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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
- are being closely monitored by Israel. It is expected that heavy Iraqi armour would join Syria in any regional war
against Israel. Ehud Barak, the Israeli prime minister, predicts that such a war will break out if the Palestinian question
is not settled peacefully.
"The Iraqis have done it in the past - in 1973 - and there is no reason why they would not do it again," said Professor
Amtazia Baram, a leading Israeli expert on Saddam and adviser to Israeli military intelligence. However, the Israeli
military is more concerned about a possible low-altitude attack by Iraqi warplanes carrying chemical weapons
than an armoured attack. Saddam's televised address, glorifying the Iraqi army, appeared finally to have put to
rest opposition claims that he had sUffered a serious stroke last weekend. The 63-year-old president appeared healthy
and robust in a dark brown suit and tie as he delivered his speech, marking the 80th anniversary of Iraq's
armed forces.
"We are celebrating the army that fought the war against Iran and in the 'mother of all battles'," he said, referring
to the 1991 Gulf War, which he lost 10 years ago. There have been persistent rumours of Saddam's ill-health for
more than a year, usually citing lymphatic cancer. These rose to a peak last weekend when opposition sources said
that he had fallen ill after presiding over a military parade in Baghdad.
The reports were dismissed by the Iraqi information ministry, but refused to die away. In an attempt to dispel
them, Saddam was twice shown on television addressing a cabinet meeting and chatting to an Egyptian group of
entertainers while puffing on a Cuban cigar.
Saddam, who has turned survival into an art form in his 30 years in power, did undergo a two-hour medical checkup
after last Sunday's parade, informed sources said. However, he is said to have gone to hospital after complaining
of muscular pain.
The Iraqi leader is known to have suffered from severe back pain in the past. A leading Harley Street specialist frequently
travelled to Baghdad to treat him in the 1980s, when he was supported by the West as a bulwark against
the Islamic revolution in Iran. More recently, French and Austrian doctors have flown in to treat him.
.. .. .. .. ..
Turkey: Isolation and Beatings in New Prisons Must Stop Now Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch Press Release
(New York and London, January 6,2(01) The human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch have urged immediate reforms to the Turkish penal system after receiving reports of torture and beatings
of prisoners transferred to smaller cells in a recent high-profile operation.
Representatives of the groups are currently in Tur~ey to research the operation conducted in 20 prisons in
December 2000 and to investigate conditions at the new F-type prisons to which many of the prisoners were transferred.
At least 29 prisoners and two soldiers died in the operation. The researchers have spoken with doctors,
lawyers who visited the new prisons, relatives of prisoners and three prisoners who had been released fromthe F-
type prisons.
These sources consistently indicate that the prisoners were beaten and some tortured before, during and after the
transfers to the new prisons. It is alleged that prisoners were stripped and subjected to rape with a truncheon on
arrival at Kandira F-type prison near Izmit, but the claims could not be corroborated because lawyers? requests for
forensic examinations to be carried out received no response.
All reports confirm that a regime of solitary and small group isolation is being imposed in the new F-type prisons?in
breach of Justice Ministry undertakings. Many prisoners have gone without human contact for days, apart
from roll-ca11swhich were frequently accompanied by violence. Some prisoners in solitary isolation have not been
seen by anyone from the outside world since mid-December.
Prisoners were not permitted into the small exercise yard attached to the individual cells until the last few days.
To the knowledge of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, none of the prisoners in the F-type prisons
have been brought out of their units for recreation, proper exercise or sport, nor have they been permitted to associate
with other prisoners. The prisoners have also complained that very loud music has been piped into the corridors
outside the units.
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