From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Turkey detains 25 in hunger strike protest HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- AFP. 19 December 2001. Turkey detains 25 in protest on jail crackdown anniversary. ISTANBUL -- Turkish police on Wednesday detained some 25 protestors planning to demonstrate for the first anniversary of a bloody crackdown on prison hunger-strikers across the country, the Anatolia news agency reported. Meanwhile the country was also condemned by a leading anti-torture organisation for its failure to investigate police action following the crackdown, which left 30 prisoners and two soldiers dead in a four-day period. Wednesday's protestors intended to leave carnations at the gates of the Bayrampasa prison here -- one of many jails targeted in the December 2000 police crackdown -- but were prevented by police from approaching the complex. After a brief press statement denouncing the prison operation, the demonstrators hurled their flowers towards the prison gates and started chanting slogans. Police moved in on the group after it ignored orders to disperse and detained some 25 people, the report said. It was a year ago on Wednesday that security forces stormed prisons around the country in a bid to break a hunger-strike launched by hundreds of inmates the previous October, to protest at the introduction of new jails with tighter security. The four-day operation -- in which thousands of paramilitary troops raided scores of prisons -- provoked mass prison riots and left 30 prisoners and two soldiers dead, but failed to end the hunger strike, which has taken the lives of 42 people, both inmates and their supporters outside. Four other inmates have burned themselves to death in support of the strike, and another four people died in a police raid last month on an Istanbul house occupied by hunger-strikers. Currently, some 170 prisoners are on hunger strike against the new jails, commonly known as F-type prisons, where cells for a maximum of three people replaced dormitories housing dozens of prisoners. Meanwhile the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) condemned on Wednesday Turkey's failure to reform its legal system and punish those responsible for torture in prisons following the riots. The Geneva-based organisation called on Istanbul to make public the results of "a full, impartial and effective investigation" into the police crackdown, as required by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Until Turkey's prosecutor general launched an inquiry into the prison raids and mistreatment allegations last month, Turkish authorities preferred to investigate the conduct of prisoners rather than those of the security forces, the OMCT charged. Backed by human rights activists, the hunger strikers say the new prisons leave inmates vulnerable to mistreatment and deepen social alienation. Turkey's critics also include the European Parliament which has consistently criticized Turkey's human rights record -- notably its stance on prisons and the death penalty -- saying it has a long way to go before meeting EU criteria on human rights that are needed to begin membership negotiations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
