TURKEY Communications sent

364. On 2 February 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning

Ms. Nimet Tanrikulu, a member of Insan Haklari Dernegi (IHD), the Turkish Human Rights Association, reportedly held in detention at the Bakirkoy Women's and Children's Prison in Istanbul since 7 January 2001 and charged with breaching the Law on Demonstrations. According to the information received, she was arrested as she took part in a ceremony to lay a wreath in front of the Democratic Left Party headquarters in Istanbul to protest against the prison raids that allegedly took place on 19 December 2000. Furthermore, it was reported that the security police had raided the IHD headquarters in Ankara on 25 January 2001 and had confiscated documents and five computer hard disks containing the organization's information.

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The police raid on the IHD offices reportedly followed a decision by the 9th Criminal Court of Ankara on the grounds that the organization had received funding from the Greek Foreign Ministry without previous authorization from the Turkish authorities. However, it has been alleged that the police raid was linked to the organization's high-profile campaign against the new prison system, in particular the forced transfer of prisoners to so-called F-type prisons, as well as its support for prisoners on hunger strike. It was further reported that six IHD branches were closed down in January 2001. An allegation concerning the raid on the IHD offices in Ankara was also sent by the Special Representative on 19 October 2001.

365. On 18 April 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, sent an urgent appeal regarding threats reportedly received by Ms. Eren Keskin, a prominent lawyer who is a leading member of the Human Rights Association (IHD) and founder of the Legal Aid Project for women who have been raped or sexually abused in custody. It was reported that Ms. Eren Keskin has been receiving threatening telephone calls on her mobile phone, at her law office and at the offices of the IHD, including threats that she will be raped or killed. The harassment has allegedly taken place since Ms. Eren Keskin visited Silopi, in the south-eastern province of Sirnak, as a member of a delegation investigating the disappearance of two members of a Kurdish political party.

366. On 28 June 2001, the Special Representative, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, sent an urgent appeal concerning the trial of 16 individuals, which was due to recommence on 29 June 2001, by the Ankara Military Court of the Office of the General Staff. According to the information received, these individuals, namely, Yavuz Onen - president

of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFD), Vahdettin Karabay - chairman of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions, Salim Uslu - chairman of Hak-Is, Siyami Erdem - former chairman of the Confederation of Public Labourers' Trade Unions, Hiisiin Ondiil - president of the Human Rights Association, Cengiz Bektas - chairman of the Writers' Trade Union, Atilla Maras - chairman of the Writers' Trade Union, Yilmaz Ensaroglu - president of Mazlum-Der, Zuhal Olcay, Lale Mansur, Sanar Yurdatapan, Ali Nesin, Erdal Oz, Omer Madra, Etyen Mahcupyan and Sadik Tasdogan, who published a book entitled "Freedom of Thought 2000", were accused of "driving people away from wanting to conduct their military service" in violation of article 155 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC). It has been reported that this case forms part of a larger set of judicial proceedings against these individuals because of the publication of the above-mentioned book. On 13 February 2001, they were acquitted by the Istanbul State Security Court of charges under the Anti-Terror Law. They also face proceedings in the Penal Court of First Instance for "insulting the religions" in violation

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of article 175 of the TPC and before the Uskudar Criminal Court for "insulting the quality of being a Turk, the Republic, Parliament, Government, Ministries, jurisdiction or the forces of the Government related to the military", in violation of article 159 of the TPC.

367. On 14 August 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal regarding harassment by the police against members of the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Beytusebap, Sirnak, and the arrest and detention of one of the IHD key witnesses, Rasim Asan. According to the information received, executives of the IHD, as well as representatives of the Turkish Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity with Oppressed People (Mazlum-Der), the Confederation of Public Sector Unions (KESK) and the Diyarbakir Democracy Platform, were taking part in an investigative mission on 8 August 2001 in Beytusebap. The purpose of the mission was reportedly to investigate information relating to the torture of villagers, evictions in some villages and food embargos imposed on other villages. It was reported that, after the mission, its members were stopped at the entry checkpoint police station at Sirnak. The policemen allegedly collected cameras and notes owned by members of the mission and banned them from using their phones. The

police reportedly confiscated 20 videotapes, 19 music tapes and some handwritten notes. After releasing the 14 members of the mission, the police allegedly kept 18-year-old Rasim Asan under detention. Rasim Asan had reportedly given a witness statement to the IHD mission - which was recorded on one of the tapes confiscated by the police - and had asked the mission to accompany him to his home in Mersin. It was reported that Rasim Asan was forced to sign a written statement saying that he had received money from Mr. Osman Baydemir, vice-president of IHD, in order to bring a testimony to the mission. After a short trial, Rasim Asan was allegedly transferred to prison on 9 August, on the basis of article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code, which provides for from one to six years' imprisonment for "insulting the Turkish Republic... and the military and security of the State".

368. On 11 September 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning the raid, on 7 September 2001, on the Diyarbakir offices of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT). HRFT has five centres which provide treatment and rehabilitation for people who have reportedly been tortured by the security forces in the south-east of the country. According to the information received, the police obtained from the Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor's Office a search warrant ordering the seizure of all documents in the offices that related to the treatment of torture victims, which has been reportedly described as an illegal activity. This information had been kept confidential as people known to have complained of being tortured by the security forces reportedly face intimidation, torture and disappearance to stop them pursuing their

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complaints. It was further reported that the police seized all the files and documents in the office, including confidential medical files and information on staff, other doctors supporting them and patients at the HRFT.

369. On 19 October 2001, the Special Representative transmitted an allegation regarding the following cases.

370. Ms. Giinseli Kaya, a teacher and secretary of the HRFT office in Izmir, and Dr. Alp Ayan, a psychiatrist with the HRFT Rehabilitation of the Victims of Torture Centre, both members of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (HRA) and Mr. Berrin Esin Akan, medical secretary of HRFT were reportedly accused of violating the law on meetings and demonstrations. According to the information received, they were among the people arrested on 30 September 1999 in Izmir as they were on their way to the village of Helvaci to attend the funeral of Nevzat Ciftci, one of the prisoners allegedly killed in the Ulucunlar massacre in Ankara Central Prison on 26 September 1999. On 3 October 1999, after a hearing before the Criminal Court of Izmir, they were reportedly charged, along with 12 other people, on the basis of article 32, paragraph 3 of the law on meetings and demonstrations ("coercion, violence, threat, assault or resistance" to a police decision forbidding a meeting) and of article 7, paragraph 2 of the anti-terror law ("helping the members of a terrorist organization and disseminating propaganda on its behalf”). Ms. Giinseli Kaya, Dr. Alp Ayan and Mr. Berrin Esin Akan were reportedly released on 20 January 2000 after four months in prison, but the case is still under trial.

371. Liitfi Demirkapi, president of the Human Rights Association (HRA) Ankara Branch Office, Ilhami Yaban, Ismail Boyraz, Erol Direkci, Mesut Cetiner, Zeki Irmak, and Riza Resat Cetinbas, office members, Ali Riza Bektas, Saniye Simsek, Ekrem Erdin, Gokce Otlu, Emrah Serhan Soysal and Selim Necati Ort, HRA Prisoners' Commission members, were reportedly charged under article 169 of the Penal Code, on 11 January 2001, by the Bureau of the Prosecutor of the Criminal Court with "aiding and abetting of members of illegal organizations". According to the information received, the charges mentioned that during a police raid

on 23 December 2000, a detailed list of prisoners with information on their health was found on the HRA premises, along with press releases which included statements against the building of an F-type prison (with small, one- and three-person cells) and in support of the prisoners on hunger strike. It was also reported that the Prosecutor demanded the closure of the Ankara branch of HRA. It was further reported that the 12 HRA members charged were released and that Ali Riza Bektas and Selim Necati Ort were released from preventive detention on 22 May 2001. According to the information received, the court decided to combine an additional case against Selim Necati Ort with this trial, which is still ongoing.

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372. According to the information received, the HRA headquarters in Ankara were reportedly searched by the police on 25 January 2001 and the association's computers and all its documents and floppy disks were confiscated. According to the information received, this search followed a decision of the 9th Penal Tribunal of Ankara which, on 22 January 2001, at the request of the Ankara Prosecutor, was seized of the matter of the receipt of financial support from abroad (Greece) by HRA without prior authorization from the authorities. It was also reported that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Turkey published information on its web site aimed at discrediting HRA, and questioning its impartial and objective character. According to the information received, on 19 March 2001, a court case started against the HRA at Ankara Judicial Court No. 24, with the demand, by the Prosecutor that the headquarters of the Association be closed, under article 37 of the Law on Associations. The indictment reportedly claimed that HRA had been active beyond the aims described in its statutes.

373. On 26 October 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning Mr. Saban Dayanam, a member of the HRA national board and of the Istanbul branch board. According to the information received, on 19 October 2001, five unknown men tried to break into Mr. Dayanam's apartment in Istanbul. It was reported that these men introduced themselves as police officers and produced identity cards. This act was reportedly connected with the publication on the same day of a report by the IHD Istanbul branch on a hunger strike by political prisoners, which had been under way for a year. It was further reported that

Mr. Dayanam had been followed during the previous days by people in plain clothes, different from the plain clothes police officers who reportedly kept the IHD Istanbul branch under surveillance.

374. On 19 November 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal regarding threats against members of the HRA in Istanbul. According to the information received,

on 15 November a man called Zeki Gene reportedly entered the IHD offices carrying a pistol, a large knife and a parcel that he claimed was a bomb. He threatened that he would kill everybody. Saban Dayanan and three other IHD members managed to wrestle him to the ground and disarm him.