TURKEY:

MEMBERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION ON TRIAL

Several members and volunteers of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) faced trial in early 2000.

On 23 May, Dr. Zeki Uzun, a volunteer gyneacologist with the HRFT Izmir Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, and 12 other defendants were acquitted due to inadequate evidence, whereas Fatma Kaygisiz and Sabri Suncak were sentenced to 3 years and 9 months imprisonment under article 169 of the Turkish penal code. Dr. Uzun was detained in his office on 19 October 1999 and held in detention for 7 days, during which time he was tortured. He was charged with "aiding an illegal organization" simply for providing medical treatment to two patients. The physical and psychological torture inflicted on Dr. Uzun was certified by the Izmir Medical Chamber Examination and Report Commission.

On 13 June, the Izmir Penal Court of First Instance No. 2 sentenced Prof. Dr. Veli Lok and Bahri Akkan to one month imprisonment and fined each of them TL 60 million (U.S.$100) under article 30.2 of the Press Law (No. 5680). The prison sentences were commuted to a fine of TL 60 million under Law No. 647: thus, the two defendants each have to pay a fine of TL 120 million.

Prof. Lok was charged with violating the press law for giving a statement in connection with the unjust arrests carried out during the funeral of Nevzat Ciftci, one of the prisoners killed during the police operation at Ankara Ulucanlar Prison on 26 September 1999.

According to the prosecutor, "The defendants made a show, in the aftermath of previous trials, with the press statements they made together with their national and international supporters, and they considered themselves to be above the law. The media also supported them by broadcasting the news about them, thus violating the principle of impartiality. In addition, the 19 January 2000 press statement by Yavuz Onen, president of the HRFT executive board, is a piece of evidence that a crime was committed." The prosecutor presented copies of the press articles that had appeared and the statement made by Yavuz Onen, and demanded that the defendants be punished.

The defendants’ lawyers stated that the prosecutor had made a show himself with the statement he made, which did not have any legal content, and demanded the acquittal of the defendants.

Lawyer Fikret Ilkiz, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Cumhuriyet," was sentenced to one month and five days imprisonment and fined TL. 60 million. His sentence was commuted to a fine of TL. 140 million (U.S.$227).

Court cases against Dr. Alp Ayan and Gunseli Kaya are pending as of this writing.

Sebnem Korur Fincanci, a founding member of the HRFT, launched a trial of compensation against Erol Cakir, governor of Istanbul. Governor Cakir had initiated an administrative investigation and legal proceedings against Dr. Fincanci by sending a letter to the Ministry of Justice containing accusations against Dr. Fincanci. The Ministry of Justice had regarded the letter as an official complaint, but the subsequent investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office ended in a decision of non-prosecution on the grounds that there was no adequate and reliable evidence on which to base a trial.

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Source: Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HFRT)

For more information please contact HRFT, tel. 90-312-417 71 80, E-mail tihv@tr-net.net.tr

SMALL GROUP ISOLATION IN TURKISH PRISONS: AN AVOIDABLE DISASTER

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), an isolation regime implemented by the Turkish government for prisoners held in cells at Kartal Special Type Prison in Istanbul while on trial for offenses under the Anti-Terror Law undermines the notion by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture that "Prisoners cannot simply be left to languish for weeks, possibly months, locked up in their cells, and this regardless of how good material conditions might be within the cells."

The regime of solitary confinement or small group isolation at Kartal Special Type Prison in Istanbul severely limits the range of human contact and the variety of activities and environment to which a prisoner has access. In fact, most prisoners under this regime typically sit in their cells alone or in the company of two to five other inmates, for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. International prison experts have determined that such a regime may seriously endanger the mental and physical health of the inmates and falls far short of international standards for the treatment of those in detention.

According to HRW, most Turkish prisoners are still held in large wards. Prison staff patrol the corridors and gendarmes guard the perimeters, but rarely enter the actual wards. Daily activities and discipline are largely organized by the prisoners themselves. In the late 1980s the Turkish Ministry of Justice, which oversees the prison system in Turkey, constructed a number of cell-based Special Type prisons and during the 1990s several ward-based prisons were partially converted into cells. However, cell doors in Special Type prisons were usually left open so that inmates in a given wing were able to associate as much as they had under the ward system. In Kartal Special Type Prison in Istanbul, however, cell doors remain permanently closed other than to allow prisoners to emerge once a week if they are fortunate enough to have a visiting relative.

To HRW's knowledge, the regime of small group isolation at Kartal Special Type Prison is so far only applied to prisoners who are on trial for security offenses. The organization has interviewed former prisoners and current prisoners' families about the conditions and regime in the Kartal Special Type Prison. From their testimonies, it appears that these prisoners are suffering the physical and psychological symptoms recorded elsewhere as an effect of small group isolation, including depression, anxiety, and deteriorating eyesight. The regime at Kartal Special Type Prison may amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, said HRW.

The confinement of prisoners who are persistently violent towards staff or other prisoners can

sometimes be justified, so long as these conditions meet minimum standards - they cannot be cruel, inhuman, or degrading under any circumstances. But restrictive conditions should only be imposed to the extent absolutely necessary and not simply as an additional punishment for security prisoners.

The Turkish government is currently in the process of building a new generation of prisons – the F-type - and restructuring its whole prison system. It is widely believed that the small group isolation regime currently instituted in the Kartal Special Type Prison is a prototype for F-type prisons currently under construction. These concerns are fueled, at least in part, by the government's failure to provide comprehensive information about the type of regime it intends to institute in these new facilities.

The Turkish government has denied that its administration of Kartal Special Type Prison violates international standards, but has failed to provide any information about the nature of the isolation regime and has not agreed to HRW’s request to visit the prisons.

HRW noted that it does not oppose the cell-system as such, and indeed recognizes that under the right scheme of management, there may be benefits for prisoners and prison authorities alike in such an arrangement. The Turkish Justice Ministry has embarked on this project with the stated intention of improving the human rights situation for prisoners as well as increasing security. However, HRW said it has two primary concerns: (1) to the extent the cell-based system is accompanied by an isolation regime that provides prisoners with no access to educational or recreational activities or other sources of mental stimulation, the system may itself amount to ill-treatment, and (2) a regime of isolation that severely limits access to other inmates as well as the outside world may also increase the risk of ill-treatment of prisoners by prison staff. In this regard, the lack of information on the nature of the regime is already exacerbating tensions in the prisons and unnecessarily increasing the chances of violent confrontation if or when an attempt is made to begin transfers.

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Source: Human Rights Watch, 24 May 2000.

For more information please contact the Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, tel. +1-212-290 47 00, e-mail hrwnyc@igc.org