AI: Turkey bulletin

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

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

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 21 November 1995.         +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                   AI Index: EUR 44/106/95

UA 233/95       "Disappearance"                    10 October 1995

TURKEY          Salih TEKIN
                Hatip YILDIRIM
                Islam BAL
                Hakki BOZKUS
                Hikmet OGUZ
                Kemal YAKLAV, aged 23
                Seyhmuz EROGLU, aged 62


Amnesty International has received reports that the six men named above
have "disappeared" after they were detained in the provinces of Diyarbakir
and Mardin between 22 September and 6 October 1995.

Seyhmuz Eroglu, 62, was detained at his home in Batman at midnight on 22
September by Special Team members who took him to Midyat Gendermerie
Station.  His son, Abdurrahim Eroglu, claims he spoke to someone who had
also been detained at Midyat Gendarmerie on the same date, who, after his
release, reported seeing Seyhmuz Eroglu at the station. Addurrahim Eroglu
applied to the Midyat Prosecutor and was told that his father had been
released.  However, the family has not heard from Seyhmuz Eroglu since his
detention.

At about midnight on 25 September, 23-year-old Kemal Yaklav was detained at
his home in Mazidag in Mardin province by members of the security forces.
Since then his family has received no information as to his whereabouts.

On 27 September, Islam Bal was taken from his home in Diyarbakir after the
police occupied his house for eight days. Inquiries as to his whereabouts
have gone unanswered.

On 2 October, Hikmet Oguz was taken into detention from his work-place in
Baglar, Diyarbakir, by members of the security forces. The same day Hakki
Bozkus was detained after an identity check at the Nargileciler caf=E9 in
Diyarbakir.

Salih Tekin was taken from his home in Diyarbakir on 6 October by members
of the security forces. Hatip Yildirim, who was visiting Salih Tekin at the
time, was also detained. Neither man's detention has been acknowledged.
Salih Tekin, a former journalist for a daily newspaper Ozgur Gundem (Free
Agenda - now closed down), has been detained on three previous occasions
and reportedly submitted to torture and death threats (see background
information below).

The police deny holding any of the above detainees. Amnesty International
fears that they may be being held on suspicion of contravening the
Anti-Terror Law or that they are suspected supporters of the PKK (Turkish
Workers' Party).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Salih Tekin alleges that during his first detention in February 1993, he
was stripped naked and hosed with cold water at sub-zero temperatures.
Throughout this procedure he was truncheoned on the back, buttocks and
ankles until he passed out. He was told his detention was connected with
having written critical reports about the security forces and the "village
protectors" in the region of Derik. The Gendarme Commander threatened to
put "two bullet-holes in [his] head" if he came back to the Derik area
again. Salih Tekin was acquitted of all
charges of "separatist propaganda" and membership of an illegal
organization brought against him. His personal complaint to the European
Commission of Human Rights about his alleged torture was declared
admissible on 20 February 1995.

People suspected of offences under the Anti-Terror Law can be held in
police custody without access to family or legal counsel for up to 30 days
in the 10 provinces under State of Emergency, which include Bitlis and Van
provinces, and for 15 days in the rest of Turkey. When not being
interrogated, detainees are held in cramped, airless and insanitary
conditions. With no access to the outside world they are at the mercy of
their interrogators. Torture
methods include being stripped naked and blindfolded, hosing with
pressurized ice-cold water, hanging by the arms or wrists bound behind the
victim's back, electric shocks, beating the soles of the feet, death
threats and sexual assault.

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt
and proper registration of detainees, and for notification of their
families, are almost universally ignored. Lack of prompt registration and
notification is not only extremely distressing for the families of
detainees, but also creates the conditions in which "disappearances" and
torture can occur.

After cases of "disappearance" in police custody began to provoke concern
among the general public, the General Director of Police Mehmet Agar
announced that units would be set up, from 1 August 1995, to track detained
persons. Unfortunately, these units - called "Detention Monitoring Offices"
- are at the moment only operating in certain parts of the country. In
Diyarbakir or Mersin, for example, no Detention Monitoring Office has yet
been established. In Ankara, however, a Monitoring Office has been set up
with a public telephone number and
staff.

Any person suspected of supporting the PKK or any other illegal armed
organization is at serious risk of torture, "disappearance" or
extrajudicial execution. In 1994, there were more than 55 confirmed
"disappearances", and more than 400 people were killed in unclarified
circumstances. At least 20 cases of "disappearance" in police custody have
been reported in 1995 so far.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ Supporters of Amnesty International around the world are  +
+ writing urgent appeals in response to the concerns        +
+ described above. If you would like to join with them in   +
+ this action or have any queries about the Urgent Action   +
+ network or Amnesty International in general, please       +
+ contact one of the following:                             +
+                                                           +
+      Ray Mitchell, rmitchellai at gn.apc.org (UK)            +
+      Scott Harrison, sharrison at igc.apc.org (USA)          +
+      Guido Gabriel, ggabriel at amnesty.cl.sub.de (Germany)  +
+      Marilyn McKim, aito at web.apc.org (Canada)             +
+      Michel Ehrlich, mehrlich at aibf.be (Belgium)           +
+-----------------------------------------------------------+




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