AI: Turkey bulletin

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

       id VT25685; Wed, 08 Nov 1995 19:14:23 -0800

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 10 December 1995.         +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                            AI Index: EUR 44/122/95

EXTRA 132/95            Fear of torture                     6 November 1995

TURKEY            Ibrahim Gahin, Kurd from Van, accountant


Ibrahim Gahin is being held in Van Police Headquarters where Amnesty
International fears he is being interrogated under torture.

Ibrahim Gahin was detained at his office in Van on 3 November 1995 by a
team from the Anti-Terror Branch of Van Police Headquarters, who reportedly
took him away in a white unmarked Ford minibus with darkened windows,
registration number 65 EN 007.  Later he was brought to his family home
while the police conducted a search of the house.

His wife's appeals for information as to his whereabouts were initially
unsuccessful, and one official suggested to her that her husband had been
abducted by "his enemies".  Finally, at 11am on 4 November, Van Police
Headquarters accepted that he was in police custody, but said that he was
not being held at the police headquarters building.  On 6 November,
however, the police and public prosecutor accepted that Ibrahim Gahin was
being held in custody at Van Police Headquarters.

Ibrahim Gahin was secretary of the Human Rights Association (HRA) branch in
Van until he was forced to resign as a result of death threats in 1994.
Several officials of the HRA in Van have been subjected to such threats,
either face to face or while blindfolded in police detention. One official
was told in detention at Van Police Headquarters in early 1994, "You talk
about the contra-guerrilla - we are the contra-guerrilla. Our friends get
killed in the mountains, and we kill the first Kurd we come across. We can
kill you any time."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Founded in 1986, the Turkish Human Rights Association has 56 branches
throughout the country and a membership of 15,000. The HRA is not linked to
any political party or movement. As well as monitoring abuses by government
forces, the HRA has on numerous occasions condemned human rights abuses by
armed opposition groups. The HRA continues its monitoring of human rights
violations in the face of considerable pressure from the authorities. Many
of its leading officials are standing trial on various charges and several
members are serving prison sentences. Most branches in the southeast had to
close because of police harassment and threats.

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