Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RNISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETÏ
18 Turkish Probe May 26,1995
Human Bights Diary
Turkey delays freedom of expression reform- Turkey has
delayed plans to ease a law restricting freedom of expression, part of
democracy reforms urged by the West, until after local by-elections in
June, Cabinet Minister Necmettin Cevheri said on May 18.
"We have left it until after the June 4 elections because my colleagues are
going to be working on the elections and getting people together will be impossible,"
Cevheri, whose portfolio includes coordinating government policy, told Reuters.
The government has only untillate next month to carry out a pledge to scrap or amend
Articl~ 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, before a three-month summer recess. Article 8 bans "separatist
propaganda,~ a catch-all phrase often applied to domestic critics of Turkey's treatment of
. its minority Kurdish population.
Turkish law blocks Kurdish-language education and television and radio broadcasts. Writers on
Kurdish history, culture or politics are often taken to court under Article.8 or other laws limiting freedom
of expression. The European Parliament has warned it will veto a planned customs union between Turkey
and the European Union in the autumn unless Turkey improves its human rights and democracy record.
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and her social democrat coalition partners last month agreed in principle to do
away with Article 8. But Çiller faces opposition to reforms from hard-line MPs within her own party who say
Turkey cannot afford to lift restrictions on freedom of expression while the country is fighting rebel Kurds in
the Southeast. Human rights officials say over 100 authors, academics, journalists and others are in jail for
saying or writing something contrary to official views, usually about the Kurdish problem.(Reuters, May 18)
Human rights activists tried by military court- The trial against seven executives of the Human Rights
Association's (IHD) Bursa branch started on May 23 at a military court in Ankara. They are charged with "discouraging
people from doing their military service."
Muhammed Aydin, Lütti Kurtulu~, Hldlr Gültepe, Handan Erucar, 1~llay Irmak and Turan Akyüz were all
present at the courtroom. Ayhan Diken did not participate in the first hearing. The defendants demanded to
be tried in civil court, claiming that "only the civil courts can try civilians," and said that they were not guilty.
But the request was opposed by the prosecutor ançl the military court decided to continue the trial,which
was postponed until July 27 to collect evidence and take Diken's testimony. The case against the IHD Bursa
branch executives was launched first by a Bursa civil court following a ceremony in Bursa which took place
in January 1993. According to the indictment, human rights activists were accused of waving placards saying,
"Don't do your military service", and starting a signature campaign against military service.
The Bursa civil court decided to send the case to the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) since the crime
was connected to the support of terrorism, but the Istanbul DGM also decided it was not its duty to hear such
a case, and sent it to the Ankara military court. If found guilty, the activists could be sentenced to between
two months and two years in prison.(Turkish Daily News, May 24)
Beating charges against policemen dismissed- The Ankara Criminal Court on May 23 dismissed, for lack
of evidence, charges brought against policemen Mehmet Okur and Miktad Budak alleging that they had
beaten up Salman Kaya, Ankara deputy of the Republican People's Party (CHP). The incident occurred during
1994 May Day demonstrations in Ankara when Salman Kaya, while trying to stop police attacking
demonstrators, was beaten up by men he claimed were undercover agents. The presiding judge said there
was no compelling and persuasive evidence to indicate that the police were guilty and therefore dismissed
the charges. An Interior Ministry investigation implicated Mikdat Budak and Süleyman Yalman as being
involved in the beating of Kaya and they were charged accordingly. If they had been convicted they would
have faced prison terms of between three months and three years. (Turkish Daily News, May 24)
HacaloOlu: alarming forensic medicine examinations- Algan HacaloQlu, state minister responsible for
human rights, said while visiting the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul on May 23 that forensic examination
of 295 unidentified corpses had revealed that their deaths had not been from natural causes.
HacaloQlu, commenting on the' case of Hasan Oca'k, said that he attached no blame to the forensic
department but that there was a gap in the chain between the prosecutor's office, forensic medicine
officials and the police department. ,
He said that Hasan Ocak died as a result of torture or "at least his death was not from natural
causes." Twenty-nine year-old Hasan Ocak disappeared in Istanbul on March 21,
and his dead body was found later in the Beykoz district. The body was examined by
the forensic department and later buried, still unidentified. On April16 his family
saw a photograph taken by the forensic department and identified the body as
that of Ocak. The remains were exhumed and taken to the Gaziosmanpasa
district where the family lived. HacaloQlu said the number of unidentified
corpses had recently risen to 295 and that he would take the matter
before the Cabinet. (Turkish Daily News, May 24)
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