently taken to a cell which he shared with two other prisoners. One of his cell-mates had fractured ribs, and a doctor came in the following night to treat him in his cell. Nuri Akal2n told the doctor that he had been raped and asked for a medical report. The doctor reportedly responded in a non-committal way.

Two to three days later Nuri Akal2n sent a formal complaint both to the prison administration and the prosecutor and asked to be transferred to the Forensic Institute for examination. On 28 December his lawyer also filed a formal complaint which she brought personally to the Kocaeli Prosecutor in charge, who appeared to be the Prosecutor in Charge of Kand2ra Prison at the same time and had also been on duty during the transfer. Thus he was legally responsible for what happened because - theoretically - all security officials were supposed to be acting under his orders. He reportedly told the lawyer that ''Searches including in the anus are necessary. Single cells are important for the rehabilitation. They have turned the prisons into their domain. We don't need to get the prison staff moving just for five to six people's reports.'' Upon the lawyer's insistence he finally said, ''I will order his transfer but I don't know whether the soldiers will bring him there.''

According to Amnesty International's information it was only some three weeks after the alleged rape that Nuri Akal2n was visited by a prosecutor and a forensic doctor who medically examined him. It is vital to gather medical evidence for rape as soon as possible after the alleged assault and a delay of this kind can seriously hinder the usefulness of medical findings.

Small group isolation and solitary confinement in the F-Type prisons

According to the information collected by Amnesty International the inmates of F-Type prisons are able to interact at most with two other prisoners – their cellmates with whom they are locked in 24 hours a day – and apparently have no opportunity to associate with other prisoners. Amnesty International received numerous reports that the doors to the small yards adjacent to the prisoners' cells – whether one three-person cell or three one-person cells – can only be opened by the guards and were closed in the weeks immediately after the transfers. Amnesty International has received several reports about prisoners who did not – as the Ministry states – choose to be placed in single cells but instead urged their visitors to do everything possible to end their isolation. Also, information received by Amnesty International confirmed that sport facilities were not made available for the use of the prisoners. The CPT stated in January 2001 that opening the gymnasiums ready for use in the F-Type prisons ''would be a visible proof of the authorities' intention to implement a programme of activities in F-Type prisons''.(11)

The hunger strike, which the authorities wanted to end with the December operation, continued in the F-Type and other prisons. On 21 March 2001 Cengiz SoydaÕ, who had been on hunger-strike at Sincan F-Type Prison, died. As of 18 April, 12 prisoners and two relative on solidarity hunger strike had died. After nearly half a year without proper nutrition many others are also approaching death. The Justice Ministry has expressed an intention to lift the isolation regime. It should be lifted immediately in order to bring the prisons into line with international standards. An added argument for urgency is that this step may encourage the hunger-strikers to drop their protest and so save lives.

Access of independent observers to the prisons

The Turkish government stated that representatives of the Turkish Medical Association and lawyers have access to the prisons. To Amnesty International's knowledge the first visit of representatives of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission took place two weeks after the operation and the visit of the CPT three weeks after the operation. Representatives of the Medical Association were given access not earlier than four weeks after the operation. Amnesty International is concerned that access was granted too late to allow full assessment and investigations of the allegations of torture and ill-treatment during the operation. Moreover access by the Medical Association was again suspended after branches of the Medical Association published the findings from their prison visits in January.

Referring to the idea of new prison monitoring boards the CPT stated that the presence of ''on the spot'' independent observers, charged with observing and subsequently reporting upon interventions, ''would have a dissuasive effect on anyone minded to ill-treat prisoners as well as greatly facilitate the investigation of any allegations of ill-treatment and the correct attribution of blame. The current system under which public prosecutors observe such interventions 'from a distance' is not adequate.''(12) In addition, Amnesty International recommends that the planned prison monitoring boards should include representatives of independent associations such as the Bar Association, the Medical Association, IHD, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) and Mazlum Der.

Access of lawyers to their clients

Lawyers reported that their access to the prisons was very restricted. They complained about endless procedures and searches in the F-Type prisons, which had the effect that they could only meet a small number of clients a day. They also reported that they could not meet defendants in the same trial together, which has negative effects on the right to prepare a defence.(13) Amnesty International is concerned that regimes of isolation may further contribute to the violation of international fair trial standards.

Pressure on human rights defenders

Not only were independent organizations excluded from the investigations into the deaths and injuries, hundreds of people who demonstrated against the F-Type prisons were arrested, in many cases reportedly with excessive force by the security forces. As a result, the pressure on civil society has increased enormously. Representatives of human rights organizations, political parties or trade unions, among them members of the Union of Employees in Judiciary and Enforcement Institutions "Tüm Yarg2-Sen", who criticized the F-Type prisons have been charged with support of illegal organizations. The branches of IHD in Gaziantep, Malatya and Van have been closed indefinitely and the branches in Konya and Izmir were closed temporarily. Other branch offices were raided and their members temporarily detained. Several trials were opened in which IHD representatives have been charged in relation to protests against the F-Type prisons.

CPT recommendations and international standards

Amnesty International strongly disagrees with the Turkish government's statement that the regime currently imposed at the F-Type prisons is sanctioned by international standards. Preliminary observations and reports on CPT visits that have been authorised for publication by the Turkish authorities all emphasize very strongly the importance of out-of-cell activities. In the report on its October 1997 visit, para 80, the CPT stated: "... it is imperative for moves toward smaller living units for prisoners in Turkey to be accompanied by measures to ensure that prisoners spend a reasonable part of the day engaged in purposeful activities outside their living unit. Indeed, the effects of the current almost total absence of any organized program of activities for prisoners would be felt even more keenly in smaller living units. In the absence of a significant improvement in activities for prisoners, the introduction of smaller living units will almost certainly cause more problems than it solves." In its preliminary observations on its December 2000/January 2001 visits, para 6, the CPT spoke clearly and specifically about the current situation in the F-Type prisons: "... the de facto isolation system currently in operation is not acceptable and must be ended quickly. As the CPT stressed in the report on its July 2000 visit, the introduction of smaller living units for prisoners must under no circumstances be allowed to lead to a generalised system of small group isolation."

Prolonged solitary confinement and small group isolation may have serious effects on the physical and mental health of prisoners. The Human Rights Committee, for example in its General Comment No. 20 (44), paragraph 6, has made clear that ''prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to acts prohibited under Article 7'' of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), that is, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture. Turkey has signed, but not yet ratified the ICCPR, but is a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights which in Article 3 prohibits torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In 1997 the UN Committee against Torture recommended that: ''Except in exceptional circumstances, inter alia, when the safety of persons or property is involved, [...] the use of solitary confinement be abolished, particularly during pre-trial detention, or at least that it should be strictly and specifically regulated by law (maximum duration, etc.) and that judicial supervision should be introduced.''(14)

The European Court of Human Rights has found that small-group isolation can inflict physical and mental damage, and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners strongly emphasize the importance of contact with the outside world, and the rehabilitative benefits afforded by access to constructive work, education, and recreation.

Recommendations

Amnesty International urges the Turkish authorities to take the following measures to bring the situation in Turkish prisons into line with international standards:

• The regimes of small-group isolation and solitary confinement in F-Type and other prisons should be ended immediately. Areas of common use for purposeful activities should be made accessible to prisoners for several hours each day. Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law should be amended and prison regulations which prevent prolonged isolation be issued.
• Prisoners should never be tortured or ill-treated. They should receive the necessary medical treatment. Gendarmes should not be brought into contact with prisoners.
• An independent and comprehensive investigation into the deaths and allegations of ill-treatment and torture during the December operation should be conducted immediately with the results made public and those responsible being brought to justice.
• The prisons should be opened to the scrutiny of human rights defenders including doctors and lawyers to ensure that they are run in accordance with Turkish law and international standards for the humane treatment of prisoners.
• The pressure on human rights defenders should be ended and closed branches of the IHD be reopened immediately. Charges against human rights defenders for pursuing their legitimate role or peacefully expressing their views should be dropped.

• ****

(1) Major parts of this paper were raised as concerns in a joint letter of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) to the Turkish Justice Minister dated 30 March 2001.
(2) The Council of Europe Recommendation No. R (82) 17 concerning custody and treatment of dangerous prisoners, adopted 24 September 1982, recommends that, as far as possible, ordinary prison regulations should be applied to dangerous prisoners and that reinforced security measures should only be applied to the extent to which they are necessarily required and in a way respectful of human dignity and rights and be regularly reviewed.
(3) According to official figures 9,141 prisoners were held under the terms of the Anti-Terror Law in March 2001. Four thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight of them were on remand while their trial was continuing or pending, the other 4,973 having been convicted.
(4) Letter from the President of the CPT to Mr H. Kemal Gür, 29 January 2001, para 6.
(5) The CPT delegation’s observations made during their visit to Turkey between 27 February and 3 March 1999, set out in a letter dated 22 March 1999 and made public on 4 May 1999.
(6) The UN Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 11 states: "In all places where prisoners are required to live or work, (a) the windows shall be large enough to enable prisoners to read or work by natural light, and shall be so constructed that they can allow the entrance of fresh air whether or not there is artificial ventilation. Rule 21(1) states: "Every prisoner who is not employed in outdoor work shall have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily if the weather permits." Rules 16 and 86 of the European Prison Rules have the same requirements respectively.”
(7) The CPT visited Kartal Special Type Prison in July 2000 and reported that “Some facilities existed for communal activities; however, the delegation noted that they were virtually unused.” The government responded that “remand prisoners cannot be forced to take part in activities if they do not want to.” CPT/Inf (2000) 19, pp. 6 and 9.
(8) TBMM Insan Haklar2n2 1nceleme Komisyonu: 26 Eylül 1999 Ulucanlar Cezaevi Raporu, Ankara, July 2000, p. 128..
(9) CPT 2001, para 2.
(10) CPT 2001, paras 4 and 9.
(11) CPT 2001, para 6.
(12) CPT 2001, para 8.
(13) According to newspaper reports Cihan Kara and Ömer Berber, on trial at Istanbul State Security Court on charges of membership of an illegal organization, appeared before the court for the first time after they had been taken to Kand2ra F-Type Prison. Their lawyer said that they had not been able to prepare the defence because she had not been able to meet her clients, even though she had gone to the prison several times. Cihan Kara is being held in a cell for three persons and Ömer Berber in a cell for one person. They alleged that they were called upon to give up their death fast, otherwise they would not be given pen and paper.
• (14) Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Denmark. 01/05/97 (A/52/44 para.186).•

AI Index: EUR 44/025/2001
20 April 2001

HRW Letter to Mr. Suat Ertosun, Director of Prisons
May 2, 2001

Mr. Suat Ertosun
Director of Prisons
Justice Ministry
Adalet Bakanligi

Dear Mr. Ertosun,

Human Rights Watch welcomes the Turkish parliament's decision to amend Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law, so as to remove legal provisions that prohibited out-of-cell activities. This amendment signals the last legal obstacle to lifting small-group isolation in the F-type and other prisons, including Kartal Special-Type Prison. We remain concerned, however, that the amendment to Article 16 contains several conditions that, if improperly implemented, could result in the continuation of the isolation regime in Turkey's F-type prisons.

The amendment to Article 16 gives prisoners access to out-of-cell activities provided that they do not present a security risk, and that prison resources permit. With regard to security considerations, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has expressed its view that the vast majority of those imprisoned under the Anti-Terror Law do not present a security risk and that this should therefore be no obstacle to out-of-cell time.

With regard to the question of resources: the Justice Ministry and the prison administrations at the four F-type prisons have had a full eight months (since the draft amendment was first published in September 2000) during which to prepare for the implementation of out-of-cell activities. The issue of adequate resources should therefore present no justification for a delay in the implementation of the new regime.

The Justice Ministry transferred prisoners to F-type prisons before it had put in place the necessary legal and administrative arrangements. As a consequence, those prisoners have been subjected to four months of uninterrupted isolation. As we know, some prisoners (and their relatives) have protested against the isolation regime by going on hunger-strike, and as of today twenty people have died as a result.

We believe it is now incumbent on the Justice Ministry to bring a speedy end to the isolation regime, including by immediately making a clear and unambiguous public commitment to out-of-cell activities. If any prison administration has difficulty in granting immediate access to such activities, we urge the ministry to adopt interim measures, such as permitting prisoners on the same corridor to leave their cell doors open during the day so that they may associate with one another.

It is important not only that the isolation regime is lifted, but that there is public confidence that the conditions included in the amended Article 16 will be implemented

in a manner that is consistent with international standards. We therefore urge the Turkish government to introduce prison monitoring systems that include arrangements for access and inspection by impartial bodies-such as bar associations, nongovernmental human rights organizations, or a board of prison visitors-that are not under Justice Ministry authority. Such systems would help to give confidence to inmates that isolation will not be re-introduced surreptitiously or in remote corners of the penal system, and will also provide independent corroboration of the successful implementation of the reformed regime.

A representative of Human Rights Watch will contact your Foreign Relations Director on Friday morning to learn more about the implementation of the regime.

Sincerely,

Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division
Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Foundation of Turkey
Documentation Center
January 2001

On the F Type Disaster

On the verge to the year 2001 we were confronted with a trauma of high powered violence. This was horror injuring and destroying the health of individuals and society. The traces of these wounds will remain visible even with future generations. Something that may be compared to the disaster of Czernobil and the pollution created by it. What were the reasons for this violence that now requires a social project to treat its effects?

Indeed, Turkey was faced with a storm of violence called type F. The State had planned to invest $ 60 million in order to build 17 prisons. This was introduced as a step to fight terrorism. The ideologic working conditions of the terrorist organizations would be lifted and the solidarity that the ward system made possible would be broken. All that would be possible by prisons typed F, built as individual cells which makes it possible to cut all conntacts between the prisoners and introduce an absolute loneliness that allows for complete control.

There was just one problem. The political inmates of the prisons, their families and one part of society was opposed to this and voiced their objection in an effective manner. The protests that developed in the form of hunger strikes and “death fast” put the problem with the prisons on top of Turkey's agenda. At one stage the Minister of Justice declared that they had postponed the operation of F-type prisons until new legislation was introduced and a social consensus was reached. Hopes came up that an agreement could be reached that would prevent people from starving to death. At this point a new page was opened in Turkey's history. The police entered a clash with four people putting up posters. One was killed and three people were wounded. After that a vehicle of the police was shot at. Two officers lost their lives. What followed were armed mass demonstrations by thousands of members of the anti-riot police in some provincial capitals of Turkey. This was an uprise against the government.

The talks to the prisoners were suddenly stopped and on the 60est day of the “death fast” the government decides to intervene without waiting for the outcome of mediation. The operation “return to life”, that will not slip our memories, starts in 20 prisons with 10,000 members of the anti-riot police, gendarmes and special teams. Fire arms, chemical and gas bombs are used and road building machinery is employed against resistance. For three days gruesome pictures flicker over the screens that look as if a war has started. This operation will result in the death of 30 humans, two of them gendarmes; thus taking the form of a massacre. This period once again made the violence visible, that has been instituonalized in Turkey.

The government locks up more than 1,000 prisoners in incompleted prisons of type F and reveals its true aim. This in return increases distrust of society against administration.

This atmosphere was also suitable to silence dissident voices. Crisis management as part of the Law on Administration of Provinces was put into force. All kinds of social and mass actions were restricted. Extreme violence was used against demonstrators. Mothers were dragged over the ground, beaten with truncheons and kicked at. The “idealists” (extreme right) helped the police as “people's” force. In the streets of our towns people were beaten up and hospitalized. Buildings were stormed and the equipment destroyed. Hundreds of people were injured and detained abitrarily. During the transfer to the prisons of type F and even after entry to these prisons the violence did not stop.

This is what the tornado called type F left behind. But we shall continue our work, continue to defend the right to life and be the voice of the victims. We are determined to show the necessary effort so that the struggle for human rights gets rooted in society and solidarity is developed. Torturers and supporters of violence will be made accountable. Let the new year be a year of hopes cherished and developed in this direction.

Origin of F Type Prisons

Having been planned in accordance with the Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law enforced in 1991, the F-type P-prisons has been kept away from public knowledge despite 10 years of public demand to be informed for on the issue. Construction of prisons have first been tendered in 1997. After the completion of three, the F-type prisons were submitted to the public information in July 2000. In the mean time, the coverage for F-type prisons have been extended to not only the people who have been charged under the Anti-Terror Law, but also those who have been sentenced under the “Law on Crime Organizations on Profit No. 1442 of 1999”

The Anti-Terror Law, Article 16

“According to this article the sentences of those who have committed crimes defined in this law, are to be executed in the special prosecution institutions built in single or three persons-cell.

There shall be no open visit in these institutions. The relationship of the convicts with one another and their communications are prevented.

Among the convicts who spend at least one third of their sentences in good condition and whose conditional release is due less that 3 years may be transferred to other closed prosecution institutions.

Those who are arrested under this law is imprisoned in the prosecution institutions which are built in the way mentioned in the paragraph 1. The provisions of the paragraph 2 are also applied to the prisoners.”

The aim of this article of the Law is to prevent inter-inmate “communication and relationships”. This aim itself is in breach of the UN and the Council of Europe regulations on prisons. While the main principle and goals of the regulations are to execute one's sentence under the conditions respecting human dignity or to keep one in humanitarian conditions during his/her terms of imprisonment, the article of the law No. 3713 evidently foresees an isolation. The law prohibits the communication of the prisoners and convict with one another. The foreseen cell system is neither planned as a place for the inmate's nightly accommodation, nor such a demand is presumed to be a right on behalf of him/her. No shared areas for the inmates, other than the nightly accommodation, is regulated yet. Since the aim of the cell system is to cut off any kinds of inter-inmate communication, the way to achieve this end depends on the spatial/physical arrangements. The prisoners and convicts are aimed to be contained in small living spheres circumscribed in walls, and isolated from the others.

The announcements of the Justice Ministers related to the F-type prisons reveal this intentions quite clearly. Such declarations were based on the criticism by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) against the ward system dated 11 March 1997. However, as far as other critical points in the administration of prisons is concerned the recommendations of the CPT have not resulted in concrete measures since then. This means that the “room system” would solve the problem of the prisons defined as “under threat of terrorists” is misleading, but was knowingly put forward.

..The rooms for single prisoners measure 10 square meters and two or three rooms next to each other use the same garden for fresh air. The gardens measure 42 to 50 square meters.

The rooms for three people have two floors each measuring 25 square meters. The area for fresh air was designed to be 50 square meters in size.

The prisoners in single or tripple rooms can be together in the gardens for fresh air at day times and meet their social needs to speak and communicate. This was provided so that the prisoners do not get the feeling of isolation.

When planning these areas we showed an efforts to keep them above the European standards. In order to get sufficient light the windows of the blocks and rooms were enlarged above the standards.

Problems in prisons such as joint uprisings, taking staff as hostages, forcing other to go on hunger strile, setting things on fire, digging tunnels to escape, blackmailing, violence within organizations, cases of injuries and killings had to be solved. The requirements of Law No. 3713 on Fighting Terrorism and Law No. 4422 on Criminal Organizations had to be fulfilled, but another reason for the project on single and triple rooms was the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) adopted on 11 March 1997 about the visit to prisons between 19 and 23 August 1996. This report on Turkey critiszed the ward system with the comment that it facilitated the inner solidarity of criminal organizations. The Committee recommended indvidual rooms or smaller wards for the prisoners who should be furnished with the opportunity of positive activities outside the dormitories...”

General Directorate for Prisons in the Ministry of Justice

High Security F-type Closed Prisons , 27.11.2000

http://www.adalet.gov.tr

In the first installment of the project that silently progressed over the last 10 years there will be 11 F-type prisons. Three of them were given a temporary ok. One of them is Sincan F-type Prison that the Human Rights Association (HRA), the Human Rights Foundations of Turkey (HRFT), the Association of Prisoners' Relatives (TIYAD) and the Human Rights Organization Malzum Der were allowed to inspect on 28 July 2000. Following the inspection the delegation issued a report stating amongst other things that the doors of the cells were locked from outside by bars and that the areas for fresh were under complete control of the prison administration. The report concluded that the individual cells were places of isolation and critisized that there was no legal text on how the prisoners were to be administered and what rights they had.

The Turkish Medical Association and Bar Associations together with many other NGOs and professional organizations express their concerns on the regimes of social isolation and solitary confinement practiced in Cell Type Prisons, also known as the “High Security Prisons,” and emphasized that these prisons did not comply with the human dignity. According to the reports, at the beginning stage of the program firstly a great number of political prisoners will be put in 11 Cell Type Prisons, the construction of which have almost been finished. The statements of the authorities mentioning that they would not give up the implementation of the Cell Type Prisons despite the reactions and warnings of the people sensitive to the subject rise the tension.

Reactions against the F-type prisons

Starting in June 2000 prisoners' relatives gathered each weekend in front of Galatasaray Lycée in Istanbul, only to be beaten up by the police who continued this treatment after detention. At the same time platform/s established against the cell system organised mass meetings.

The government tried to silence the protests against the F-type prisons by force. Hundres of protesters were detained, mainly in Istanbul. Istanbul Treatment Center of the HRFT established that between 27 June and 16 August 2000 alone a total of at least 411 people were detained. The number increased to 714 by 26 September 2000. During a press conference of the HRFT on that day victims stated that the detainees were subjected to brutal beatings in the busses of the police where curtains were used to hide the scenes from the public. 106 people had applied to Istanbul Treatment Center and some of them needed orthopedic treatment because of abrasion due to heavy blows. 11 people had fractured bones, another 4 broken teeth, 8 needed treatment in hospital, 6 complained about problems with the nervous system because pepper gas had been used, 6 had a concussion and 2 people had a damaged membrane.

After July the number of institutions critisizing the F-type prisons and the intended treatment there increased. During protest meetings many people were detained including members of Istanbul Medical Associations, physicians from the human rights commission and the Association of Contemporary Jurists.

Hunger Strikes

There has been several incidents resulted in deaths and wounds in Turkish prisons. Only in last 5 years due to the excessive use of violence of the security forces in prisons 29 prioners and convicts were killed and hundreds of them were wounded. (See Annex 1). Many prisoners and convicts committed suicide as a result of application of torture and maltreatment in prisons. Political powers have not introduced any programme to remedy inhuman conditions in prisons. Moreover, these conditions have been kept as additional punishment instruments. During last 20 years, prisoners and convicts have held in different times long standing hunger strikes towards improvement of prison conditions and 27 inmates in total have lost their lives out of death fasts.

Official statements on placing primarily political prisoners and convicts into 11 F type prisons, and on not giving up the implementation of the Cell Type Prisons despite the reactions and warnings of the people sensitive to the subject gradually gave rise to increase tension in the society.

In this tense atmosphere, On 20 October 2000, a total of 865 political prisoners and convicts staged a hunger strike action in 18 prisons of Turkey to protest the F-type prisons

Press Statement

The hunger strikes have reached day 37 in several prisons. The reason for the hunger strikes are the prisons of type F. We, whose signature can be found at the end of the declaration inspected Sincan F-type Prison on 27 November 2000 and would like to express our views and recommendantion once again to the authorities and the public.

1. In order to terminate the hunger strikes that have reached a critical stage urgent steps have to be taken concerning the F-type prisons.

2. The first step should be the abolishment of Article 16 of the Law to Fight Terrorism. This article provides that political prisoners who are called „terror criminals“ have to be held in cells, even before they are convicted. This provision is against universal jurisdiction.

3. The public is mislead by a meaningless discussion. More important than the question of whether or not the prisons are luxurious the question of whether or not they can continue their social and human contacts there. It cannot be accepted that a human being is held in isolation, even in the most luxurious environment.

4. The architecture of the F-type prisons has lifted the space for common life and under the conditions of loneliness of the prisoners in the cell the opportunity of humane life conditions will also be lifted. This practice is against universal jurisdiction.

5. The isolation will create psychological and physical damage. The educational program introduced as „treatment“ is directed at depersonalizing the prisoners who will suffer from additional mental problems.

6. Until today many political prisoners were killed in Diyarbakir, Ümraniye, Ulucanlar and Burdur Prisons, places that are under the protection of the State. Until today no measures have been taken to prevent the attacks and bring the assailants to justice. Under these conditions the F-type prisons, that deprive the prisoners of their social relations, cannot count as secure places. This type of prison does not exist in any civilized country.

7. The prisons have to be reviewed in general with their system of executing sentences and the system of jurisdiction. Changes in line with human rights and universal jurisdiction have to be made without hesitation.

8. Legal measures have to be taken for the supervision of the prison that should be carried out with the participation of professional and human rights organizations. The resprective ministries should establish a working group under participation of the Turkish Medical (TTB), Bar Association (TBB), the Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) and human rights organizations.

The F-type prisons cannot be accepted because of the negative effect on the physical and psychological integrity of persons, because of the socio-cultural problems, because of the discrepancy to universal legislation and because it is against human rights.

We call on the Justice Minister and the government to take urgent steps. The necessary changes have to be made in the laws. Legal protections have to be secured. The prisons have to be made places where the prisoners can lead a humane life. The danger for the health of prisoners on hunger strike is increasing day by day.

Poltical parties: ÖDP, EMEP, DBP

Professional organizations: TMMOB, TBB

Trade unions: KESK, DISK

Democratic organizations: HRA, HRFT, Mazlum Der, People's Houses, Foundation „Pir Sultan Abdal“, Association of Contemporary Jurists

Initiatives to Stop the Hunger Strikes

In addition to growing public opposition against cell type prisons, some of hunger strikers turned into a „death fast“ action from 20 November 2000. Following this development the Justice Minister invited the Central Council of the Turkish Medical Association for talks on 3 December. This was the start for a number of consultation of various NGOs with the Ministry.

Hunger strikes came only on 7 December 2000 to the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly General Council. Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk responded the questions on death fast. According to the data given by the Ministry of Justice, Hikmet Sami Türk assessed that the number of prisoners and convicts on death fast was199, and the number of prisoners and convicts on indefinite hunger strike was 245. In his speech by defending the Cell Type Prisons, Türk noted that the health conditions of the protesters reached an extremely critical point, and that no results could be attained, although the NGO' spent efforts to end the protest. Türk referred to three different draft-laws prepared for the establishment of the necessary legal infrastructure of Cell Type Prisons asserting that those would enable the usage of shared living spaces, legal control of all regulations and procedures in the Cell Type prisons and establishment of the “Prison Watch Boards” so as to make the prison administration transparent. Türk continued as follows: “However, Cell Type prisons will not be put into practice until these 3 draft-laws are put into force. Thus, it will take at least 6 months. Within this period, we are ready to evaluate the public sensitivity and positive proposals of the professional organization on the Cell Type prisons. Moreover, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture are invited to Turkey to make investigations in Cell Type Prisons, as they have done so in their former visits. We aim to put Cell Type Prisons into practice after equipping them with the most appropriate features in respect of human rights in every dimension.”

As a result of consultations and enlarged public opposition, the Justice Ministry announced the postponement of the implementation of F Type prisons: Justice Minister stated on 9 December 2000 that launching of the F-type Prisons were postponed and that in order to attain a social concensus, an extensive and multidimensional investigation would be started on the F-type prisons, including the architecture as well, and that this investigation would be carried out jointly with the participation of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA), Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), and Union of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB).

Immediately after Minister's statement of 9 December 2000, representatives of the Turkish Grand National Assembly's Human Rights Investigation Commission, Turkish Medical Association and the Union of Engineers and Architects of Turkey held negotiations with the prisoners and convicts. This mediation initiatives were given an end with the statement of Justice Ministry of 14 December 2000 at 24:00 before reaching any conclusion. Later, there has been no positive reaction by the Ministry of Justice to demands of civil society organisations including mediating organisations to continue to negotiations. For this reason, no communication was possible with prisoners on death fast.

One day before the mediatory talks were stopped the Higher Council for Radios and TVs (RTÜK) warned the media on reports about the F-type prisons. Following this warning news about the „death fasts“ showed a considerable decrease.

The RTÜK decision- 13 December 2000

“It has been observed that some audio-visual media cover the actions of terror organizations who forced their militants into protests against the F-type prisons in extensive form and a way that makes the State appear in a weak state.

The aim of the terror organizations is known as showing strength of their militants and find supporters. They also want to create an empty space of authority by showing the State as weak...

In providing space of actions such as „death fasts“ serving the purpose of the terror organization the media acts against the principles of Law No. 3984 on „broadcasting has to serve the understanding of public service“. It is also a violation of Law No. 4422 on fighting criminal organizations founded for their own interest“.

The respective broadcasts are constantly followed by our council.

It is of specific importance that the audio-visual media follows the provisions of Law No. 3984 and other legal provisions.“

Following RTÜK decision, on 14 December the Istanbul State Security Court put a ban on the publication or broadcast of news or visual scripts on the death fast and F Type Prisons “that would be regarded as the statements and propaganda of the illegal organizations”. The ban was responded by the media with an intensive campaign against the death fast action. The media, on the one hand alleged that the protesters indeed were not on death fast for they had been taking the B1 vitamins suggested by the doctors to prevent permanent disabilities, and on the other hand she broadcaster news for urging the forced feeding of the protesters. The headlines covered in the press asserted that the state's honor was protected through a forced intervention in prisons and that even it had been late to intervene in the death fasts. In some written and visual media institutions, the violence imposed by the state was legitimized, the non-governmental institutions were put under pressure and shown as the target.

Summary of the letter of the prosecution's office at Istanbul SSC of 14.12.2000, numbered 2000/2511

“The Prosecution's Office asked Istanbul SSC to put a ban on specific broadcasts and publications under the following consideration: It has been observed that some audio-visual media cover actions of terror organizations in protest against the F-type prisons in extensive form and a way that makes the State appear in a weak state.

Statements and propaganda of illegal terror organizations have reached the dimension of increasing their potential of intimidation and in this form constitute a violation of Article 6/2 and 7/2 of Law No. 3713 and Article 1/7 of Law No. 4422.

It was also observed that such news turned into incitement of the people to hatred and enmity.

Finally on 12 December 2000 a clash with stones and sticks arose between a group who staged an illegal demonstration against the F-type prisons in Ankara province and a group of civil citizens.

It was also established that students clashed with sticks and stones at Istanbul and Marmara Universities on 13 December in connection with this issue.

It has been understood that publishing and broadcasting in this direction is violating the internal security of the country and the public order, constituting a crime.”

Istanbul SSC No. 4 summarized this demand by the prosecutor (as above) stating that it was well founded and in line with the law. The decision taken read as follows:

According to Article 28 of the Constitution and additional Article 1 of Law No. 5680 a ban was issued for the printed and audio-visual media in connection with the death fast and F-type prisons to give room for declarations and propaganda of illegal terror organizations that incite the people to hatred, enmity and to commit crimes and that are aimed at increasing the indimidating strength of organized criminal organizations.

On 14 December, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit and Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk made statements asserting that “they had done their bests as the government and won't be responsible from the deaths.” In the statement he made after his weekly meeting with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Ecevit said that: “The parliamentarians, non-governmental organizations, writers and artists have spent considerable efforts on this issue. All kinds of doubts on the F Type prisons have been removed. Despite this fact, the people who put the death fast on the stage go on insisting on conditions which would not be admitted by any state. Under these conditions, if death incidents take place, people who pushed the protesters to death will be responsible.”

After that, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit held a meeting with Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hüsamettin Özkan, and Minister of Interior Sadettin Tantan. At the end of the meeting, as a response to a question by a journalist on “intervention”, Ecevit said, “I am not able to say anything now. Wait until tomorrow.”...

Date: 19 December 2000 2Return to Life Operation” was commenced at 04:30 in the morning at 20 prisons of Turkey

The “operation for returning those in death fasts and prisons to life” was initiated in the morning of 19 December 2000 at 04:30 in 20 prisons of Turkey.

TO THE PUBLIC

During a press conference on 9 December the Justice Minister announced that the transfers to F-type prisons had been delayed and the new prison administration would not start until an agreement had been found in society. Similar declarations were made later.

In line with this declaration and on the wish of the Minister we tried to proceed on the agreement in society on F-type prisons and acted between Bayrampasa Prison and the Ministry with the aim to bring the death fasts to an end.

At a point when the efforts had not been successful, but not hopeless, i.e. when the talks had entered a deadlock on the question of how many prisoners would stay in one room, and the Minister announced that there was no need for further talks we stopped our initiative hoping that others might be more successful.

We never lost our hope that an agreement in society might be reached and continued our contacts. A representative of our group was allowed into Bayrampasa Prison on Sunday, 17 December. As a result of the talks the prisoners informed the group that they wanted to continue negotiation. This statement was conveyed to the Ministry.

Meanwhile NGOs and political parties stated that the talks should be taken up again. Our group looked for ways to make that possible, but the Justice Ministry did not agree. A final attempt was made on 18 December, but no positive response came from the Justice Ministry which also did not provide a date for meeting us.

The operation that started this morning and the immediate transfer of prisoners to F-type prisons raise serious doubts on the seriousness of the Justice Ministry and the promises made.

We believe that the government could have solved the problems without an operation as the one of today.

Information for the public.

19 December 2000

Mehmet BEKAROGLU, member of Human Rights Commission in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT)

Kaya GÜVENÇ, chairman of TMMOB

Metin BAKKALCI, deputy chairman of TTB

Yücel SAYMAN, chairman of Istanbul Bar Association

Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk made a statement in the morning of the operation that “an intervention had been inevitable”. Türk said that “As you know, hunger strikes and death fasts have been maintained in some of our prisons with the enforcement of specific organizations. By yesterday, the number of death fast protesters reached 284, the number of people on hunger strikes reached 1139. Yesterday (18 December) was the 60th day of some actions. Up to the last minute, initiatives were taken in order to end the hunger strike. But, unfortunately, common sense could not domineer and these strikes could not be ended on their own accord. State can not turn a blind eye to those who incite people to death. For this reason an intervention had become inevitable in 20 prisons. The intervention aims to save people's life. ... The operation has been carried out with a full success up to now. There has not been any loss, I hope this is so. The reason why an operation had not been conducted up to today, was the possible risks which may be brought about by it. But the operation has been initiated after all kinds of precautions had been taken, and everybody should help the state now.”

Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit made a statement at noon, and referred to the operation in prisons as “an initiative to rescue and protect the terrorists from their own terrorism”. Ecevit also said that “We have been paying efforts for weeks in order not to resort to such an armed intervention. Efforts have been put forth to secure that the terrorists take the normal direction. This is an initiative to rescue and protect the terrorists from their own terrorism. All of our security forces are performing their duties in harmony and patience. They do whatever they can in order to maintain that lives are saved without killing any person. For this reason, it may take some time in certain prisons, especially in Bayrampaşa and Ümraniye, since the problem is dealt with peacefully as much as it can be, without resorting to violence. The problem has been solved in many prisons. The patients have started to accept medical treatment. I hope that a positive result can be reached in also Bayrampaşa and Ümraniye Prisons at the earliest time.” At the end of his speech, Ecevit disclosed that the F-Type prisons would be opened as contrary to Minister of Justice Türk who had stated that it would take at least 4 or 6 months to open those prisons, while introducing the Sincan F Type Prison to the media and NGO's some weeks ago.

Carried out jointly by the Ministry of Interior and Justice Ministry, the so called “Return to Life” operation resulted in the deaths of 32 people, two of them being soldiers, and the transfers of over a thousand prisoners and convicts to those F-type prisons which had just been opened to temporary hosting. The prisoners and convicts who had been transferred to the incompleted F-type prisons all of a sudden, were not let to meet their families and lawyers for a long while and were subjected to torture and inhuman treatment

Minister of Justice, Hikmet Sami Türk, made a statement at noon and disclosed that a total of 490 prisoners and convicts had been transferred to the Kocaeli, Sincan and Edirne F Type Prisons. Contrary to Türk's earlier promise of postponing the opening of F Type Prisons until necessary arrangements including the architectural project are made in accordance with the compromise with the NGO's, some prisoners in those prisons where an operation was deployed, were transferred to the Sincan, Kocaeli and Edirne F Type Prisons.

The first statement concerning the transfers was made by Minister of Interior Sadettin Tantan, instead of Minister Türk. “24 inmates in Bartın Special Type Prisons are being transferred to Sincan,” said Minister of Interior Sadettin Tantan in the morning of 19 December. Minister of Justice Türk confirmed this development at noon with these words: “Transfers to the Sincan F Type Prison started”. At night, a statement by Ministry of Interior read that a total of 234 prisoners and convicts (47 from Bartın, 69 from Aydın, 31 from Ceyhan, 36 from Malatya, 47 from Çankırı and 4 from Nevşehir) were transferred to the Sincan F Type Prison. Operation deployed in Bayrampaşa Prison was suspended at night and then 140 prisoners and convicts were transferred to the Edirne F Type Prison.

Protest to the Operation

Use of an excessive violence towards prisoners by security forces and the opening up F Type prisons led to protests from democratic organisations including trade unions and political parties.

19.12.2000 TO THE PUBLIC

Dear human rights defenders,

Since this morning the Turkish government's operation aiming at isolating prisoners from each other, is continuing by sending armed forces into the prisons and, thus, the process of deaths has been accelerated. The government and in particular the Prime Minister and the Ministers of the Interior and Justice who since the beginning of the death fast deployed a policy of misinformation in and outside the country and ignorance of organized and sensitive circles, are directly responsible for the deaths to occur. Everything that happened since the beginning of the “death fast” occurred according to a systematic and planned operation of the government and the Ministry of Justice. During this time the attitude of the authorities made it clear that the warnings of human rights organizations and professional bodies would not be listened to and that the efforts of dialogue and compromise would not bear positive results. Yet, the NGOs continued their efforts which seemed to be the only way to avoid deaths. But the Ministry of Justice exploited the actions of these organizations for its purpose of misinforming the public.

Since the 12th of September (1980) military rule the political prisoners have been forced to express their most simple demands by putting their lives at risk. Not the prisoners can be held responsible for this, but the institutions that have become used to arbitrarily deal with political preferences that are of public interest and not to ask representatives of the public for advice. The authorities continue to regard prison conditions as a problem “for the state to show strength” and not a question of how human rights can be protected and justice be installed.

The F-type prisons are buildings that aim at dehumanizing the prisoners by isolating them from each other, that do not confirm with any standard and that were developed by arbitrary decisions of some bureaucrats at the General Directorate for Prisons in the Ministry of Justice with the aim of implementing the isolation politics of the National Security Council. The answers of the government to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on its criticism and warnings show its insistence on this arbitrary attitude and the refusal of the necessities of human rights.

The prisoners expressed that they did not give up the “death fast” when it entered a critical stage because they distrusted the promises of the government. The “death fast” action of 1966 that resulted in the death of 12 prisoners was solved by means of a dialogue. However, none of the promises given to terminate the action was kept. The demands of 1996 resembled the demands of the latest action. It was said that the prisoners participating in the action would be treated; but despite such a promise and the efforts of human rights organizations even prisoners with vital physical and psychological disorders were not treated. It was said that the persons responsible for the massacres in Buca and Ümraniye Prisons would be tried; but they were not brought to justice and further massacres happened in Diyarbakır and Ulucanlar Prisons and the people responsible for these massacres were not tried either.

The government declared that those who supported the action by the prisoners on “death fast” would be responsible for today's deaths. We have to emphasize two points here: First of all, some of the demands by the prisoners have long been brought on the agenda and defended by human rights defenders independent of the current “death fast”. Second, it is not the “death fast” action that causes the deaths at this moment, but the operation that has been carried out in prisons under the responsibility of the Prime Minister. The government regarded the “death fast” as suicide, and demanded that the action should stop with respect to human life. Subsequently, the same government gave the order of massacre. If the authorities do not take any responsibility for the deaths, we would like to ask what kind of measures they had taken this time, different from the previous operations which all resulted in deaths. When they were giving the order of this operation, how could they determine the sustainable number of casualties? The government has a fearless and biased attitude, but it can easily manipulate the public because of its monopoly and control over the mainstream media.

In the course of the “death fast”, as in the case of many other problems regarding human rights and democracy, the mainstream media did not hesitate to report the problem from the perspective of the government and false reports basing on this perspective, without making the necessary investigations. Indeed, some of the media sabotaged the negotiations of NCOs and even incited the government for an operation in prisons.

In light of recent developments, we have completely lost our hopes for sincere steps to be taken by the government in the human rights area, and do not believe that the National Security Council and the government will take any measures in this area that might contradict their policies, and thus we do not see any relevance in negotiating with the government any more.

Yavuz Önen

HRFT Executive Board President

THE MASSACRES HAVE TO BE STOPPED AT ONCE

The whole of Turkey and we are being confronted with an open massacre as of tdoay, Tuesday, 19 December 2000, 4.30am.

The news on operations against prisoners on hunger strike or death fast in 20 prisons speak of deaths in double number. It is obvious that the ongoing operations will lead to more deaths. During the operation allegedly started to save lives not only those whose lives were to be rescued died, but also soldiers who had to carry out the operation. The responsibles for these deaths are those who gave the order for the operation.

The fact that many prisoner reject medical treatment has shown that this operation in 20 prisons does not serve any other purpose than to commit a massacre.

We see the attempt of intense pressure and detentions of NGOs, trade unions, professional organizations, political parties, intellectuals and families who call on the government to stop this action that they defined as operation 'return to life'. This is another of intimidating the social opposition by putting pressure on, blocking off and detaining forces of labour and democracy.

The bans on publications imposed by Istanbul SSC and RTÜK is an element of pressure on the press. We call on the press to secure its independence and to report objectively on the events.

The attacks on the prisons today exceed the situation of the 12 September (military dictatorship) period. The attacks on the forces of labour and democracy put our country into darkness.

The government anbnounced that the F-type prisons were delayed until an agreement was reached in society. Now they say that there is a problem of space in the prisons and started the transferes to F-type prisons. This shows that the declarations made so far were nothing else but lies to the public in order to win time.

We as the signatories of this declaration want

- the operation and the massacres to be stopped at one;

· the transfers to Sincan and other F-type prisons to end:

· the necessary investigations on the attack and the massacres to be carried out in front of the public;

· the siege and pressure on premises of political parties and NGOs to be lifted and detainees to be released immediately,

· prisoners in hospital to be contacted by the Turkish Medical association;

· prisoners in hospital and prisons to have immediate access to their families and lawyers.

We protest sharply against this massacre and the operations. It is an attempt of creating an atmosphere of pressure and intimidation against all forces of labour and democracy. This shall not succeed.

KESK, TÜMTIS, TMMOB, TTB, ÇHD, People's Houses, HRA, Foundation Pir Sultan Abdal 2 July Culture and Education, Cultural Association Pir Sultan Abdal, HRFT, Foundation of the Turkish Human Rights Institution, DBP, EMEP, HADEP, ÖDP, TSIP

After the Operation

According to official statements more than 700 prisoners were transferred to Edirne, Kocaeli and Sincan F-type Prisons. It was reported that Edirne F-type Prison was still under construction and did not have electricity or water. The heating also does not work. The situation of the prisoners who were taken to other prisons naked after having been hosed with water is reportedly bad.

Pressures on the physicians to treat the prisoners on death fast “even if the prisoners do not accept” led to protests. Metin Bakkalcı, the Second Chairman of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), criticized the statements by Minister of Health Osman Durmuş and Minister of Interior Sadettin Tantan, who claimed that “the arrested and convicted prisoners were not on death fast and hunger strike.” Bakkalcı disclosed that in the reports prepared by doctors in the course of medical examinations during the death fast read that the prisoners had suffered from weight losses up to 20 kilograms, hypotension, fever and inability to walk.

TTB Chairwoman Füsun Sayek made a statement upon the declaration by Minister of Health Undersecretary Haluk Tokuçoğlu, who said that investigations would be started against the doctors who refuse to give medical treatment to the prisoners in hospitals, and the comments that appeared in the mainstream media, which asserted that refusing to give medical treatment to the prisoners was the “political inclinations” of the doctors. Dr. Sayek drew attention to the fact that the circular issued by the Ministry and sent to the hospitals did not contain any phrase, which read “Physicians are obliged to give the medical treatment.” Dr. Sayek added that they rejected the criticisms regarding the medical profession, and said that the wounded prisoners and prisoners on death fast had been hospitalized and the Ministry had been responsible for them. Füsun Sayek said that they did not have any information regarding the situation in the hospitals, and that the physicians who had established earlier contacts with the protestor were not invited to deal with the prisoners. Sayek stressed that they had paid great efforts in order to end the death fast without any causalities, and she replied the criticisms as follows: “In such an atmosphere, is it the only question to force-feeding an unconscious person or not? Can you say that those who drive an ambulance on a mother care for the human life? Is it ethical to say that nobody would be transferred to F-type prisons and putting everyone there the next day? Certain newspapers held us responsible for the deaths. Am I the one who has started the death fast? Am I the one who did not end it? If someone refused medical treatment, I have nothing to do with it. I will lodge complaints with the prosecution office against them.”

In a statement that Nationalist Action Party (MHP) MP Hüseyin Akgül made in the name of the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights, it was claimed that the operation was conducted with the aim of “protecting the right to life”. After a meeting that was not attended by the Virtue Party (FP) MP Mehmet Bekaroğlu, Hüseyin Akgül said: “Since the intervention to the prison was directed at protecting the most holy right of mankind, the right to life, our commission concluded that it was not in violation of human rights.” The Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission, which itself “does not recognize the operation as a human rights violation,” demanded the preparation of autopsy reports in line with the rules so as not to “encounter any speculations,” which should be accepted as an indicator in this context. Other than that, the already received data is in support of the claims for killing by firearms, blows and burning.

The prisoners in Bayrampaşa Prison claimed that the security forces had fired a chemical substance at them and that this substance had caught fire when touching the body. The reports by the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institute of 21 December 2000, concerning the autopsies of some female prisoners whose bodies had become carbonized, support this claim. Another claim is that, incendiary bomb was used at least in Bayrampaşa Prison.

Moreover, during the autopsies carried out in the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution bullet wounds were determined in the corpses of 6 prisoners. It was determined by this institution that one prisoner had died due to suffocation of smoke and among the corpses of the prisoners only one had been dressed

However, it is very important to examine the clothes of the prisoners for investigating the claims for extra-judicial execution and the use of firearms and chemical weapons against the prisoners. In Turkey, wherever extra-judicial execution cases are proved the clothes of the victims are removed by the defendants, thus, intending to prevent and investigation by the prosecutors. Indeed, the exclusion of prosecutors from the already mentioned operation process brings about questions concerning the legal dimension of the incident.

Although Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk stated that the lawyers could visit their clients who had been transferred to the F-type prisons, the lawyers are reportedly prevented to visit their clients.

While the prisons were exposed to violence of the military forces the outside world also got its share of violence. The governors wrote letters to trade unions, political parties and human rights organizations informing them that participation in demonstrations would be counted as „support for illegal organizations“ according to Article 169 of the Turkish Penal Code.

Oppression Extended Towards Civil Society

TÜMYARGISEN

(01/103) Trade Unionists Detained... On 19 January Tekin Yildiz, Chairman of the trade union Tüm Yargi-Sen (staff in the judiciary) and the board members Yildiz Çakmak, Kutlay Öztürk, Bekir Akkale, Fatma Akkus, Yücel Sahin, Hürriyet Pinar, Dursun Öztürk, Necdet Bekçi, Nano Kaya, Figen Öner, Kamuran Emir, Edip Binbir, Incihan Çaglayan and Ahmet Tanboga.were detained in Ankara and taken to the department to fight terrorism in Ankara Police HQ. The grounds for this detention were said to be a letter the board had sent to another trade union. Hasan Hayri, a board member who was not detained said that it was actually Fuat Ali Ertosun, the Director for Prison Administration in the Ministry of Justice, who was trying to exert pressure on the trade union by using the judiciary.

(01/104) Trade Unionists Detained... On 19 January Tekin Yildiz, Chairman of the trade union Tüm Yargi-Sen (staff in the judiciary) and the board members Yildiz Çakmak, Kutlay Öztürk, Bekir Akkale, Fatma Akkus, Yücel Sahin, Hürriyet Pinar, Dursun Öztürk, Necdet Bekçi, Nano Kaya, Figen Öner, Kamuran Emir, Edip Binbir, Incihan Çaglayan and Ahmet Tanboga.were detained in Ankara and taken to the department to fight terrorism in Ankara Police HQ. The grounds for this detention were said to be a letter the board had sent to another trade union. Hasan Hayri, a board member who was not detained said that it was actually Fuat Ali Ertosun, the Director for Prison Administration in the Ministry of Justice, who was trying to exert pressure on the trade union by using the judiciary. (20 January, Evrensel)

(01/118)Trade Unionists Arrested... On 22 January members of the trade union for staff in the judiciary (Tüm Yargi-Sen) who had been detained in Ankara on 19 January were taken to Ankara SSC. Hürriyet Pinar, SG of Tüm Yargi-Sen, Necdet Bekçi, chairman of the Ankara branch and Figen Öner, secretary for organizing in the Ankara branch, were arrested on charges of “ aiding an illegal organization„. Tekin Yıldız, Kamuran Emir, Nano Kaya, Edip Binbir, İncihan Çağlayan, Ahmet Tanboğa Tekin Yıldız , Yıldız Çakmak, Kutlay Öztürk, Bekir Akkale, Fatma Akkuş and Yücel Şahin are released. (Evrensel)

(02/050) Trade Unionists on Trial... Nuh Mete Yüksel, prosecutor at Ankara SSC indicted 16 members of the union of personnel in the judiciary (Tüm Yargi-Sen) including its chairman Tekin Yildiz. The trade unionists will be charged with „supporting an armed gang“ under Article 169 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) that requires sentences of between 3 and 5 years' imprisonment. The sentences would have to be increased by 50% according to the Law 3713 on Fighting Terrorism. The “armed gang” is named as Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front DHKP/C that the unionist allegedly supported by taking a position against the F-type prisons and joining the “Platform Against Cells” formed by trade unions, associations and civil institutions. The trial will be held at Ankara SSC No. 1.

İstanbul BarAssociation

(01/117)F-type Investigation against the Bar Association... The Ministry of Justice wrote a letter the Beyoglu Prosecution's Office demanding an investigation against the board of Istanbul Bar Association. In the letter of 11 January it is stated that it was understood by public statements that the board of Istanbul Bar Association made a decision against the F-type prisons. According to Article 76 of the Law on Lawyers such a decision would be outside their competence. Meanwhile the chief prosecutor in Beyoglu wrote to Istanbul Bar Association asking whether such a decision existed or not.

Noyan Özkan, chairman of Izmir Bar Association called on the Minster of Justice to disclose the names of the lawyers that he had accused of “inciting the prisoners to conduct the death fast action”. He said that since this announcement it had become very difficult for lawyers to meet their clients and many had returned without seeing their clients in the F-type prisons. Mr. Özkan called on the Justice Minister to respect international standards on human rights.

Human Rights Association

(01/001) HRA branches shut down... The Izmir branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA) was closed for 10 days on allegations of allowing non-members entry to the office. On 2 January the political police came and sealed the office. Günseli Kaya, chairwoman of the branch, said that this was an attempt to stop their activities at a very critical time. She said that during the last 10 days the branches in Antep, Malatya, Van (was closed down indefinitely on 19 December 2000 because of a hunger strike in the premises) and Konya (was closed down on 22 December 2000 for 45 days) had also been closed down. On 1 January the HRA branch in Bursa was visited by teams of the anti-terror department from Police HQ. around midnight and 4 members of the association, two of them on hunger strike, were taken in detention. Officers from the desk for associations later came and sealed the door of the association for “security reasons”. 12 hours later the seal was taken off and handed over to the board members. Another 4 members of the association were taken from their homes and are still under detention together with the other four members. An investigation was launched against the board members. (HRFT)

(01/014) Investigation against HRA... Ankara SSC started an investigation against the Human Rights Association (HRA), Ankara branch on the allegation that "they organized the actions in support of the death fast in prison and the protests against the F-type prisons". The prosecutor's office at Ankara SSC announced that the decisions for such actions were taken at the Ankara branch of the HRA. Prosecutor Hamza Keles also said that documents had been found in the premises of the branch. "Currently were are examining the evidence. The testimony of the chairman Lütfi Demirkapi and the board members will be taken later," he added. The investigation is based on Article 169 TPC prohibiting "support and sheltering of members of an armed gang". (Evrensel)

(01/081) Human Rights Defenders on trial… Beyoglu Penal Court No. 7 started to hear the case brought against 25 leading members of the Human Rights Association (HRA) who had been detained after the events that followed the "march for respect on human rights". Some observers could not enter the small court room and it was not allowed to take pictures. When the defendants had testified the prosecutor demanded that the court should declare itself not competent on this case. The hearing was postponed to 28 February when a decision will betaken whether the state security court has to deal with this case. In this trial the defendants Eren Keskin, Kiraz Biçici, Mukaddes Alataş, Leman Yurtsever, Oya Taman, Gülseren Yoleri, Filiz Yücel (Karakuş), Neriman Deniz, Şaban Dayanan, Mehmet Ali İnci, Nimet Tanrıkulu, Ümit Efe, Kıvanç Sert, Elif Çamyar, Ali Durmuş, Sait Gürsoy, Gülizar Tuncer, Keleş Öztürk, Bedri Vatansever, Recep Yılbaşı, Doğan Genç, Hüseyin Karabulut, Kemal Bozkurt, Zehra Yılmaz and Hürriyet Şener (from the HRFT office in Istanbul) stand accused of having "staged an illegal demonstration", "resisted officers on duty", "praising a criminal act" and might be sentenced to terms of 4 to 12 years in prison. (HRFT)

(01/131) Raid of the HRA... On 25 January 2001 at 10.30am officers of the security department from Ankara Police HQ. came to the central offices of the Human Rights Association (HRA) in Ankara. They came on orders of Ankara Penal Court No. 8 to search the premises because of news in the media that the HRA had received aid of TL 33.5 billion (roughly $ 50,000) from the Greek government. At the end of the search a large amount of accounting material and a total of 7 PCs were taken away. On 19 January the semi-official Anatolian News Agency spread the news that according to the Greek news agency ANA the HRA had received 19 million Greek drachmas from the Greek government. This item was published by the TV channels NTV and CNN Türk and also in the daily Hürriyet the following day. On 21 January another paper, Asabi, made it the head story full of insults, despite the fact that the list of institutions that received aid from the Greek government, which the news agency ANA published did not even mention the HRA. This name was added by the Anatolian News Agency. The HRA immediately informed the media and asked for a correction of the news. CNN Türk and NTV did so the same day, but neither the Anatolian News Agency nor the other newspapers corrected their mistake. (HRFT)

(01/166) Case of Closure against HRA... The prosecution's office at Ankara State Security Court (SSC) launched a trial against the Ankara branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA) demanding that the board members are sentenced for “supporting an illegal organization”. The indictment claims that representatives of illegal organizations contacted the Ankara branch and organized protest activities in support of the “death fasts” in prison. A detailed list of prisoners and their health situation had been found during a raid of the premises of the branch. A decision by the board to stage a number of actions “similar to the aims of imprisoned members of organizations” is shown as evidence for the charges which include the demand to close down the branch according to Article 7/4 of Law 3713 to Fight Terrorism. Chairman Lütfi Demirkapi, the board members Ilhami Yaban, Ismail Boyraz, Erol Direkçi, Mesut Çetiner, Zeki Irmak, Riza Resat Çetinbas, and the members of the prison commission Ali Riza Bektas (under arrest), Selim Necati Ort (under arrest), Saniye Simsek, Ekrem Erdin and Gökçe Otlu will be charged under Article 169 of the Turkish Penal Code. (Evrensel)

(02/013) Raid of HRA in Mersin... The Mersin branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA) in Mersin was raided by the police on 29 January. The offices were searched on order of the prosecutor's office and all documents were seized. (HRFT)

(02/021) Raid in HRA... Mehmet Bekaroglu, member of the human rights commission in parliament, tabled a question on the raid of the headquarters of the Human Rights Association (HRA) in Ankara on 25 January. He asked State Minister Rüstü Kazim Yücelen, who is responsible for the Anatolian News Agency, that had spread the incorrect news which led to the raid, whether he had initiated any investigation into this event. He also wanted to know why the documents and computers that had been confiscated were not given back, despite the fact that (Yeni Gündem)

Raid on HRA... Rüstü Kazim Yücelen wrote a letter to the Human Rights Association (HRA) stating that the news of the Anatolian News Agency (AA) which accused the HRA of receiving money from Greece was in fact a mistake of translation. Panayotis Beglitis, spokesperson of the Greek Foreign Ministry earlier had declared that the organizations that received money from the government were based in Greece and not Turkey.(Hürriyet)

HRA Activists detained... In Ankara Lütfi Demirkapi, chairman of the Ankara branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA) and Yildiz Temurtürkan were detained yesterday during an action of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) to send postcards against the massacres in prison to Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. Therefore, Mr. Demirkapi could not attend the first meeting of the Provincial Council on Human Rights. He and Mrs. Temurtürkan were released in the evening hours. (Yeni Gündem-HRFT)

Ankara HRA on Trial... The trial against the board of the Ankara Branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA) started yesterday at Ankara SSC. The defendants are accused of “supporting an illegal organization”. If convicted the court might also announce the closure of the branch. Ali Riza Bektas, defendant in pre-trial detention, testified at the hearing saying that he was under treatment for psychological problems in Sincan F-type Prison. Selim Necati Ort, also under arrest, said that he was detained on 23 December 2000 when he had visited the offices of Ankara HRA. Lütfi Demirkapi, Chairman of Ankara HRA said that his organization was working on human rights violation in accordance to the statute. He claimed that the raid of the offices was illegal and the officers had not noted the contents of the documents they confiscated. Many of them did not belong to the Association. Yusuf Alatas, defense lawyer said that because the search of the premises had been carried out against the rules, the evidence gathered by illegal means could not be considered. Kazim Genc, lawyer of Ali Riza Bektas, asked for the release of his client, because of his complaints. The court rejected the demand and adjourned the hearing to 22 March. The defendants in this trial are: Lütfi Demirkapi, Ilhami Yaban, Ismail Boyraz, Erol Direkçi, Mesut Çetiner, Zeki Irmak, Riza Resat Çetinbas, Ali Riza Bektas (under arrest), Selim Necati Ort (under arrest), Saniye Simsek, Ekrem Erdin and Gökçe Otlu.(Evrensel-HRFT)

Demand of Closure for HRA... The investigation that started on the allegation that the Human Rights Association (HRA) received money from Greece was forwarded from the office of the public prosecutor in Ankara to the prosecutor's office at Ankara SSC. At the same time the prosecutor prepared an indictment with the demand of closure of the HRA. This case will be heard at a judicial court. As reasons for the transfer of the investigation to the prosecutor's office at Ankara SSC the republican prosecutor maintained that some documents had been found at the offices that had to be evaluated under the Anti-Terror Law. During the search on 25 January, illegal publications had allegedly been found and some members of the association were charged with membership of illegal organizations. The reasons for the demand of closure were presented as “activities outside the statute and Law No. 2908 on Associations”. In a first statement Hüsnü Öndül, chairman of the HRA, said that the prosecutor had gone beyond the scope of the investigation and the “new” allegations were abstract and would be answered in front of the court. (HRFT)

Un abogado, Behiç Aşçı, protestando por el silencio de estado como de ONG's y el público en general puede morir dentro de poco por su huelga de hambre. Todos los que hemos estado en silencio cargaremos con la culpa de su muerte si Behiç Aşçı pasa a ser uno más de las 120 personas que murieron/fueron asesinadas en protesta por las prisiones tipo F desde 1996 en Turquía. El 13 de Diiembre fue el día 250 de la huelga de hambre de Behiç Aşçı, y no queremos que este bello hombre fallezca.

Nosotros, los voluntarios de Indymedia Estambul, queremos llamar vuestra atención por la tortura que se está llevando a cabo ahora en Turquía. Un abogado, Behiç Aşçı, protestando por el silencio de estado como de ONG's y el público en general puede morir dentro de poco por su huelga de hambre. Todos los que hemos estado en silencio cargaremos con la culpa de su muerte si Behiç Aşçı pasa a ser uno más de las 120 personas que murieron/fueron asesinadas en protesta por las prisiones tipo F desde 1996 en Turquía. El 13 de Diiembre fue el día 250 de la huelga de hambre de Behiç Aşçı, y no queremos que este bello hombre fallezca.

ANTECEDENTES

La ejecución judicial a través de prisiones tipo F se ha llevado a cabo en Turquía desde el año 2000. Defensores de los Derechos Humanos, ONGs y abogados se levantaron contra los proyectos de estas prisiones, antes de que se pusieran en práctica a la fuerza. Después de que los presos políticos se negasen a entrar en estas cárceles, el estado llevó a cabo una serie de operaciones simultáneas en cerca de 20 prisiones en Turquía el 19 de Diciembre del año 2000. Equipos pesados de construcción, varias tropas de seguridad y soldados entraron en las prisiones usando pistolas y armas químias para llevar a los prisioneros a las cárceles tipo F a la fuerza. Durante las operaciones se empleó la fuerza y muchos presos fueron puestos en celdas de aislamiento a pesar de estar empapados y gravemente heridos y de que 28 presos y 2 soldados habían fallecido.

Las celdas de las prisiones tipo F y las moderadas tipo E están basadas en el aislamiento individual o en pequeños grupos de presos; donde la ventilación, la comunicación, las visitas, la salud, la defensa y otros derechos humanos indispensables son sujeto de usurpación bajo el nombre de 'sanciones de escarmiento' y cualquier esfuerzo para denunciar estos abusos son o bien rechazados o castigados por las autoridades de la prisión. Ninguna queja criminal acerca de los abusos y violaciones de los derechos humanos en este sentido están siendo tenidas en cuenta por las autoridades penitenciarias.

Entre algunas de lasmuchas cosas que están prohibidas en las cárceles tipo F son hablar mientras se juega al voleibol, guardar periódicos, escuchar música en walkman o vestir prendas traídas por visitantes. Además, los colores de la ropa interior de los presos están limitados por si acaso hacen banderas con ellos, que una carta tenga flores pegadas es razón suficiente para romperla por las autoridades. El envío de peticiones o cartas a abogados o familiares criticando las hazañas de la administración o el personal militar es obstaculizado. Los álbumes de fotos no están permitidos. Los tratamientos médicos para los presos son impedidos con prácticas inaceptables. Los presos no tienen permitido cambiar libros o prestar dinero o prendas, o tener más de tres libros en mano. Tres de cada cuatro veces al día los presos son forzados a quitarse los zapatos y son controlados, alarmados por cualquier razón, expuestos a música muy alta y otros actos humillantes parecidos durante los controles. Y estas son sólo unas pocas de las prácticas inhumanas observadas en las cárceles tipo F.

Such an execution model is an additional type of punishment exerted over prisoners unlawfully and is against humanity. 122 persons have passed away since 2000 in protests against F-type prisons and isolation practices at prisons. More than 600 were injured permanently physically or psychologically.

ONGs, sindicatos y defensores de los derechos humanos que han preparado informes y llevan a cabo investigaciones sobre aislamientos en las cárceles coinciden en afirmar que las cárceles tipo F son empleadas para torturar, causan un daño irreversible en el estado físico y psicológico y en las identidades cultural y política de los convictos y presos.

Las prácticas de aislamiento van contra la naturaleza humana. El gobierno y los ministros turcos no han hecho nada para dar con una soución al problema hasta ahora, sino que las posponen e incluso cierran los canales para el diálogo. El gobierno puso la nueva ley penal en práctica, que incluso añade más aún a la actual carga de aislamiento de presos.

El punto en el que nos situamos ahora no es nada más que un monton de problemas debidos a las prácticas ilegales del Ministerio de Justicia contra los artículos de la constitución turca que garantizan el derecho a la vida y a proteger el honor. De esta manera están yendo contra todos los acuerdos de derechos humanos y leyes internacionales.

El 5 de Abril, el agobado Behiç Aşçı, que es miembro de la Oficina de Derecho del Pueblo y del Consejo de Administración de la Asociación de Abogados Contemporaneos comenzó una huelga mortal con la exigencia de abolir el aislamiento en su casa en Estambul. Acciones similares -tanto fuera como dentro de las prisiones- contra el aislamiento continúan.

El gobierno debería inmediatamente dar los pasos requeridos para evitar más muerts. Por pasos se entienden: el Ministro de Justicia, Cemil Çiçek, debería aceptar la realidad de que la práctica del aislamiento es un 'algo a discutir' y reunirse con los portavoces de las iniciativas contra el aislamiento. Hasta que el periodo de discusión haya finalizado, el problema no debería endurecerse con nuevas prácticas. Durante ete periodo, las prácticas de aislamiento que necesiten discusión deberían ser abandonadas.

¡ACTÚA AHORA!

Escribe tus mensajes al Ministro de Justicia de Turquía, Cemil Çiçek, exigiéndole que dé el paso para dar con la solución a la tragedia debida a los abusos y muertes en las cárceles tipo F en Turquía.

Por favor, expande esta llamada tanto como sea posible.

DIRECCIÓN:

Minister of Justice
Cemil Çiçek

correo electrónico: fkasirga@adalet.gov.tr
Página web: www.adalet.gov.tr
Fax: +90 312 4177113

Dirección: T.C. Adalet Bakanlığı, 06659, Kızılay, Ankara