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Izmir / TURKEY, April 25, 2003
In the framework of their joint program, the Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the FIDH and the OMCT,
sent a judicial observer to attend the third hearing of the
case against Dr Alp Ayan, a Turkish psychiatrist and member
of the Izmir Center for the Rehabilitation of the Torture Victims
of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), charged both
for having “insulted Turkish Armed Forces” and for
having “insulted the Ministry of Justice” under
article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Other international observers were present at the hearing before
the Izmir Penal Court of First Instance, on April 24 at 9.50
am: Mr Torben Lund, Danish member of the European Parliament
and representatives of various international organisations,
including IRCT, Amnesty International, the International Physicians
for the Protection of Nuclear War, and the Berlin Centre for
the Treatment of torture victims.
The Observatory is once again alarmed to note that Dr Ayan
has been charged for his activities to promote human rights,
in this instance, for participating in a protest meeting on
February 10, 2002 where he read a press release denouncing torture
and inhuman detention conditions in Turkish prisons. This press
release criticized not only the inhuman detention conditions
in F-type prisons, but also condemned the actions of the police
during a transfer of political prisoners into F-type prisons
on December 19, 2000, which resulted in 32 deaths.
The Court ruled yesterday that the case was beyond its jurisdiction,
arguing that the amendments to article 159 of the Penal Code
were adopted after the crime was committed . The Heavy Penal
Court, previously in charge of the case, had also decided that
the case was beyond its jurisdiction according to the same above-mentioned
amendments. The Penal Court therefore decided to send the case
to the Court of Cassation to solve the conflict of competences.
The Observatory remains concerned that this trial is another
manifestation of State sponsored harassment of members of the
Turkish Human Rights Foundation (See Observatory International
and Legal Observation Mission Report – Turkey –
Judicial Harassment Against human Rights Defenders – December
2002). This procedure against Dr Alp Ayan forms part of a larger
set of criminal proceedings against members of TIHV who have
been relentlessly harassed and currently face criminal charges
over their involvement in the prison crisis in Turkey.
Background information on F-type prison in Turkey
The Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Commission has repeatedly
concluded that excessive and disproportionate use of force had
been used on the occasion of military operation in the prisons
since 1995 in Turkey.
In the early morning hours of December 19, 2000, over 10.000
members of the Turkish security forces commenced a simultaneous
military raid into twenty prisons across Turkey. “Operation
Return to life”, as this planned military intervention
was called, aimed to enforce the transfer of over a thousand
prisoners into Turkey’s newly constructed “F-type”
prisons and halt the widespread hunger strikes and “death
fasts” of political prisoners who had been protesting
against the introduction of F-type prisons since October 2000.
FIDH and OMCT are deeply concerned by the absence of thorough
and independent inquiry aiming at clarify the use of disproportionate
and excessive use of force, and in particular the allegations
of use of tear gas grenades and gas with a neurological effect
used by the security forces in the course of the operation.
Rather than initiating investigations into the actions of the
security forces, the Turkish State has instead commenced investigations
against the prisoners themselves and increase pressure on all
NGOs that have voiced concerns about “Operation Return
to Life” and have expressed their disapproval of the F-type
prison’s regime of isolation and the increased likelihood
of torture and ill-treatment in these prisons.
The European Commission has recently proposed a “road
map” to Turkey, which, if followed, would allow it to
join the European Union. In this context, Turkey is notably
urged to put into practice measures to fight against the use
of torture and guarantee “in practice” prisoners’
defence rights. In addition, on 12 March, the European Parliament
issued a draft report on “Turkey’s application for
membership of the European Union” urging, amongst other
requests, that an amnesty be granted to those imprisoned for
their opinions who are serving their sentences in Turkish prisons
for expressing non-violent sentiments”.
The Observatory urges the Turkish authorities to:
- Ensure that the charges against Dr Alp Ayan and the other
defendants be dropped;
- Put an end to judicial harassment against human rights defenders
and in particular ensure that similar charges against activists
for having protest against the poor detention condition in the
country be dropped, since they only aim is to sanction their
activities as human rights defenders;
- Abide by the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection
of human Rights Defenders adopted on the 9th of December 1998,
by the UN General Assembly (“Declaration on the right
and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society
to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and
fundamental freedoms”) particularly, Article 1 “Everyone
has the right, individually and in association with others,
to promote and to strive for the protection and realization
of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and
international level”.
- To comply with the provisions of all human rights instruments
ratified by Turkey as well as with the Copenhagen criteria allowing
for
membership in the European Union. |
