From: "Stasi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Press Agnecy Ozgurluk: Turkish Watchdog Says Reports of Torture Soaring (Fwd : http://www.ozgurluk.org ) Thursday August 23 8:47 AM ET Turkish Watchdog Says Reports of Torture Soaring =================================== ANKARA (Reuters) - There has been a sharp increase in allegations of torture and curbs on freedom of expression in Turkey, the country's Human Rights Association (IHD) said on Thursday. IHD head Husnu Ondul said 435 people had complained of torture in detention in the first half of this year, compared to 263 for the same period last year and 334 for the same period in 1999. ``It is clear that no improvement has been made in getting rid of torture since 1999,'' Ondul told a news conference to present the association's half-yearly report on human rights in Turkey. Turkey, which is keen to join the European Union (news - web sites), has long pledged to root out such abuses. Although accepted as a candidate for EU membership in 1999, it has yet to begin negotiations partly because of concern over its human rights record. Critics say little is done to investigate charges of abuse and those who carry it out are rarely punished. According to IHD figures, prosecutors charged 1,519 people in the first half of this year for views expressed in speeches or writing, and sought jail terms totaling 3,125 years for them. The human rights group did not say how many people had been charged in previous years, but said the total jail terms sought in the first half of 1999 amounted to 372 years, and 813 years in the first half of last year. Many politicians, writers and intellectuals face jail sentences on catch-all charges such as ``separatist propaganda'' or ``provoking hatred'' for what they have said or written. Allegations of mistreatment at the hands of security forces are also common. The laws are most often used against Kurdish activists or proponents of political Islam, two movements the establishment sees as a serious threat to the secular Turkish state. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk In Support of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey http://www.ozgurluk.org _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
