IMPUNITIY OF TORTURE

According to official numbers of the Ministry of Justice compiled by the Human Rights Association (İHD), for each torture case in 2006 and 2007 respectively 63 cases of "resistance against the police" were filed.

İHD chairman Öztürk Türkdoğan told bianet: "It is a widespread tactic of the security forces that are exposed to torture allegations to file a case of "police resistance" to intimidate people who say they have been tortured". Öztürk refers to the statistics of the years 2006 and 2007 respectively.

2006

For each 1.73 court cases of torture and persecution there are on average 100 cases of „police resistance". 481 security officers are trialed in 205 cases, the number of victims amounts to 525.

17,440 security officers filed 11,782 cases of "resistance against the police" with a total of 18,092 defendants under charge of "resisting against the police."

2007

For each1.40 court cases of torture and persecution there are 100 cases of "resistance against the police" on average. 350 security officers are trialed in 350 court cases with a total of 260 victims.

17,748 security officers filed 10,279 complaints for "resisting against the police". 16,676 people are trialed because of "resisting against the police".

Suppression of civil opposition

In the opinion of Türkdoğan these figures demonstrate the suppression of civil opposition: „Most of the incidents occur during public demonstrations or right afterwards. The figures reveal that no effective measures have been taken against torture and that there is a lack of investigation. To the contrary, it implies that policemen file complaints in order to escape allegations of torture. This shows the character of the system. When civil opposition is brought to the streets, this is the scenario encountered".

Also Çeber's friends on trial for "resistance against the police"

Aysu Baykal, Cihan Gün and Özgüt Karakaya are one of the examples for this picture. They were arrested last year after a press release together with Engin Çeber who died as a result of torture in detention. They explained in detail the torture they experienced in the police station and also in prison. At the same time all three of them are on trial under charge of "resistance against the police". The third hearing of their case is scheduled for 10 November in the Sariyer 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. (TK/VK)