1world media
Justice Delivered for Kurdish Mother of "Disappeared" Children - Turkey Held Responsible by European Court and Fined £70,000 ~ February 28, 2001
Turkish Spy Chief Urges End to Ban on Kurdish TV, Chris Morris ~ Nov. 29
Ex-Spy Spins Web of Collusion in Turkey's War Against Kurds, By Amberin Zaman ~ August 18
The Dark Days of Kurdish Guerrillas, Stratfor, Inc ~ August 1
Euro Court Fines Turkey £¼ Million Over Death in Custody and Torture, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ June 28
Kurdish Family of 'Disappeared' Receives Justice From Europe, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ June 14
International Initiative - Freedom for Ocalan - Peace in Kurdistan ~ June 1
Kurdish Writer Mahmut Baksi Ends Hunger Strike, by Azad Daristani ~ May 13
Balfour Beatty Gets Shut Down! by Mark Thomas ~ May 13
Heads of Kurdistan Universities Call on Kurdish Academics to Return Home, Kurdistan Newsline ~ May 12
PUK Representative Participates in the National Party of Quebec’s 15th Congress, Kurdistan Newsline ~ May 12
Letter from IRIC to UNHR Regarding Death of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers, IRIC ~ May 11
Blow To Turkish Legal System as European Court Finds System Riddled With Ineptitude, Kerim Yildiz, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 29
Justice Comes from European Court For Murdered Kurdish Journalist, Kerim Yildiz, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 29
Kurdish Women Action Against Honour-Killing Pass Resolution, Kurdish Media ~ March 21
Turkish Police Detain 150 Kurds, AP ~ March 21
Newspaper Campaign Results In Damning Judgment Against Turkey. Fifteenth Successful Judgment For Kurdish Human Rights Project Before The European Court Of Human Rights, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 17, 2000
Great Boost for Hasankeyf Campaign. Activists Join Forces to Support the Kurds, Distributed by Kurdish Media ~ March 3, 2000
They Wanted Silenced Kurds, Kurdish Observer ~ Mar 3, 2000
AI Calls on US to Refuse Helicopter Sale, Amnesty International USA ~ March 3, 2000
Kurdish Women Action Against Honour-Killing, Kurdish Media ~ Feb 28, 2000
Turk Court Frees Kurd Mayors Ahead of Trial, by Yilmaz Akinci, AFP ~ Feb 28, 2000
Kurdish Mayor Speaks Out Against Ilisu Dam, Kurdistan Information Center ~ Feb 28, 2000
Ocalan: This is Done by Those Who Are Afraid of Peace, Gemlik, Kurdish Observer ~ Feb 26, 2000
Turkey Imprisons Kurd Leaders, by Chris Morris, Guardian ~ 26 Feb. 2000
Letter from National Congress of Kurdistan to the Turkish PM, Kurdish Media ~ Feb. 26, 2000
Siwan Perwer, a Voice for the Kurdish Identity, By Ellassi Baba, Kurdish Media Writer ~ Feb. 13, 2000
Guerrillas Guarantors of Peace, Kurdish Observer – Feb 13, 2000
15-20,000 in Pro-Ocalan Rally in Strasbourg-AFP – Feb 12, 2000
Turkey Detains 100 Rights Activists, AP - Feb 12, 2000
Famous Turkish Poet Rehabilitated, (AP) Feb. 11, 2000
Our Congress is an Answer to Tomorrow, Kurdistan Observer – Feb 11, 2000
“We Must Never Take Democracy for Granted”: A Kurdish Response to the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, By Kani Xulam and Biseng Amed ~ February 9, 2000
Kurdish Rebels Declare Peace in Turkey, Associated Press -Feb 9, 2000
Stop the Deportation Of Kurdish Asylum Seeker Hikmet Bozat, Kurdistan Information Center – Feb 8, 2000
Abdullah Ocalan Lawyer Charged With Insulting Turkey in Trial, Istanbul, Feb 7 (Reuters)
Arrests and Raids In Belgium And Germany; Attack On The Kurdistan Solidarity Movement, Kurdistan Information Center – January 25, 2000
The Struggle of the Mothers Against Darkness: Their Pain Resembles No Other Pain
Turkish rights group slams government over lack of protection ~ November 30 1999
Declaration of the Democratic Solution of the Kurdish Question, by Abdullah Ocalan
European Court of Human Rights Hands Down Judgement in Fifteen Cases Against Turkey
KHRP Condemns Recent Raids on Mazulm-Der, 6th July 1999
Representatives of the Bar Human Rights Committee and Kurdish Human Rights Project Attend Trial of HADEP (People's Democracy Party) in Ankara 28th June, 1999
Council of Europe says "no significant improvement" in Turkey's human rights record 10th June, 1999
The Kurdish Human Rights Project condemns the imprisonment of Akin Birdal 3rd June, 1999
Justice Delivered for Kurdish Mother of "Disappeared" Children - Turkey Held Responsible by European Court and Fined £70,000
Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ February 28, 2001
Hamsa Çiçek v Turkey (DISAPPEARANCE)
In a judgment handed down yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights found the Turkish State in violation of multiple Articles of the European Convention with regard to the complaints lodged by Kurdish applicant, Hamsa Çiçek, on behalf of her two children who have not been seen since they were detained by Turkish soldiers in May 1994.
The Çiçek case, which the Kurdish Human Rights Project brought to the European Court on behalf of applicant Hamsa Çiçek in November 1994, concerns the disappearance of Mrs. Çiçek's two sons, Tahsin Çiçek and Ali Ihsan Çiçek, who were last seen being apprehended by Turkish officers in the applicant's village of Dernek. In its decision, the Court ruled that the Turkish State "failed to offer any credible and substantiated explanation for the whereabouts and fate of the applicant's two sons" and was therefore responsible for failing to protect their right to life under Article 2 of the Convention. The Court also held Turkey in violation of Article 3 of the Convention for subjecting Mrs. Çiçek to inhuman and degrading treatment due to the uncertainty, "doubt and apprehension she suffered over a prolonged and continuing period of time [which] had undoubtedly caused her severe mental distress and anguish." Significantly, the Court noted the "superficial approach" taken by the public prosecutor in Turkey who failed to make "any meaningful investigation" into Mrs. Çiçek's fears that her sons were missing and in danger. In coming to its judgment, the Court was also careful to point out that while it found the testimonies provided by the applicant and fellow villagers of Dernak to be truthful and accurate, it was simply unable to accept the statements provided by Turkish officials who testified on behalf of the Government.
In addition to violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention, the Court also found a "most grave violation" of Article 5 (right to liberty and security) due to the "complete absence of safeguards" in the soldiers' detention procedure and also a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) due to the fact that Mrs. Çiçek 's fears about her children were "never the subject of any serious investigation" on part of the Turkish authorities. The Court awarded compensation and costs to Mrs. Çiçek and her sons' heirs amounting to £70,000.
Commenting on the judgment, Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of KHRP, said, "In light of the 1999 resolution by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding the need for Turkey to enforce better control of its security forces, the State's failure to accurately account for its actions in this case points once again to Turkey's continued failure to live up to European standards."
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The case of Çiçek v. Turkey concerns the disappearance of Tahsin Çiçek and Ali Ihsan Çiçek, who were detained by Turkish soldiers in May 1994 and have not been seen since. The Court was satisfied that the two must be presumed dead.
3. The application was made by the Kurdish Human Rights Project on 8 November 1994 on behalf of Hamsa Çiçek, mother of the two "disappeared".
4. The Court, in a judgment handed down on Tuesday, 27 February 2001, found Turkey to be in violation of Articles 2, 3, 5, and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
5. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court unanimously awarded the applicant's sons' heirs £50,000 in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, £10,000 to the applicant in non-pecuniary damages and £10,000 for legal costs and expenses.
6. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact:
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Philip Leach, Legal Director / Sally Eberhardt, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project / Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927 / Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk
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Turkish Spy Chief Urges End to Ban on Kurdish TV
Chris Morris in Istanbul, The Guardian ~ November 29, 2000
The head of Turkey's national intelligence agency, MIT, has said that hiscountry should end a ban on Kurdish television broadcasts and not executethe jailed guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan. Senkal Atasagun's comments, published yesterday in local newspapers, mark a new phase in the debate about how Turkey should deal with the Kurdish issue which has blighted the country for so long.
The prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, said Mr Atasagun's argument should be"considered carefully", but other members of the government and the military high command are known to oppose it.
An end to the broadcasting ban and the abolition of the death penalty areamong conditions set out by the EU for Turkish membership.
Since Turkey became a formal candidate for membership a year ago arguments have been raging within the Turkish establishment about the speed of proposed reforms.
Mr Atasagun, however, said that Turkey should simply act in its owninterests. He pointed out that the official ban on broadcasting in Kurdishwas leaving the field open to Medya TV, a satellite channel based in Europewhich supports Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and is widely watched in Turkey's mainly Kurdish south-east.
"They are telling many lies, and everyone is watching these broadcasts bysatellite," Mr Atasagun said. "If we want to win the trust of our [Kurdish]citizens, we have to make them understand us."
The spy chief was quoted as saying that the army agreed with him, but therehas never been any public support from senior generals for meeting Kurdishcultural demands. The military has made it clear that it will opposeanything resembling a concession to the PKK.
Since Ocalan was captured and put on trial last year, the number of violentincidents in south-eastern Turkey has fallen dramatically. By and large, thePKK has followed its jailed leader's orders and redirected its energies intoa political struggle.
It has been hard for Ankara to accept the political demands of even moremoderate Turks, because of the sensitivity of dealing with the PKK. Even so, this month Mr Ecevit admitted that Turkey would "sooner or later" have to think about allowing Kurdish broadcasts. But the prime minister's deputy, Devlet Bahceli, who leads the rightwing Nationalist Action party, argued that such a move would "fuel ethnic clashes and division".
Yesterday the defence minister, Sabahattin Cakmakog, chipped in. Thepersonal opinions of the head of the MIT "are not binding on the state", hesaid.
Turkey is waiting to hear how the European court of human rights will ruleon an appeal lodged by Ocalan against his death sentence. Although manysenior Turkish leaders believe that executing him would be counter-productive, they will not take kindly to another lecture on human rights from a European institution.
The government is already at loggerheads with Europe on several issues. Last week Mr Ecevit accused the EU of deceiving Turkey about the terms of its membership application, and he argued that plans for a new European defence force were "trampling on Turkish rights".
Relations between Turkey and Europe will never be plain sailing, but a realdebate is now under way about proposed reforms which were completely offlimits until quite recently.
In another sign that some things are changing for the better, 15 youths werefound not guilty yesterday of membership of an illegal organistion, after aprevious ruling that their confessions had been obtained by torture nearlyfive years ago.
The trial of the "Manisa children" has been watched by human rights groups at home and abroad as a test of how serious Turkey is about cracking down on torture. Ten policemen involved in the case have been jailed.
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Ex-Spy Spins Web of Collusion in Turkey's War Against Kurds
By Amberin Zaman, Special to The LA Times ~ August 18
ANKARA, Turkey--For years, Turkey's political establishment faced--and managed to fend off--assertions that it colluded with drug traffickers, hit men and gunrunners in its 15-year war against Kurdish separatists.
Since the separatists' defeat last year, however, the allegations have resurfaced from an unlikely and embarrassing source--a former chief of counterintelligence for Turkey's spy agency.
Mehmet Eymur, who served in the National Intelligence Agency for three decades, is creating an uproar here with his popular 5-month-old Web site, whose reports tarring dozens of officials are picked up daily by Turkey's newspapers and hastily denied by the accused.
From self-imposed exile in Washington, the former spy faces criminal charges at home for divulging state secrets.
But there is little doubt that his painstakingly documented disclosures are bringing new pressure on the government to prosecute officials accused of collaborating with mobsters who trained Kurdish mercenaries to fight Kurdish rebels.
Western governments have faulted successive Turkish administrations for laxity in fighting this country's flourishing drug trade. The State Department has reported that as much as 75% of the heroin seized in Europe last year "transited Turkey, was processed there or was seized in connection with Turkish criminal syndicates."
Turkey's prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, is credited with cracking down on drug lords. An alleged Kurdish heroin kingpin, Urfi Cetinkaya, was arrested in Istanbul this week.
Yet politicians and security officials implicated in drug-related corruption scandals remain untouched. Several, including a man privately described by U.S. drug enforcement officials as a "well-known heroin chemist," were reelected to parliament last year.
Eymur's decision to remove himself to Washington has invited speculation that he is being encouraged by the U.S. government. Some critics say he is trying to discredit Senkal Atasagun, the national intelligence chief who forced him into retirement two years ago.
"He is waging psychological war under the American flag against the Turkish army, in line with the CIA's directives," said Dogu Perincek, the leader of a small leftist party who is on the former spy's list of accused.
In a telephone interview, Eymur vigorously denied the charges, saying he's seeking only "to help Turkish justice" while remaining outside the country and "waiting for Turkey to become a full-fledged democracy."
"If there was even one Turkish official [whom I could rely on], if he could send me his phone number, I would gladly shut down my Web site and call him," Eymur stated recently on the site, http://www.atin.org, which has had nearly 1 million visitors since its March 8 launch.
Among other incriminating evidence, the site carries transcripts of the alleged confessions of a Kurdish rebel-turned-informer named Mahmut Yildrim, who has been linked to the slayings of several prominent Kurdish intellectuals and drug dealers. Yildrim, whose intelligence agency code name was "Green," was promptly freed after telling police interrogators of his connections with top Turkish officials, the site alleges.
In its battle against the separatists, the Turkish state is widely accused of having enlisted many such characters, who, under state protection, killed Kurdish drug dealers and muscled in on their trade. Eymur has claimed that "Green," whose whereabouts remain a mystery, shared drug profits with "various police chiefs and [members of] the gendarmerie. This is not a secret."
Turkish officials have consistently blamed the drug trade on rebels of the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, whose leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured, tried for treason and sentenced to death last year as the insurgency collapsed.
But intriguing evidence of ties between government officials and Turkish criminals, including drug dealers, emerged in November 1996 after a car crash in the small town of Susurluk. A police chief and a convicted heroin smuggler were among the dead. Sedat Bucak, a Kurdish lawmaker, survived the crash and claimed to have lost his memory.
A parliamentary investigation into why this unlikely trio was traveling in the same car came to nothing, and critics of the government suspect a cover-up. Bucak has been reelected to parliament.
"Unfortunately," Eymur said, "in Turkey, one scandal ends only to be followed by another."
END
The Dark Days of Kurdish Guerrillas
Stratfor, Inc ~ August 1
Summary
Reports in the region indicate that a significant Turkish military offensive may be underway along the Iranian border, aimed at finishing off remaining elements of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). For years, various Kurdish groups have been used as pawns by the regional states, playing one against one another. It appears now that the PKK has lost most, if not all, of its foreign support and may be nearing the end of its long and violent history.
Analysis
Reports of a Turkish troop buildup are surfacing even as several Kurdish factions have recently made clear they are not aligned with the PKK. Iraqi official radio reported July 25 that Turkey has deployed at least one special forces brigade along the borders where Turkey, Iraq and Iran come together.
On the same day, Jalal Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), went to Ankara for a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. The meeting appears to have resulted in improved relations between the two. As recently as this spring, Ankara launched military operations into northern Iraq in cooperation with the PUK in order to flush out PKK rebels. Also during Talabani’s trip to Ankara, he discussed the possibility of cooperating with the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) – a former PUK rival that is reportedly backed by the Turkish military.
On July 27, the Kurdistan Socialist Party (PSK) – an outlawed and low-profile Kurdish faction – issued a statement condemning PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who remains in a Turkish prison and has been sentenced to death. The statement also called on PKK cadres to desert the organization as soon as possible. Ocalan himself, on July 28, said he suspected that the PUK and the KDP were aligning to provoke a war and urged PKK members not to abandon their cause.
Historically, PKK sponsors included Greece, Iraq, Iran and Syria, but in recent years support for the Kurdish rebel group has steadily dwindled. The militant wing of the PKK emerged in the mid-1980s to battle Turkish government forces for separate autonomy in Turkey’s Kurdish populated southeastern provinces. Several political and military factions exist in the Kurdish region, which spans areas in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran.
Iranian support to the PKK began to wane as early as 1997 with the election of moderate President Khatami, who pushed a policy of breaking Tehran’s international isolation. However, Osman Ocalan – Abdullah Ocalan’s brother and prominent PKK official – is reportedly still based in Iran. In 1998, Syria pledged to cease its support for the group and even expelled Ocalan, which resulted in his capture. Turkey’s rapprochement with Greece accelerated in 1999 and led to a loss of Athens’ support for the group.
Iraq clearly supported the PKK for years, even allowing the group to open offices in Baghdad. But now, Iraq too may be prepared to sell out the group for political compromise on the crippling international sanctions. Turkish Daily News reported July 28 that it would upgrade its diplomatic representation in Baghdad from charge d’affaires to a full ambassador in an effort to improve bilateral relations. Even though Turkey allows U.S. warplanes to use its Incirlik airbase to enforce no-fly zones, Ankara may have cut a deal with Baghdad to help break the country’s economic isolation. Turkey recently hinted that it may increase water flow to Iraq, according to sources cited by the Turkish Daily News.
Because of its policy of overthrowing Saddam, Washington has lent support to Kurdish groups in the north. Turkey prefers that Iraq’s problems be solved within the country rather than through outside intervention, according to Turkish Daily News. Strategically, the idea of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq not only threatens Saddam’s regime in Baghdad but it also potentially threatens Turkish security.
Continuing to support a weakened PKK may not be as valuable a lever for Iraq as it once was. Now, Saddam may have decided that he has more to gain from cooperating with Turkey than pressuring it. This could translate into the PKK losing its last sponsor.
(c) 2000 Stratfor, Inc., 504 Lavaca, Suite 1100 Austin, TX 78701 Phone: 512-583-5000 Fax: 512-583-5025 Email: info@stratfor.com
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Euro Court Fines Turkey £¼ Million Over Death in Custody and Torture
Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ June 28
BEHIYE SALMAN v. TURKEY (EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING, TORTURE) NASIR ILHAN v. TURKEY (TORTURE)
The European Court of Human Rights has delivered judgment in two more KHRP cases, finding the Turkish state to be guilty of murder and torture. In only a matter of months, the slow moving organs of the European Court have passed a series of ground breaking judgments in cases taken by KHRP on behalf of victims of state oppression, torture, 'disappearance' and state-sponsored murder in south east Turkey.
The violation of Article 2 (right to life) in the case of Salman v Turkey finds the Turkish state guilty of not only failing to conduct a proper investigation, but of also failing to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation of his death whilst in custody. Agit Salman was taken into custody in apparently good health on 28 April 1992. Twenty four hours later he was taken to Adana State Hospital and declared dead on arrival. His body was covered by obvious signs of torture, including bruising, swelling and a broken sternum. The Court found that the Government's claims that Agit Salman had died from a heart attack were not in keeping with the evidence taken from the autopsy. The Court also found a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy). It awarded Behiye Salman just under £100,000 in damages and legal expenses.
In the case of Ilhan, the Court awarded the applicant just under £125,000 in legal costs and damages as a result of the violation of article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy). The applicant's brother was beaten by soldiers, and remains physically handicapped as a result of the attack. These cases represent the twentieth and twenty-first judgment in KHRP cases.
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of KHRP, said "The applicants are delighted to see that justice has finally been served. We hope that the state of Turkey will take on board the strong message contained within these judgments, and begin to implement the necessary reforms needed to improve Turkey's human rights record. We also call on Turkey to immediately initiate investigations against the perpetrators of the crimes in these cases."
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The case of Ilhan v Turkey (torture) concerns ill treatment suffered by the applicant's brother, Abdullatif Ilhan, in Aytepe village, Mardin province, south east Turkey in December 1992. Soldiers came to the village and beat up Abdullatif Ilhan, kicking him and hitting him on the side of his head with a rifle butt. He lost consciousness and was put into a stream to revive him. The temperature was freezing and he subsequently had difficulty walking. After two days, Mr Ilhan was taken to hospital. In February 1993 Abdullhatif Ilhan was prosecuted for resisting arrest. The people responsible for injuring him were not prosecuted. As a result of his injuries, Abdullhatif Ilhan still suffers from physical infirmity. The applicant therefore complained on his brother's behalf to the European Commission in June 1993. The European Commission prepared its report on the case in April 1999 and the case was referred to the Court in September 1999. The Court, in a judgment handed down on 27 June, 2000, found Turkey to be in violation of Article 3 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court awarded £80,600 in pecuniary damages and £25,000 in non-pecuniary damages. It also awarded £17,000 for legal costs and expenses.
3. The case of Behiye Salman v Turkey (extra-judicial killing and torture) was commenced in 1993 in respect of the death of the applicant's husband in Adana, south east Turkey, in April 1992. Agit Salman was arrested in April 1992 and taken to Adana Security Directorate. 24 hours later he was dead. The applicant claimed that this was as a result of torture inflicted on him while in detention. Mrs Salman's case, invoking Articles 2, 3, 6, 13 and 18 of the European Convention, was declared admissible in February 1995. The Court, in a judgment handed down on 27 June, 2000, found Turkey to be in violation of Article 2, 3, and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court awarded £39,320.64 in pecuniary damages, £35,000 in non-pecuniary damages and £21,544.58 for legal costs and expenses.
4. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact: Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Philip Leach, Legal Director / Rebecca Wood, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project / Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927 / Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk
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Kurdish Family of 'Disappeared' Receives Justice From Europe -
Kurdish Human Rights Project, June 14
The latest judgment handed down by the European Court of Human Rights finds that the Turkish state and its agents were liable for the death of Abdulvahap Timurtaþ, in violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This finding contributes to the growing body of judgments against Turkey (see Ertak v Turkey) which find the state of Turkey to be liable for the death of an individual, despite their claims before the Court that the individual concerned had not been taken into custody, and that they were unaware of his/her whereabouts.
The case of Mehmet Timurtaþ v Turkey concerns the disappearance of the applicant's son, whilst he was being held in an unacknowledged detention by the Turkish state authorities. The applicant alleged that his son, Abdulvahap Timurtaþ, a Kurd from south east Turkey, was taken into custody by security forces on 14 August 1993. He has not been seen since.
The Court found, contrary to findings in the similar KHRP case of Kurt v Turkey, that Abdulvahap Timurtaþ must be presumed dead following an unacknowledged detention by the security forces. The Court based these conclusions on the fact that six and a half years had lapsed since the disappearance of the applicant's son; that, contrary to the Turkish state's claims, Abdulvahap Timurtaþ was indeed "taken to a place of detention . by authorities for whom the State is responsible"; and that Abdulvahap Timurtaþ was wanted by the authorities for his alleged PKK activities. As such the responsibilities of the respondent state for his death are engaged.
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP), said "KHRP lodged this application in 1994. Since this time there have been a multitude of 'disappearance' cases in Turkey. Indeed KHRP has received judgment in four of our cases involving allegations of state collusion in the 'disappearance' of an individual. This important judgment gives hope to the families of the disappeared, such as the Saturday Mothers, who have long campaigned for news of their disappeared relatives. We hope that Turkey will take on board the serious lessons to be learned from this case, and that the international community, and in particular the Council of Ministers, will closely monitor the full implementation of this judgment."
The Court also found that the Turkish authorities' failure to conduct an investigation into the allegations led to a further violation of Article 2. In addition, the Court found a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), on account of Turkey's "callous disregard" for the concerns of and anguish suffered by the father of Abdulvahap Timurtaþ in his search for information about the whereabouts of his son. The Court found a violation of Article 5 (right to liberty) and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), on account of the state's failure both to conduct an effective investigation into Abdulvahap Timurtaþ's disappearance, and the fact that he disappeared during an unacknowledged detention.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The application was made by the Kurdish Human Rights Project on behalf of Mehmet Timurtaþ.
3. Mehmet Timurtaþ ('the applicant') lodged the case as a result of circumstances surrounding the disappearance and subsequent death of his son, Abdulvahap Timurtaþ.
4. The Court, in a judgment handed down on Tuesday June 13, 2000, found Turkey to be in violation of Article 2, 3, 5 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
5. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court awarded £20,000 in non-pecuniary damages in respect of the applicant's son and £10,000 in respect of the applicant himself. It also awarded £20,000 for legal costs and expenses.
6. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact: Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Philip Leach, Legal Director / Rebecca Wood, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project / Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927 / Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk
END
International Initiative - Freedom for Ocalan - Peace in Kurdistan
The International Initiative organised a Press Conferece in Brussels to enlighten the world public, media, and state representatives on the urgency needed in changing the prison conditions of Mr. Abdullah Ocalan and his necessity of his transfer to another prison with apppropriate prison conditions. The participants in the Press Conference were Kurdish personalities such as Ismet Serif Vanli (President of Kurdistan Natioanl Congress),Yasar Kaya (ex-President of Kurdistan Parliament in Exile ), Mahmut Baksi (Writer, politician, journalist).
We would like to present the Press Statement that was mediated in the Press Conference in Brussels, Belgium organised by the International Initiative. If you would like the Document presented in the press conference we would be hapy to do so (note: it will be an attachment):
Press Statement:
On 15 February 1999 Abdullah Ocalan, Pesident of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was handed over to the Turkish State in a cloak and dagger operation by an alliance of international intelligence agencies. Since taken he has been held captive on the prison island of Imrali in the Marmara Sea under increasingly harsh conditions of isolation.
We're in the first anniversary of the PKK President Mr. Abdullah Öcalan's trial, which was contrary to the norms of international law and unjust the manner by which the death sentence was given. Instead of putting the issue and solution forward; the accusatrans trial and the punishment made on the basis of denial of the Kurdish people and distortion of history is not legal and can not by any means be accepted. According to statements made by his lawyers, Mr. Ocalan's health has been steadily deteriorating over more than sixteen months imprisonment. For some time he has been suffering from a difficulty in breathing and related symptons which his doctors insist are resulting from the damp island climate.
During a visit by his lawyers Mr. Ocalan provided a detailed description of his breathing problems, and attacks of choking; loss of his sense of smell; decreasing of his sense of taste; severe inflammation of the mucus membrane; running of the nose; inflamed eyes and severe sleep deprivation. His doctors insist that given present prison conditions, there is a high probability that he will develop asthma. Mr. Ocalan confirms that the medical treatment he has been receiving has not helped to ameliorate his condition. This was additionally confirmed by a doctor who was called in to examine him and who stressed that treatment under the present conditions was impossible.
The International Initiative for peace are monitoring these critical developments with increased concern. Despite to being sentenced to death Mr. Ocalan continues to press for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question and for democratisation in Turkey, which has led to the PKK's cessation of armed struggle, the withdrawal of its forces outside Turkey, and the launch of a comprehensive peace initiative. Regrettably, political and military leaders in Turkey have so far failed to take any concrete steps towards grasping this historical opportunity for a lasting settlement of the Kurdish Question and the creation of a sustainable peace. To the contrary, the Turkish army has pursued its military operations, and the government has endorsed the closure of human rights organisations, the crimalisation of Kurdish politicians and prohibition of pro-Kuridish democratic newspapers and other publications.
Mr. Ocalan remains a national icon of the Kurdish people. Any further deterioration in his health as a result of a solitary confinement will result in unpredictable consequences concerning the developing process of peace and democratisation in Turkey. Therefore we call upon the international community to exert all due influence on the Turkish government to improve Mr. Ocalan's conditions of detention and to ensure they accord with international standards. We also demand:
- that the solitary confinement in which he is held is lifted immediately.
- an improvement of his living conditions.
- that Mr. Ocalan be transferred to a place where conditions are more suitable
- that he is allowed access to an International Commission of Physicians to investigate the conditions of detention and Mr. Ocalan's state of health .
- an independent Commission to monitor Mr. Ocalan's case and investigate in accordance with the Convention of the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.
- an investigation by the UN Committee Against Torture, and by the European Council of the EU.
Freedom for Ocalan, Post Box: 100511, 50445 Köln, Germany Telephone: 0221 1301559 Fax: 0221 1393071, E-Mail: info@freedom-for-ocalan.com.
END
Kurdish Writer Mahmut Baksi Ends Hunger Strike
by Azad Daristani, KurdishMedia ~ May 13
(Source: Ozgur Politika - of May 13
Writer Mahmut Baksi, on a hunger strike to protest repression of the Kurdish language and the banning of his books in Turkish Kurdistan, ended his strike the day before yesterday after five days with an appearance on Sweden’s Channel Four television. Participating in the Morning Newsprogram from Sergestor Square in Stockholm, where he was holding his hunger strike, Baksi discussed the issues with a Swedish government representative who was present in the studio.
Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations Pierr Schori promised Baksi that Sweden would put the Kurdish question and the banning of his books in Turkey onto the agenda of the European Union (EU). Schori informed Baksi that Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh had written to both the Turkish government and the Turkish Writers’ Association inquiring into Baksi’s case.
Baksi thereupon announced that he would end his hunger strike, which had continued for five days. Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Lindh also raised Baksi’s case in a panel discussion at Stockholm’s Olaf Palme Center on the topic "Turkey and the EU – Is a common future possible?" During the discussion, the President of the Swedish Writers’ Union provided to Lindh a translation of the indictment against Baksi prepared by the Istanbul State Security Court. The Writers’ Union announced that, along with the International PEN Club, it would be following Baksi’s trial closely, and also planned to initiate a public campaign on the topic.
Baksi also provided a statement to OZGUR POLITIKA regarding the decision to end his hunger strike after five days. He stressed that he had initiated this action not only due to his own books having been banned, but for the sake of all banned books.
In ending his hunger strike, Baksi said "I first want to thank the Swedish government and former minister Pierr Schori, who is on the EU council. Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said that she has had several telephone conversations with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, and that, with reference to the banning of my books, has said that as long as the books are banned Turkey will not enter the EU."
In his statement, Baksi also noted that several well-known authors who are members of PEN and the Swedish Writers’ Union have published a joint declaration stating that they would continue to raise the issue. Meanwhile, M. Emin Pencewini, speaking for the Executive Board of the Berlin Kurdish Institute, said that the Institute supported and congratulated Baksi for having initiated his protest, and called upon people everywhere to show the same sensitivity that Baksi had.
© Copyright Kurdish Media - 2000
END
Balfour Beatty Gets Shut Down!
by Mark Thomas, KurdishMedia ~ May 13
Below is an article by Mark Thomas, the UK comedian-activist, on the protests at the AGM of Balfour Beatty, the company which hopes to build the Ilisu Dam, with ECA support.
It is not often that I feel the need to express my sympathy for the plight of multinationals and their shareholders but last Tuesday morning in the middle of Balfour Beatty's annual general meeting I did. Balfour Beatty are the UK company involved in the Ilisu dam project, which amongst other things is to receive $200 million of taxpayers money to help finance the eviction of 25,000 Kurds from their homes. The company was obviously expecting some protesters to the AGM, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge.
There was so many Group 4 security staff present I reckon there must have only been about 2 warden's left working throughout the entire prison service. I am convinced a mass jailbreak was possible Tuesday, as all of Group 4 seemed to be protecting the fat and immoral arses of Lord Weir and the rest of the Balfour Beatty board. But the great thing about buying a share in the company is they have to let you in. Which explains why nearly 50 supporters of the Ilisu Dam Campaign mingled with the bankers, fund managers and Kingsley Amis lookalikes, handing out leaflets to bemused shareholders.
As the AGM was about to start, with Group 4 surrounding the room like prefects at a school assembly, the board took to the stage. Before they could sit down 15 people lined up at the back of the room facing the board, each with a t-shirt with one letter printed on it, spelling out "STOP THE ILISU DAM." Cheers and applause filled the room from the supporters and in fact several other shareholders joined in, not quite realising why they were, nodding and clapping approval like they were watching a cricket match.
Lord Weir who was chairing the meeting looked mildly exasperated. It was an expression we were to see used to it's full range throughout the proceedings, especially when he was quizzed about why the board had allowed the company to be embroiled in a controversial project, mired in blood, like Ilisu.
The AGM was always going to be slightly surreal. I sat opposite Lord Avebury (the most consistent and verciferous human rights campaigner in Parliament) and in front of a Big Issue seller called Giles, who had come to express his disgust at the company making Kurds homeless. In front of me sat a man who could frown only in the way that people born and breed in certain parts of Sussex can and whose sole vocal expression was "Tut!"
Questions on the Ilisu Dam Project were promised to be heard by Balfour Beatty. Several Kurds stood and passionately explained how they had lost relatives, victims of Turkish militarism and ethnic cleansing, asking why were Balfour Beatty working with a torturing state? Only to be dismissed with the corporate mantra of "It's not up to us, you should speak to the government." As the question of human rights in South East Turkey/Kurdistan is raised 40 supporters stood holding up pictures of torture victims. One shareholder looked at a picture of Turkish soldiers holding severed human heads like trophies and said "These are probably faked you know, it's easy enough to mock up pictures like this."
Lord Weir looked on at the scene of environmentalists, human rights campaigners, Parliamentarians, Big Issue sellers and Kurds holding these pictures and promptly declared questions on Ilisu over. Suddenly, angry campaigners were all over the room, standing on chairs, trying to get the Board to just look at the photos we had, others rushed towards the Board's platform demanding the company account for their actions. Group 4 started to earn their fee, Lord Weir shouted he was suspending the meeting and the Board fleed the platform amidst catcalls. And we suddenly realised, as Balfour Beatty still had items on its agenda for the meeting; we had just shut the AGM down.
So what did we achieve? We received more coverage for the campaign, which is good. Several shareholders we talked to were shocked that Balfour Beatty are involved in the dam and wanted to find out more, which is really nice. And most importantly a group of people ranging from Kurds to Lords worked together to make sure that the company know one fact for sure. This is just the beginning!
P.S. My moment of sympathy came when holding the microphone I stated to the board "The Lesotho court case, where Balfour Beatty stand accused of bribery and corruption, opened earlier this month. The Ilisu Dam will only attract more adverse publicity. If the share price does go down, as I have done a number of charity fund raising benefits in the past , I would be only too happy to do a benefit concert for the board." I'm not sure they appreciated my offer.
© Copyright Kurdish Media - 2000
END
Heads of Kurdistan Universities Call on Kurdish Academics to Return Home
(April 30, ) The presidents of the universities of Suleimani, Salahuddin, and Dohuk issued a call to all foreign-residend Kurdish university professors and diploma holders in the fields of the sciences to begin the return migration back to Kurdistan in order to contribute to the education and training of the new generation of university students. Signing the call to return were President of Suleimani University Dr. Kamal Khoshinaw, President of Saluhhidin University Dr. Sa’di Barzinji, and President of Dohuk University Prof. Ismat Muhammad Khalid. The three presidents also discussed steps of improving communications and coordination between the three universities, so as to develop their capacities and their scientific capabilities.
Observers of the educational scene in Iraqi Kurdistan indicate that this step by the three university heads augers well for a period of increased cooperation on academic and institutional development. The call for Kurdish academics and educators to return to Kurdistan to educate upcoming generations is expected to generate much interest in the Kurdish diaspora.
The text of their joint statement follows:
"As you no doubt are aware, despite the double-layered economic embargo under which we live in Kurdistan and the impact of the withdrawal of the non-Kurdish teaching staff from Salahuddin University after the Kurdish Uprising, our three Kurdish universities do offer their services to the free Kurdish people, thanks to the modest but sincere efforts of educationalists in Kurdistan. Today the universities of Suleimani, Salahuddin and Dohuk work together in constant cooperation and collaboration, in order to provide our people’s children with the scientific and intellectual tools to build more prosperous and rewarding lives in the future.
Brothers and Sisters, whatever the reasons that caused you to depart to foreign lands, we believe that the time is ripe to turn towards our universities and consider them in your future plans. Today we speak to you as presidents of our three universities in Suleimani, Salahuddin and Dohuk and call upon you to commence the counter-emigration, to lead in the return to Kurdistan and take an honorable part in the development of our universities. We are confident of your feelings of patriotism and your good will, and therefore trust that you will view our call in a positive light. We hope you continue to find happiness in your lives."
End of Year Academic Examinations in Iraqi Kurdistan Intending to shed light on how final exams are being conducted in Iraqi Kurdistan this academic year (1999-2000) at all educational levels up till the university level, Mr. Said Abdalla, the Minister of Eduction’s Director of Examinations, made the following statement: "End of year exams begin, at the primary level up until the sixth grade, on May 10th and end on May 17th. For 6th through 10th grade (middle school to mid high school), and all middle school vocational, fine arts and teacher training programs, the exams will be begin on May 20th and continue until May 29th. Technical training institutes will start their exams on June 1st.
Ministerial Exams for mid-grade levels and middle grade Islamics subjects will conducted on June 3rd. Ministerial Exams for college preparatory and vocational and Islamic preparatory classes will be conducted for classes that have completed their course work in these fields on June 4th. Six examination centers have been established under the supervision of a professional committee, and exam questions and answer books have been printed according to the legal specifications.
© Copyright Kurdish Media - 2000
END
PUK Representative Participates in the National Party of Quebec’s 15th Congress
Kurdistan Newsline ~ May 12
At the official invitation of the National Party of Quebec, PUK Canada Representative Salar Doski attended the party’s 15th Congress in Montreal, May 5 – 7. During the Congress banquet hosted by Quebec Premier and National Party President Lucien Bouchard on May 7th, Doski extended the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s thanks to the Quebec Party Congress hosts for their hospitality, and conveyed wishes for progress and success to the French-speaking Canadians of Quebec.
In the course of the Congress proceedings, Doski briefed the Quebecois participants on the current situation in Kurdistan, underlining the on-going Iraqi government campaigns of ethnic cleansing, house evictions and deportations in the areas of Kirkuk, Khaniqin and Sinjar.
Statements by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan on the 12th memorial of the mass extermination campaigns known as the "Anfal" ("Spoils of War") and on the 20th anniversary of the deportation of more than 300,000 "Faili" Kurds were also distributed at the Congress.
© Copyright Kurdish Media - 2000
END
Letter from IRIC to UNHR Regarding Death of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers
IRIC ~ May 11
To: United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, GENVA.
Date: May 11, 2000
Re: Iraqi Refugees Death
To: whom it may concern
Dear, Sir/ Madam
Recently, a total of 400 Iraqi refugees have been drowned after their boat capsized during a storm in attempts to leave Iraq: 157 of them drowned in their way to Australia from Indonesia, and 260 other refugees drowned in the Mediterranean sea between Turkey and Greek. This, obviously proof that how safe the Northern non-fly zone, covered by the UN protection zone is safe!
Despite the exterminated and arduous path and despite of every days tragic news of refugees death on those road located between Iraq-Turkey-Western Europe, refugees have never hesitated and have never stopped from escaping. This is because the condition in Iraqi Kurdistan is unbearable and intolerable: suppression, repression, assassination and insecurity of life are increasing rapidly. The suffocation around people’s life is being intensified daily especially for poor people.
We, as I.R.I.C. in Canada hold UNHCR responsible for those refugees lost of lives and denounce that they are in a irresponsible position towards refugees. Indeed the majority of refugees, whom have drowned, claimed refugees status from UNHCR in Turkey and other countries, but their claims have never been answered and determined. UNHCR has never paid attention to Iraqi asylum-seekers who escape from Iraq, because of political and social reasons.
We demand that UNHCR should look at this important refugee issue in humanity point of view not any other criteria; must take care of refugees and their affairs, and determine their status because only by doing so the refugees will get survived from an inevitable death in Kurdistan, or in their way to west.
Yours respectfully,
Coordinator- Adil Ahmad
Iraqi Refugees and Immigrants Council, 122 Laird Dr. Unit 204, Toronto, ON. M4S 3V3 Canada. Tel/Fax: (416) 4211529
© Copyright Kurdish Media - 2000
END
Blow To Turkish Legal System as European Court Finds System Riddled With Ineptitude
Kerim Yildiz, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 29
A litany of failures by the Turkish authorities to fully investigate allegations of state collusion in murder, abduction and torture is revealed in new judgment handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). A Kurdish doctor, suspected of assisting injured members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), and his colleague, suffered ill-treatment and were later found murdered by unknown assailants. Subsequent reports in the media suggested that Dr. Hasan Kaya and Metin Can, labelled as PKK sympathisers, were killed by contra-guerillas acting with the knowledge and support of the state security forces. The Court found a violation of Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article13 (right to an effective remedy).
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP), said "This ruling provides vital evidence of the level of state involvement in and indifference to the indiscriminate attacks on Kurds in south east Turkey around the beginning of the 1990s. It vindicates the claims by so many that time and time again the Turkish authorities failed in their positive duty to protect the lives of those threatened. This is
reflected in the case of Dr. Kaya where the Turkish authorities, aware of the risk to his life, failed to protect him from abduction, ill-treatment and his subsequent murder. KHRP will monitor the full implementation of the Court's judgment".
Mahmut Kaya, with the assistance of KHRP, lodged an application with the ECHR on behalf of his brother Dr. Hasan Kaya. Dr. Kaya (a medical practitioner in south east Turkey) and a colleague Metin Can (President of the Elazig Human Rights Association) disappeared on 21 February 1993. The next day the police were informed of their disappearance. Six days later, on 27 February 1993, the bodies of the two men were discovered. Both had been shot through the head and bore signs of torture on their bodies.
The Court in particular noted that the investigation by the Turkish authorities was "limited, superficial and dilatory" and that the autopsies conducted on the bodies was "cursory and inadequate". It concluded that "no effective criminal investigation could be considered as having been conducted".
This case, in conjunction with a number of other KHRP cases lodged around the time, has produced a powerful body of evidence to the effect that allegations of the widespread and systematic nature of attacks on the local Kurdish population were conducted in a climate of impunity and the absence of the rule of law in south east Turkey. The Court comments that a substantial body of case work before the Court, lodged from within south east Turkey after events in the early 1990s, produced "a series of findings of failures by the authorities to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the security forces".
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The application was made by the Kurdish Human Rights Project on behalf of Mahmut Kaya.
3. Mahmut Kaya ('the applicant') lodged the case as a result of circumstances surrounding the disappearance and subsequent death of his brother, Dr. Hasan Kaya.
4. The Court, in a judgment handed down on Tuesday January 28, 2000, found Turkey to be in violation of Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).
5. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court awarded £15,000 in non-pecuniary damage in respect of Dr Hasan Kaya and £2,500 in respect of the applicant himself. It also awarded £22,000 for legal costs and expenses.
6. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact:
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Philip Leach, Legal Director / Rebecca Wood, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project / Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927 / Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk Website: http://www.khrp.org
END
Justice Comes from European Court For Murdered Kurdish Journalist
Kerim Yildiz, Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 29
New judgment before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) finds that Turkey failed to protect the life of Kemal Kiliç, despite pleas to the authorities for protection.
Kemal Kiliç, a journalist with the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem petitioned the Governor of Sanliurfa for protection due to the threats and attacks suffered by colleagues working on the newspaper. The Turkish authorities refused to protect him. Two months later Kemal Kiliç was shot dead by four men who waited for him on his route home from work.
The Court found a violation of Article 2 (right to life) and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy). "This is an important judgment handed down by the European Court, particularly in light of the ruling in favour of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem on 16 March 2000," said Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP). "KHRP has long worked to highlight the extent to which the legal system in south east Turkey systematically fails to protect the local population. This judgment provides conclusive proof of the extent to which the malpractice and
inefficiency of the Turkish legal system failed time and again to protect the lives of its citizens, indeed actually actively contributing to an atmosphere of lawlessness and impunity. We hope that the State of Turkey will now take steps to ensure that lessons learnt from both of these judgments are now implemented on the ground in Turkey."
The Court found that the state authorities, fully aware of the risk of attack, particularly as elements of the security forces were acting alongside contra-guerillas, failed to protect Kemal Kiliç's right to life. It noted in its judgement that the legal framework in the south east of Turkey was inadequate and severely flawed in its ability to deal with
allegations of this nature. The administrative councils used to investigate offences allegedly committed by State officials "did not provide an independent or effective procedure for investigating deaths implicating the security forces".
The failure of the Turkish state to investigate allegations of state collusion was highlighted in the finding before the Court, as was the willingness of the state to rapidly attribute all blame for these attacks to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). The attribution of blame to the PKK meant that the cases were taken before the State Security Courts (in whose jurisdiction the crime of terrorism falls). These Courts have, in
previous judgments, failed the requirements of independence and impartiality due to the presence of a military judge. The Court concluded that these defects "undermined the effectiveness of criminal law protection" and "fostered a lack of accountability of members of the security forces".
EDITORS NOTES:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The application was made by the Kurdish Human Rights Project on behalf of Cemil Kiliç, the brother of Kemal Kiliç.
3. The Court, in a judgment handed down on Tuesday January 28, 2000, found Turkey to be in violation of Article 2 (right to life) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).
4. Under Article 41 (just compensation), the Court awarded £15,000 in non-pecuniary damage in respect of Kemal Kiliç and £2,500 in respect of the applicant himself. It also awarded £20,000 for legal costs and expenses.
5. An orchestrated campaign, conducted between 1992 and 1994 against the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, led to its closure, and to the murder, imprisonment and disappearance of a string of journalists, correspondents and reporters associated with the newspaper.
6. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact: Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Philip Leach, Legal Director / Rebecca Wood, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project, Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927 / Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk Website: http://www.khrp.org
END
Kurdish Women Action Against Honour-Killing Pass Resolution
Kurdish Media – Mar 21, 2000
Women’s Group in the Kurdish Cultural Centre
Kurdish Women’s Organisation
Kurdistan Refugee Women’s Organisation
Contact email: kwahk@hotmail.com
This resolution is the outcome of a conference on the occasion of the first International Women’s Day in the third millennium. The conference, organised by a group of Kurdish women and held in London on the 5th of March 2000, focused on the issue of honour killing in Kurdistan under the title “Honour Killing Murders Humanity”. Action against honour killing is the first of a series of continuing activities that are being staged to bring this practice into the open and to place pressure on the authorities to put an end to it.
Context:
Women in Kurdistan are deprived of basic human rights and status. Apart from daily oppression, humiliation, beating, mutilation, and murder are phenomena that blight Kurdish society. While in almost all parts of Kurdistan these practices are legitimised within the discourse of traditional consciousness, such that even those who are guilty of murdering women on the grounds of upholding male honour are permitted to walk free, in Iraqi Kurdistan this practice is sanctioned in law. In this part of Kurdistan, devastated by the destruction of war and civil strife, since 1991 more than 4000 women have been killed in the cause of honour. Throughout, the authorities in the area have been complicit with the murderers by their failure to punish the perpetrators of these acts.
After researching, discussing and analysing the situation, we, the members of the three organisations mentioned above, have come to the following decisions:
To publicise the issue within the national and international communities, including human rights organisations, the United Nations and the paymasters of the political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan.
To campaign for the two Kurdish administrations in Erbil and Sulaimaniya, by using their control of the legal, judicial and policing apparatus, to act to eradicate honour killing.
To campaign for the eradication of article number 111 in the Iraqi Punishment Law which is retained by the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan and that permits men to kill female members of their families to preserve honour, together with all the articles in the Civil Status Law that violate women’s rights, so that women can gain, in status and reality, the position of full human beings.
To raise awareness about the absence, yet need for, democracy and human rights.
END
Turkish Police Detain 150 Kurds
AP - Mar 21, 2000
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Police detained more than 150 Kurds on Tuesday after authorities banned public celebrations of the Kurdish New Year in Istanbul and several other cities.
In the southeastern city of Sanliurfa, 10 people were detained for jumping over burning tires. It is a tradition on Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year, to jump over fire and symbolically burn away impurities and memories.
Police detained 92 people in the Istanbul neighborhood of Bakirkoy, where Kurds were said to be planning celebrations of Nowruz, the Anatolia news agency reported. At least 55 others were rounded up in other neighborhoods.
Police said they detained men who were walking in the area and who they suspected were planning to take part in illegal celebrations.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democracy People's Party, or HADEP, said police had detained people in about half a dozen other cities throughout the country.
HADEP officials urged Kurds not to violate the government ban in Istanbul, and said they had applied for permission to celebrate Nowruz on Sunday. Istanbul is home to an estimated one million Kurds.
Kurds celebrate their New Year with the arrival of spring on Tuesday, while Iranians, along with people in many Central Asian republics, began celebrations Monday.
Past festivities — an occasion for Kurds to assert their cultural identity in Turkey — have ended in riots that claimed dozens of lives. Turkey does not recognize its 12 million Kurds as a minority, and views Kurdish cultural identity as a threat to the Turkish state.
This year's festivities come after Kurdish rebels announced an end to their 15-year armed struggle for autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, in a Nowruz message from his Turkish prison island, urged Turkey to take steps ``in the spirit of brotherhood'' to secure a peace.
More than 20,000 Kurds gathered under heavy security outside Diyarbakir, the largest southeastern city, to mark Nowruz with fires, dances and music in celebrations that the government authorized HADEP to organize.
END
Newspaper Campaign Results In Damning Judgment Against Turkey
Fifteenth Successful Judgment For Kurdish Human Rights Project Before The European Court Of Human Rights
Kurdish Human Rights Project ~ March 17, 2000
The unremitting campaign of murder, abduction, knife attacks and arson attacks against journalists and reporters on the newspaper Özgür Gündem and their offices in Turkey, leading to the closure of the newspaper, amounts to a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression, says European Court.
In what has been termed "the most serious freedom of expression case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)", the Turkish government was found today to have failed to comply with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights in the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) case of Özgür Gündem v Turkey. The Court found that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression), unequivocally stating that Turkey had failed in its positive obligation to protect freedom of expression.
Mark Muller, Chairman of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, said "This judgment reaffirms the fact that freedom of expression must form the basis of any democratic society. It is a small irony that just as Turkey has been found to be in breach of Article 10 for unlawful prosecutions brought under its Anti-Terror Law, the British government is intent upon enacting the Anti-Terror Bill which is so vague and potentially all inclusive as to also violate the letter and spirit of Article 10."
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, said "Turkey's unwarranted interference with journalists and their newspapers has been roundly condemned. We now expect the Turkish state to urgently put in place long-called for political and legal reforms in order to ensure the full implementation of the findings in this judgment".
An orchestrated campaign, conducted between 1992 and 1994 against the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, led to its closure, and to the murder, imprisonment and disappearance of a string of journalists, correspondents and reporters associated with the newspaper.
Journalists, correspondents and reporters were either gunned down or abducted in the space of eighteen months, whilst news stands selling the paper were subjected to arson attacks, boys selling the newspaper were the subject of knife attacks, and the Istanbul office of the newspaper's successor Özgür Ülke was subject to a bomb attack and to police raids.
Protest letters sent to the authorities, including the Prime Minster and the Governor of the State of Emergency region in south east Turkey, during the height of the attacks, elicited no response. During one period of 68 days in 1993, 41 issues of the newspaper were ordered to be seized. There have been prosecutions in respect of 486 out of 580 editions of the newspaper. A search operation of the Özgür Gündem Istanbul office on 10 December 1993 also led to the arrest of 107 people, including the cook and the cleaner.
The Turkish government claim that Özgür Gündem acted as a propaganda tool for the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) was not substantiated before the Court. The Court found, rather, that even if true, this "does not provide a justification for failing to take steps effectively to investigate and, where necessary, provide protection against unlawful acts involving violence".
The Court found that the newspaper Özgür Gündem was forced to cease publication due to the campaign of attacks on journalists and others associated with the newspaper and due to the legal steps taken against the newspaper and its staff. The applicants also claim that the Turkish authorities were complicit in the orchestrated attack against the newspaper leading to its eventual closure.
The Court found that the Turkish government failed to comply with their positive obligation to protect Özgür Gündem in the exercise of its freedom of expression. The Court also found that the search operation on 10 December 1993 was disproportionate and unjustified in the pursuit of any legitimate aim, and that no justification was provided for the seizure of the newspaper's archives, documentation and library.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. The Kurdish Human Rights Project works for the promotion and protection of human rights within the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the former Soviet Union.
2. The application was made by the Kurdish Human Rights Project on behalf of Gurbetelli Ersoz, Fahri Ferda Cetin and Yasar Kaya, and the company Ulkem Basyn ve Yayyncylyk Sanayi Ticaret Limited.
3. The Applicants allege that there has been a concerted and deliberate assault on their freedom of expression, through a campaign targeting journalists and others involved in Ozgur Gundem and its successor, and involving murder, disappearances, abduction, threats and use of violence and also threatened and actual prosecutions, seizure and confiscation of editions of the newspaper and the imposition of heavy fines. They raise issues under Articles 10 and 14 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.
4. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.
For further information please contact:
Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director, Philip Leach, Legal Director, Rebecca Wood, Public Relations Officer, Kurdish Human Rights Project, Suite 319 Linen Hall, 162 - 168 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB, Tel: 020 7287 2772 / Fax: 020 7734 4927, Email: khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk, http://www.khrp.org
END
Great Boost for Hasankeyf Campaign. Activists Join Forces to Support the Kurds
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign – March 3, 2000 ~ Destributed by Kurdish Media
Report of the public meeting "Ilisu Dam, a human rights disaster in the making" in the grand committee room, House of Commons, on 29 February hosted by Rudi Vis MP.
The campaign to save the ancient Kurdish city of Hasankeyf and halt the Ilisu dam project received a boost in support with a highly successful meeting attracting some 120 people. What was most encouraging about the meeting was the broad range of people who had come together to show their concern about what one speaker called a potential crime against humanity and the enthusiasm for campaigning to force the British government to reverse its decision to provide a public subsidy for Balfour Beatty via its Export Credit Guarantee Department. The grand committee room of the House of Commons was packed with lawyers, journalists, politicians from all parties, members of church groups, environmentalists, human rights activists, British and Kurdish people. This impressive show of support was despite the last minute decision of the Mayor of Hasankeyf to cancel his visit.
That Mayor Vahap Kusen, a member of President Demirel's True Path Party, was compelled to take such an abrupt decision to cut short his European speaking tour on the Ilisu Dam should be seen as a stark reminder of the denial of democracy and free expression in Turkey. All the speakers reiterated this point emphasising in particular the duty of the British government to reconsider its view that the people of the region can ever be truly consulted about anything in a country where their elected representatives like Kusen are prevented from speaking freely about important issues of concern for the local community. People were urged to draw their own conclusions about the mayor's silence after he had received a late night phone call from his party in Turkey while in Paris for what was supposed to be the start of a Europe wide publicity tour.
Kerim Yildiz, executive director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, described the circumstances surrounding the departure of the mayor stating that how he was called back to Turkey amounted to intimidation . He went on to set the concern about the dam in the context of human rights violations by Turkey - the disappearances, torture, rape, suppression of free expression especially in the Kurdish region - which continue despite the assistance Turkey is receiving from Europe. He listed the recent arrest of three leading HADEP mayors accused of PKK links and the sentencing of another 18 senior HADEP members. The British government could not really believe that people in the region can be properly consulted in view of these events.
Fiona Darroch, an environmental lawyer who participated in a KHRP delegation to Hasankeyf last September, described the cultural significance of the 10,000 year old city. She said the settlement was being excavated by a lone archaeologist from Ankara who had little official backing and only a small budget for his work on a site he regarded as important as Ephessus. So far he had only reached the 14th century and would need possibly another 100 years to conduct a proper excavation, which of course ill become impossible if the place is flooded by the dam. Ms Darroch produced some detailed illustrations of the ancient monuments, including the remarkable cave dwellings where some families still remain. She said the archaeologist had claimed that up to 80 percent of the population of Hasankeyf had been born in those caves and that the majority of the people forced to leave the area under threat of the dam would immediately return if the project was cancelled.
Jean Lambert , one of two Green MEPs from Britain, questioned why the world needed to build big dams at all. Now that Turkey was an applicant member of the EU, European politicians had the right to intervene in Turkish affairs and question its human rights record. Green MEPs had already raised the issue of export credits in the European Parliament claiming that they were a distortion of competition law. She said the Ilisu dam did not even meet the criteria the government itself had laid down and as such campaigners should be prepared to fight it in the courts if the government went ahead with the deal.
This determination was repeated by Tony Juniper from Friends of the Earth who described his group's wider campaigns on the export credit system's impact on developing nations. It was in 1990 that FoE began seriously to examine the role of the ECGD and discovered it was a body that effectively paid no reference to human rights, democracy and the environmental impact of its decisions. FoE had threatened legal action and forced the Department of Trade and Industry to release two official reports on the environmental and local impact of the Ilisu Dam before Christmas. Tony Juniper believed that the Prime Minister was behind the announcement from Industry Secretary Stephen Byers that he was "minded" for the project to go-ahead in the face of these official reports that paint a bleak picture of a disaster in the making. Tony Blair wanted Labour to be seen as business-friendly and Britain to take advantage of the Helsinki process which saw Turkey accepted as an EU applicant member. Ilisu was therefore a test case on how much Labour can be trusted on ethics and foreign policy. He said FoE was committed to continuing the campaign to embarrass the government and urged people to protest directly to Tony Blair.
Lord Avebury accused Balfour Beatty, the leading British company involved in the consortium, of falsifying the truth. He attended a meeting about a year ago with company representatives where it was claimed that the local people were only interested in jobs on the project. It was clear that Balfour Beatty had not done any consultation with elected representatives. "The absence of the mayor from tonight's meeting speaks volumes about the situation in Turkey," Lord Avebury said to applause, asking how it was possible to consult in a region where some three thousand villages had been razed and more than three million people displaced. He cited a new US State Department report which catalogued widespread human rights violations in Turkey. He warned that the emergency region where the dam was to be built was potentially highly unstable despite the PKK’s recent renunciation of armed struggle. He felt that the Kurdish people would not easily settle down and accept annihilation. They will continue to assert their national identity and would suffer a terrible grievance if the dam went ahead. Planners must address how relations between Turks and Kurd are likely to develop over the next 30 years.
Satirist and broadcaster Mark Thomas laid down a challenge to ministers and the Labour Party to immediately seek guarantees for the mayor's security back in Turkey. He asked Rudi Vis MP, who was chairing the meeting, to write to trade minister Richard Caborn whom the mayor had been scheduled to meet. He robustly condemned Caborn for making a facile comparison between the flooding of valleys in the North of England and the flooding of Hasankeyf. He felt that Balfour Beatty was very unhappy about public protests and read this as a challenge to embark on more demonstrations against the company. He strongly felt that the present moment presented a great opportunity not only to halt the dam project but to expose the ECGD and change how it currently operates. It was a scandal that the ECGD did not consider criteria other than financial ones when taking decisions. The public should be morally outraged about what is going on. He condemned Stephen Byers for holding a succession of meetings with business lobbyists, while refusing to talk with Kurdish groups. Finally, Mark Thomas repeated his call to redouble the protests against both Balfour Beatty and the ECGD because neither liked being put under the spotlight.
Mark Muller, vice-chairman of the Bar Human Rights Association, asked why it was that the government was "minded" even to go-ahead with the project in view of the widely known human rights abuses in Turkey. He said the Ilisu dam had been on paper since 1984 and there had been no provision for consultation. It was significant that Byers had spoken of Turkey drawing up resettlement plans without mentioning how they should be implemented or independent monitoring. In the light of the systematic village destruction, any resettlement plan from Turkey must be treated with scepticism. It was necessary to press the government further for details on what conditions they intend to attach. Muller was concerned that despite the Foreign Office's stated policy on human rights this commitment did not stretch to either the MoD or the DTI. He felt the flooding of Hasankeyf was equivalent to the destruction of Stonehenge, except that one involved Kurdish rather than British citizens.
Martin Hogbin, speaking for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, pointed to Turkey's strategic role in the Middle East and how arms sales were a major consideration for British companies and the government. Turkey was expanding its arms industry and had close links with numerous UK companies from Vickers to British Aerospace. Several deals on assault rifles and tanks had recently been concluded or were now awaiting approval.
Kurdistan National Congress member Kamal Mirawdeli described the threatened destruction of Hasankeyf as a crime against humanity and said that the KNK was determined by peaceful means to defend the rights of the Kurdish people. He thought it vitally important that the British public is made aware of the full implications of the dam project. He condemned the apparent corruption in the decision-making process and the secrecy of the ECGD.
The success of the meeting was seen in the attendence of numerous campaigners from diverse areas that had come together to save Hasankeyf.
Such support gives encouragement to all those working for the rights of the Kurdish people. Many ideas were raised for developing and broadening out the campaign work at various levels from preparing a legal challenge to more popular activities, protests and publications.
The Anti-Ilisu Dam Campaign Network includes the following organisations: Peace in Kurdistan Campaign, Friends of the Earth, The Cornerhouse, Kurdish Human Rights Project, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, The Green Party, Kurdistan National Congress.
If you would like to become actively involved in the Anti-Ilisu Dam Campaign Network ring either:
Estella (Peace in Kurdistan): 0171 250 1315 or 0171 586 5892 (UK)
Nick Hildyard (The Cornerhouse): 01258 817518 (UK)
END
Kurdish Observer - Mar 3, 2000
Former DEP parliamentarian Ahmet Turk, who was stripped from his parliamentarian seat with his DEP colleagues and current Democracy Movement Member Ahmet Turk released a statement in the 6th anniversary of the incident. Turk said, "March 2, 1994 was a coup d'etat against those who wanted to solve Kurdish issue democratically." Turk said that the government did not like when Kurds represented themselves with their identity in Turkish parliament. Turk said, "Kurds from Turkey became a political force and they informed the world about Kurdish rights very seriously.
Government became paranoid with our movement and started the coup because government wanted to silence Kurds." Turk said that even government was very positive that they (DEP) did not have any relationship with PKK, but government did not feel comfortable with their proposal for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. Turk continued, "This is very important. We held meetings outside and we presented our ideas. Government did not like the fact that we made politics with our identity and brought this to the parliament. Chief of Staff of that time General Dogan Gures publicly said that he did not want us in the parliament."
Turk said that the recent arrest of the HADEP mayors from Amed, Siirt, Bingol and Agri was very similar to the coup in 1994 (Four DEP parliamentarians are still in prison- the most prominentr one is Leyla Zana. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison). Turk said that government did not feel comfortable with European delegations' visits to the Kurdish mayors. Turk said, "The government is saying that she will not let PKK to become a political party. They are afraid that Kurds will become a political force. The recent arrests of mayors show that the fear is still continuing in the government. They are trying to create a society were Kurds are silenced. The conspiracy against Mayors was a proof of this. However, all these obstacles will overcome when democracy fully established.
END
AI Calls on US to Refuse Helicopter Sale (AI-USA Mar 3)
Amnesty International USA -March 3, 2000
(WASHINGTON, DC) Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is calling on the Clinton Administration to refuse an export license for $4 billion of attack helicopters for the Turkish army because of clear evidence that Turkey has failed to make concrete and significant progress on the Administration’s human rights benchmarks.
The Turkish government is expected to award the contract