From: "Derya Tekin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 00:38:42 +0200
Subject: Vl: HRFT Report, 22 January 2001
HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION OF TURKEY
Documentation Center
Meneks¸e 2 Sok., No.16/6, 06440, K�z�lay/Ankara
Tel: 90-312-417.71.80 Fax: 90-312-425.45.52
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.tihv.org.tr
HUMAN RIGHTS YESTERDAY & TODAY
22 January 2001, Monday
Page 1
(01/093) "Death fast"... The "death fast" action in prisons and hospitals
has entered its 94th day. >From Buca Prison it was reported that four out of
36 prisoners on hunger strike changed their action to a "fasten to death".
They are Turan Ustabas, Kenan Denli, Özgür Kiliç and Ali Çamyar. Nafiye
Bahar, whose son Aslan Bahar, is held in Edirne F-type Prison, said that the
bullet wound on his foot, an injury he sustained during the operations
against the prisons, was not treated and she feared that the wound might
turn into cangrene. Solidarity actions of relatives continued in Istanbul
(day 70), Izmir (day 53). Mehmet Ali Korkmaz (a prisoner's relative) has
reached day 86 of his "death fast" action. The relatives reported that
Serkan Aydogan in Kandira F-type Prison is suffering from epilepsy and
Taylan Pektas has a bleeding stomach. At the entrance to Edirne Prison the
relatives are reminded by a notice board that they have to pay for
electricity and water. In this prison the situation of Ahmet Özdemir and
Hasan Pinar is reportedly critical. Prisoners in a critical condition were
also reported from Kandira F-type, Kütahya and Gebze Prisons. In Sincan
F-type Prison the prisoners Haci Demir, Hüseyin Tiryaki, Özgür Orak,
Semsettin Kalkan, Mehmet Kan, Zeki Demir, Tuncay Berber, Bülent Yildirim and
Ibrahim Bozbay are reportedly not treated. In Nevsehir E-type Prison Fatma
Harman is the only prisoner on "death fast". She turned a hunger strike to
"death fast" about two weeks ago and has problems with blood pressure,
kidneys and keeping balance. Her stomach is bleeding and she suffers from
insomnia. Relatives said that she is being "punished" by a ban on visits and
assaults by the male guardians went as far as pushing her down the stairs.
Ugur Türkmen (29), representative of the journal "Kurtulus" in Mersin,
reportedly continues the "death fast" at home after he was conditionally
released, despite a number of health problems. (20-21 January,
Cumhuriyet-Evrensel-Yeni Gündem)
(01/094) Protest Activities and Detentions... In Dogubeyazit district (Agri)
the houses of people who in December last year had participated in a hunger
strike in the offices of HADEP in protest against the F-type prisons were
raided and 14 people were detained. The names of some of them are: Yilmaz
Yasin, Muhsin Polat, Musa Karakoç, Mehmet Geren and Mehmet Can. Protest
activities over the weekend were mainly reported from Izmir and Istanbul.
Meanwhile the offices of the Association of Prisoners' Relatives TUYAD,
Kadiköy Branch (Istanbul) was raided on 21 January and 7 members were
detained on the pretext that illegal publications had been found. They were
taken to the police headquarters for Kadiköy district. (20-22 January, Yeni
Gündem)
(01/095) Death in Prison... Ibrahim Cici, a well-known mafia leader, who was
imprisoned for having killed Bekir Kutmangil, the owner of "Yeni Günaydin",
"Süper Tan" and "Ekonomik Bülten" newspapers on 23 May 1995, died on 19
January. The prosecutor in Eskisehir announced that Ibrahim Cici fell down
the stairs when he wanted to have his blood pressure being measured. He was
taken to an ambulance, but died on the way to hospital. (21 January,
Hürriyet)
(01/096) Hezbollah Trials... Yilmaz Aktas, Prosecutor at Diyarbakir SSC,
finished the indictment for Mehmet Sudan, an alleged leader of Hezbollah,
who was captured in one of the organization's "cells" in Kartal-Istanbul on
27 October 2000. Mehmet Sudan will be charged under Article 146 of the
Turkish Penal Code for "the armed attempt to overthrow the constitutional
order" and might be sentenced to death. Mehmet Sudan is said to be one of
the first members who worked together with the leader Hüseyin Velioglu since
1983. He reportedly managed to organize Hezbollah in 90 of the 161 mosques
in Diyarbakir between 1989 and 1994. Later he went to Batman and until 1999
finished the organizational work in all the mosques there. The trial will
start in the near future.(20 January, Cumhuriyet)
(01/097) The "Umut" Trial... On 19 January Ankara SSC No. 2 held the 7th
hearing in the "Umut" trial with 21 defendants who are accused of 22 events
including the killings of Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kislali, Prof. Dr. Muammer
Aksoy and Dr. Bahriye Üçok. The defense demanded that the Articles 146 and
168 TPC should be included in the Law on Conditional Release and Suspension
of Sentences and asked the court to forward this demand to the
Constitutional Court. The request of the lawyers was rejected and the trial
was postponed to a date in February. (20 January, Evrensel)
(01/098) Journal Banned... The monthly journal "Partizan" announced that it
had been banned from publishing for one month because of an article in the
136th issue of the journal that allegedly contained "separatist propaganda
for the Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist Workers' and Peasants'
Liberation Army of Turkey (TKP/ML TIKKO)". (21 January, Yeni Gündem)
(01/099) The Higher Council for Radio and TV (RTÜK) suspended the broadcast
of TV station TeleOn for 7 days because of erotic films. Flash TV will have
to stop for 1 day because "threatening words of mafia leader Nuri Ergin"
were reproduced. Batman FM Radio has to be silent for 90 days because of
some lines in a Kurdish song broadcasted on 28 October 2000. Cagdas Redio in
Ankara was punished for news on the hunger strikes on 15 December 2000 and
is banned for 7 days. KGRT (TV station in Karaman), Kanal 32 and Radio D
received penalties of 1 day broadcast ban. Meanwhile the penalty against
Cagdas Radio of 180 days' silence for a song that allegedly praised the PKK
leader Abdullah Öcalan with the line "Imranli is of equal value to the whole
world" was reduced to 7 days, because RTÜK had to admit that Imranli was a
place in Sivas province and not the island Imrali, where the PKK leader is
imprisoned. RTÜK also issued warnings against Urfa Cagri Radio, Ankara Özgür
Radio, Ankara Imaj Radio and Urfa Mega Radio, because they played Kurdish
songs. The contents of the songs could not be investigated since lately the
National Intelligence MIT declared that the institution could no longer
provide translations because of "heavy workload". RTÜK based the warning on
the provision that "radio and TV broadcasting has to be conducted in
Turkish, unless the foreign language would contribute to universal culture
and science." (21 Janaury, Sabah-Yeni Gündem, 22 January Radikal)
(01/100) Chairman of Trade Chamber on Trial... Mehmet Yildirim, chairman of
Istanbul Chamber of Trade will stand trial for a speech he made during the
chamber's general assembly on 18 December 2000. Cevat Özer, prosecutor in
Istanbul, prepared an indictment accusing Mr. Yildirim of "insulting the
National Security Council". In his speech Mehmet Yildirim had complained
about an economic crisis and said "instead of dealing with trivial problems
the National Security Council, which meddles with everything, should come
and meddle with this problem." If convicted, Mehmet Yildirim has to expect a
sentence of between 3 months and 1,5 years' imprisonment. (20 January,
Cumhuriyet)
(01/101) Poster Banned... The Izmir branch of the Socialist Power Party
(SIP) declared on 19 January that a poster of the party that expressed views
against privatization had been banned by the governor of Izmir on the
grounds that it was signed by SIP-Communist Party. The statement stressed
that the party's name had officially been changed on 19 July 2000 and that
no case to ban the party had been launched since then. (20 January, Yeni
Gündem)
(01/102) Police Actions... The prosecution's office in Fatih (Istanbul)
launched three more trials against groups of 50 officers of the anti-riot
police who had conducted a demonstration last December. They will be charged
with "staging an illegal demonstration". The trial against the first group
of 50 officers will start in April. (20 January, Yeni Gündem)
(01/103) Teachers Suspended from Duty... In Bingöl the teachers Emine
Kantas, Fatma Kaya, Sevcihan Buyruk, Saniye Altun and Özlem Özbey were
suspended from duty for "wearing headscarves". The decision was taken by the
High Disciplinary Council of the Ministry for National Education. (21
January, Akit)
(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)
(01/105) Detentions and Arrests... In Adana Mehmet Gazi G. (45), Ahmet Ç.
(44), Ebubekir Y. (44), Hasan U. (57), Saban B. (29) and Ahmet Ç. (41) were
detained on 19 January as alleged members of the radical Islamic
organization "Vasat". From Van it was reported that soldiers and the police
raided Meliksah Students' Hostel twice on 18 and 19 February. During the
first raid 14 and during the second one 2 students were taken into custody.
They were released after one day in detention. In Istanbul five people were
detained allegedly including the 2 murderers of Veli Köse whose corpse had
been found on 18 January near the road to Sile. According to information by
Istanbul Gendarme HQ. Ali Sahin, Erkan Bülbül, Dilek Zekioglu, Güzel Özdemir
and Levent Köse are members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party/Front DHKP/C. Again in Istanbul 10 people were detained suspected of
membership of the Revolutionary Communist Union of Turkey (TIKB). They
reportedly killed Emrah Saritas (18) and Endil Topal (19) in August 1995. On
20 January Cemal Kayvar was detained when he went to visit his brother Ali
Kayvar in Bayrampasa Prison. (20-21 January, Cumhuriyet-Evrensel-Yeni
Gündem)
(01/106) Bomb Explosion... In Van children found a bomb on a scrap yard in
Istasyon quarter. Five people were injured when the bomb exploded. The
initials of the children's names are: M.K. (14), I.A. (12), N.K. (9), K.A.
(6). Injured was also Mahir Gül (56). (20 January, Cumhuriyet)
(01/107) Use of Arms by the Police... The Constitutional Court's decision on
legislation that was passed in 1996 extending the possibilities for the
police to use firearms was published in the Official Gazette on 19 January
and entered into force. On 1 November 1996 115 MPs had appealed against this
law and the Constitutional Court had made a decision on 6 January 1999. The
Constitutional Court objected against the provision that had been added to
the Law to Fight Terrorism saying that "if someone does not respond to the
demand to surrender and attempts to use a weapon the police is obliged to
directly open fire without hesitation". This provision was seen in
contravention to Article 17 of the Constitution granting the right to life.
(20 January, Milliyet)
(01/108) Change of Duty in the Court of Cassation... Vural Savas, chief
prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Appeal, was replaced by Sabih Kanadoglu,
who had been appointed by the President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, despite the fact
that the general assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeal had voted by 153
for Vural Savas against 104 for Sabih Kandaloglu on 18 December 2000. (20
January, Hürriyet)
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