"[Ozgurluk.Org]" Turkey: Rape while in custody >Rape While in Custody Usually Goes Unpunished > >MAZLUM-DER says that more rapes occur than are reported. Even those that >are reported cannot be duly publicized due to lengthy bureaucratic >procedures. Consequently, victims are frequently and easily abused It >is not only women who are raped or sexually abused and tortured. Men >also face the same threat. But men are more hesitant to admit to having >been raped. As a result, it is widely believed that only women are the >victims of this violation Mostly, reports of rape fall on deaf ears in >court. Remziye Dinc was raped by three village guards in Batman. Though >it was clearly a case of rape according to a doctor's report, the rapists >still went unpunished. Batman's criminal court ruled that the sex occurred >because the victim wanted it > > >Esra Erduran > >Ankara - Turkish Daily News > >"I was thrown onto the floor. I could feel the ice-cold concrete, but I >was sweating. I could hardly see the feet of some of the men because my >eyes were bound with a black blindfold. I was trying to get out, but they >were kicking me. I tried to scream, but my voice sounded strange to my >ears. They were repeatedly saying dirty words. ... When they finish >raping me, I was as cold as ice. I was paralyzed, like a mummy. They had >taken everything from me, even my wish to die." This excerpt is taken from >a book by Asiye Zeybek Guzel, "A Story of Rape While Under Torture." > >Guzel has been an inmate of Gebze Prison for the last three years. She was >raped while in custody, and a medical report conclusively proved the >violation. > >Unfortunately, she is not the only victim of rape or sexual abuse while in >official custody. A total of 35 people were either raped or sexually >abused while in custody during 1999, a report from the Association of >Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER) stated. > >Saying that Turkey has the dubious distinction as being the country which >introduced this violation to the European Court of Human Rights, the report >stated that rape and sexual abuse are among the most frequently used >methods of torture in Turkey. > >The MAZLUM-DER report said that torture frequently takes place in hidden >locations rather than in police offices. In these cases, as the victims >are not aware of precisely where they are and cannot see the faces of >their torturers, it is extremely difficult to prove that the abuses took >place. As a result, both the torture and its perpetrators normally go >unpunished. > >Here is a good example of that: > >Remziye Dinc was raped by three village guards in the southeastern city >of Batman. Although it was clearly a case of rape according to a doctor's >report, Dinc's rapists remain unpunished. Batman's criminal court ruled >that the sex took place because Dinc wanted it. > >The association claims more rapes occur than are ever reported. Even those >which are reported cannot duly receive the publicity which they deserve >quickly due to lengthy bureaucratic procedures. Consequently, the report >said, victims are frequently and easily abused. > >On March 6, 1999, two lycee students, both of whom were under 18, were >raped while they were in custody, yet it was that November before the >media publicized the story. > >In April 1999, Attorney Jutta Hermans, one of the coordinators of the >Legal Aid Project for Rape and Sexual Abuse Victims, said that a full >one-third of women who applied to them had been raped and at least >two-thirds of them had been sexually abused. > >But these are just the reported cases. Let's not forget; the majority of >torture and rape victims don't report the violation for fear that they >might be tortured again. > >Moreover, it is not only women who are raped or sexually abused and >tortured. Men also face the same threat. But men are even more hesitant >than women to admit that they have been raped. As a result, it is widely >believed that only women are the victims of this violation. > >Like many other human rights violations, the effects of rape remain with >the victims throughout their lives. It is not possible for a human being >to lead a normal life after being subjected to sexual abuse. > >Apart from being used in prisons as a torture method, rape is also a common >crime on the streets. It ranks high among crimes which are difficult to >prove, and in contrast to other crimes, the victims are often also >"sentenced" to criticism either from their families or from society. > >Turkish women are reluctant to report incidents of sexual abuse or rape >which occur either in official custody or during the course of ordinary >life. > > >-- >Press Agency Ozgurluk >In Support of the Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey and Kurdistan >http://www.ozgurluk.org > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
