From: "Derya Tekin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 23:51:05 +0200
HUMAN RIGHTS YESTERDAY & TODAY
19 January 2001, Friday
Page 1
(01/083) "Amnesty Bill", Releases... Lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli who might
have stayed in prison until 2014 was released on order of Samsun Criminal
Court No. 1. The application of his lawyers to benefit from Law No. 4616 on
Conditional Release and Suspension of Sentences that entered into force on
22 December 2000 had first been rejected on the grounds that Mr.
Yagmurdereli had benefited from another Law on Conditional Release and
Suspension of Sentences in 1991. But Istanbul SSC No. 2 accepted the appeal
against this decision ruling that, if his second sentence was suspended he
would not have to serve the rest of his first sentence. In 1985 Samsun
Criminal Court No. 2 had sentenced him to life imprisonment. Yagmurdereli
was released in 1991 according to the Law on Conditional Release and
Suspension of Sentences of 1991. Later he received a sentence of 10 months'
imprisonment for a speech at the Human Rights Association (HRA) and he was
put in Çankiri Prison to serve the rest of his life imprisonment Hasan
Mezarci, former MP for the Welfare Party (RP), will benefit from the
�amnesty bill". During yesterday's hearing at Ankara Criminal Court No. 6
the court decided to suspend the case according to the Law on Conditional
Release and Suspension of Sentences. In this trial Hasan Mezarci was accused
of ''insulting the armed forces and the judiciary" under Article 159 of the
TPC and could have received a sentence of up to 6 years' imprisonment.
Earlier, the prosecutor had argued that Mr. Mezarci, who is living in
Germany and declared himself to be the messiah, might be insane and demanded
to take him under protection and confiscate his belongings. The number of
cases various courts have forwarded to the Constitutional Court has
increased to 15. These cases concern offences such as forging documents,
rape, fraud and taxes. Applications came from Bursa, Siirt, Urfa, Sakarya,
Seriflikoçhisar and other places and most are based on the fact that the
exclusion of some offences from the Law on Conditional Release and
Suspension of Sentences is in violation of the principle of equality. The
Constitutional Court decided earlier to deal with the first 3 application in
principle and will shortly make a decision on the remaining 12
cases.(Radikal)
(01/084) HADEP Officials Arrested... Since 14 January many HADEP members and
officials have been detained in Siirt. In the evening of 17 January Mansur
Koçak, secretary of the youth's wing and the party members Ismail Ekinci and
Ramazan Oktay were taken to the prosecutor¹s office. The prosecutor sent
them to a court which followed his demand for arrest. All three detainees
were put in Siirt E-type Prison. In Mus the house of the chairman for the
central district, Sadrettin Yigit was raided by the police on 18 January.
The police confiscated some papers and journals and took Mr. Yigit to the
central gendarme station in Mus. (Yeni Gündem)
(01/085) TSIP members on Trial...Turgut Koçak, Chairman of the Socialist
Workers' Party of Turkey (TSIP) and the board members Hasan Yavas and Necmi
Özyurda will be put on trial on charges of "supporting terrorist
organizations". The indictment by Republican Prosecutor Talat Salk states
that some NGOs supported the "death fast" of terrorist organizations such as
DHKP/C, MLKP, TKP/ML and TIKB, first with press statements and
demonstrations, but later the activities changed. During a demonstration in
Kizilay Square (Ankara) on 12 December 2000 stones had been thrown against
the police and damaged several shops. This demonstration had started in
front of TSIP's offices. The same day the offices of TSIP had been searched
and banners supporting the "resistance in prison" had been seen on the walls
next to pictures of prisoners who earlier had died as a result of hunger
strikes. Thus, the party had opened its offices for members of illegal
organizations and had to be sentenced according to 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. (Cumhuriyet)
(01/086) Execution by Armed Group... The corpse of Veli Köse (20) was found
near Sarigazi (Istanbul). He was allegedly killed by members of the
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) for being a police
informer. According to the information of the police �cells" of the
organization in Sarigazi and Ümraniye were raided in line with information
found in the wards of prisoners who had been taken from Ümraniye to Edirne
F-type Prison. During the raids 8 militants were reportedly detained and
allegedly confessed to have killed Veli Köse two days ago. The corpse was
discovered in the woods near the road to Sile and a note was found saying
"traitors won't go unpunished. DHKP/C". (Hürriyet)
(01/087) Attacks on Press Freedom...The newspaper "Alinterimiz" was banned
from publication for 7 days because of two articles in the attachment to
issue No. 36. on "the Kurdish national liberation struggle" and "class
republic". In a statement the newspaper distributed yesterday they protested
against this decision that was based on the allegation that the articles
contained �separatist propaganda". Antep Penal Court No. 2 ordered the
closure of the local newspaper "Life at the Euphrates" for 3 days. The
decision was based on an article about the "death fast" that appeared in the
88th edition of the paper. From Adiyaman it was reported that the police
went to local newspapers and warned them not to publish on the hunger
strikes. (Evrensel-www.bianet.org)
(01/088) "Death Fasts"... Dr. Ümit Erkol, chairman of Ankara Medical
Association said that there was still time to avoid serious health damages
as a result of hunger strikes and �death fast". He reported that some
prisoners had already been restricted to their beds, but there was still
room for movement and the possibility to take liquids. Dr. Erkol argued that
it was possible to avoid serious diseases such as Wernicke-Korsakoff (loss
of conscience, balance and sight), because the most important factor for
that was the clearance of the vitamin B1 depot. In fact the acceptance of
vitamin B1 was the important difference to earlier hunger strikes and the
fact that there were not so many people with a bad stomach and vomiting. Dr.
Erkol said that the inspections in Sincan F-type Prison had been terminated
and the association would publish the results shortly. (Yeni Gündem)
(01/089) "Death fasts" and prisons...Reports from Elbistan Prison said that
the situation of 5 prisoners is deteriorating. Haydar Kiliç, the brother of
the prisoners Sati Kiliç said that the situation of Özgür Yildiz who is on
the 26st day of his hunger strike was worse than of those on "death fast".
The situation of Sati Kiliç, Kazim Keles, Bülent, Mesut and Ali was getting
worse day by day and all, but his brother and Özgür Yildiz were being held
in single cells and did not get anything including newspapers. From Malatya
Prison it was reported that visits by relatives are not allowed. The Freedom
and Solidarty Party (ÖDP) for Istanbul province made a press statement in
front of their offices in the evening of 17 January. They protested against
the arrest of their executives Sabahattin Ugras and Erhan Karahalli as well
as Nimet Tanrikulu from the Human Rights Association (HRA) when they had
gone to meet representatives of the Democratic Left Party (DSP). From Usak
Prison it was reported that the intestines of Sevgi Erdogan are no longer
functioning. Relatives also mentioned that the arm of Gönül Aslan was
suffering from numbness and Mehtap Taybogan was suffering from a bleeding of
the stomach. In Edirne F-type Prison Ahmet Özdemir is reportedly not able to
speak any more. In a statement by PKK prisoners held in Bursa Special Type
Prison the administration was accused of planning a provocation. Soldiers
and guardians inspected the wards with arms and reportedly insulted the
prisoners, destroying their belongings. The prisoners also complained that
visits of lawyers and relatives had been restricted and the prisoners were
body-searched. "It is, as if they want us to start a hunger strike or death
fast." the statement said. From Ümraniye Prison it was reported that 130
prisoners are being held in a ward designed for 80 prisoners. Therefore, the
prisoners had to sleep in shifts. In this prison 60 PKK prisoners are on
hunger strike since 15 days. Prisoners in Çankiri Prison complained that ill
prisoners were not treated and that journals and books were not handed over
to the prisoners. (Evrensel-Yeni Gündem)
(01/090) EP on "death fasts"... The European Parliament passed a resolution
on the �Return to Life" operation in Turkish prisons asking for an
independent commission to investigate the situation in the prisons. Other
demands concerned:
? independent physicians to examine the prisoners should be met;
? the reform of prison conditions shall be based on human rights; and
? the necessary reforms for the improvement of prison administration and the
law system shall be implemented in the shortest time possible. (Hürriyet)
(01/091) "Death fasts" and Defense... 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. (Yeni Gündem)
(01/092) Allegations will be Investigated... Ali Suat Ertosun, the Director
General for Prison Administration in the Ministry of Justice declared, that
the allegations of torture inflicted on Orhan Dagdelen, who is in Elbistan
E-type Prison, will be investigated. This announcement followed the columns
by Orhan Çalislar in Cumhuriyet newspaper of 8 and 9 January. Here it was
stated that Orhan Dagdelen had lost one eye during the operations and was at
risk of losing the other eye as well. Mr. Ertosun now said that the prisoner
will be treated. (Cumhuriyet)
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