The Washington Post, December 20, 2000, Wednesday, Final Edition Turkish Soldiers Raid Prisons to End Protests; Armed Inmates Resist; 17 Die in Fires, Fighting John Ward Anderson , Washington Post Foreign Service ISTANBUL, Dec. 19 -- Turkish security forces stormed 20 prisons in a predawn operation today aimed at ending a two-month hunger strike by inmates protesting government plans to move them to more restrictive facilities. At least 17 people were killed. Security forces encountered stiff armed resistance by prisoners at some institutions, officials said, and clashes were reported still underway at two prisons late tonight. At least 15 inmates died in the raids, most after setting themselves afire, according to Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk. He said one prisoner was shot and killed by police after setting himself ablaze and charging at security officers. Two soldiers also were killed in clashes with inmates, he said, but details were not available. Information about the raids remained murky, with the reported death toll continuing to rise throughout the day. Umit Efe, a prison specialist with Turkey's independent Human Rights Association, said his group estimated that at least 22 inmates were killed in the operation--which the government code-named Return to Life. The police raids were designed to end a fast to the death by 284 inmates in prisons across Turkey. Before today's action, 20 inmates were reportedly in critical condition after refusing food for 61 days. Another 855 prisoners were on a hunger strike in support of the "death fasters." Virtually all of the roughly 1,139 hunger strikers are political prisoners. The hunger strike began on Oct. 20 to protest government plans to convert Turkey's dormitory-style prisons--which house up to 100 inmates in large, unpatrolled communal areas--into more restrictive prisons, with cells housing one to three inmates each. The strike was being closely watched by European governments, which have urged Turkey to develop a more humane prison system as a requirement for joining the European Union. Law enforcement officials, complaining that Turkey's prisons are controlled by violent gangs that prey on weaker inmates, said the new prisons are needed to restore order and keep young, impressionable prisoners from being indoctrinated and victimized by radical groups. Human rights organizations and prison activists agree that the new prisons might give inmates more privacy and security. They have noted, however, that the design of the new prisons would allow for inmates to be isolated from others in small groups, potentially for months or even years. Such confinement would also increase the possibility that inmates could be abused by guards, prison experts say. Although it was clear that security forces had evacuated at least some fasting prisoners in today's raids, no information was available tonight on how many were moved. A statement by the Interior Ministry, which in Turkey is responsible for the security of prison perimeters, said 137 of the death fasters were included among 434 inmates taken to hospitals. It was also unclear tonight whether the government was forcing the hospitalized hunger strikers to take nourishment. Many Turkish physicians and their organizations have said they would not intervene in the hunger strike because it would be unethical to force the inmates to take nourishment against their will. "We don't know what kind of conditions they are being kept in," said Eris Bilaloglu, of the Turkish Doctors' Association Council, "but we hear negative things." The government also has been under heavy domestic pressure to resolve the crisis. Many people here were concerned that the hunger strike would end like the one in 1996, when 12 prisoners starved themselves to death protesting another government plan to revamp the prison system. "You cannot expect the state to watch people being left to die. That is why an intervention in 20 prisons was inevitable," Justice Minister Turk said. "The goal of this operation is to save people's lives." Turk said the operation by a special paramilitary police unit began at about 5 a.m. and continued for hours at facilities in which armed inmates tried to repel soldiers. Smoke and clouds of tear gas spilled out of Istanbul's Bayrampasa and Umraniye prisons, where witnesses reported hearing automatic weapons fire. Late tonight, police were still not in control of Umraniye and a prison in the town of Canakkale, in Turkey's far west. Turk, whose Justice Ministry is also responsible for internal prison security, said that 57 inmates and three soldiers were injured during the day-long operation. Upheaval in Turkey's prison system also has been fueled by rising inmate impatience and unrest over a much debated amnesty proposal that would release more than half of Turkey's 72,000 prisoners, possibly as early as next week. Parliament approved the amnesty bill 10 days ago, but it was vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, formerly chief judge of Turkey's high court, as unconstitutional. Parliament was scheduled to debate the bill again Wednesday and analysts say it will probably override the veto. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
