From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 13:16:14 +0200 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Ozgurluk] TDN: Book on Torture may cause storm in Turkey Book on torture may cause a storm in Turkey Elif Unal When she forced the lock of a police station door, Sema Piskinsut might have known she would find evidence of torture but she did not foresee the role she would play in the minefield of human rights in Turkey. Two years later, the leftist MP's book about the use of torture by security forces is about to hit the shelves, with an impact that could shake Turkey. Ankara, which must improve its poor human rights image if it is ever to join the European Union, says torture in Turkey is only a matter of isolated incidents, not a systematic policy. But Piskinsut says the country should evince a firm political will to fight torture as it knocks at the door of the EU. "I call for an announcement saying 'Torture is a crime under any circumstances and it will be punished'," she said in an interview in her small office in parliament. Piskinsut, 49, earned a reputation as a rights campaigner last year when, as head of a parliamentary human rights commission, she publicly displayed torture equipment found at around 30 police stations in 14 separate provinces. She was later removed from her post with no explanation. State prosecutors have since demanded that she be taken to court for "aiding criminals" because of her refusal to reveal the names of 8,500 torture victims she says she interviewed. Piskinsut, a medical doctor, sounded calm but determined about her role. "This is a mission for humanity." BATS AND "PALESTINIAN HOOKS" Among the torture instruments she discovered were baseball bats and numerous examples of what is known in Turkey as the "Palestinian hook" -- a long wooden pole to which suspects can be tied by their wrists or arms and strung up. "When we went to one police station at 3 a.m...I tried to force a door and it didn't open. Officers said there was only logistics equipment there," she said of one inspection visit. "In the end, I broke the light wooden top part of the door and it became clear that it was indeed an interrogation room. When I opened the door of another room just opposite, we found on the ground a Palestinian hook measuring more than two metres with special holes for hanging people up. "There was nothing to be said." Turkey's parliament is currently working through a package of 37 constitutional changes aimed at bringing the country into line with the EU, including stricter limits on the maximum period suspects can be detained without charge. But rights groups note that even though torture is already illegal, torturers are seldom punished. The conviction of 10 policemen late last year for torturing 14 young people -- administering electric shocks and sodomising them with batons -- was seen as a landmark case. Piskinsut's 500-page book recounts her experiences as head of the parliamentary commission. She acknowledges that the volume, whose title translates roughly as "From Palestinian Hook to Prosecution", could trigger fresh legal action against her. "I am not concerned at all. People know me and my heart," she said firmly. Parliament is expected to decide soon whether to scrap Piskinsut's parliamentary immunity as prosecutors have demanded. She said she was happy for her immunity to be lifted so that the issue could be open to a public discussion. Piskinsut is aware that working in human rights is a knife-edge task in Turkey and that she constantly risks being denounced as a traitor. "Here, those who are advocating human rights are perceived as opposing the state." But she manages a joke. "They (the prosecutors) should wait until my book comes out. Then they could come up with fresh demands," she said with a broad smile. Ankara Reuters September 2001, Copyright � Turkish Daily News -- 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] __________________________________________________
