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Avci had been detained in the United States of America (USA) after September 11, was tortured and deported.

Ismail Hakki Avci went to the U.S. in 1989. He was detained on March 19 2002 after police raided his house.

Avci, who did not have access to a lawyer or a translator, went through various pressures and torture.

He was deported to Turkey on April 24, 2002 without being put on trial. He contacted IHD and applied to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) on August 8, 2002.

Avci is still being treated by the doctors working for TIHV for conditions that developed due to torture. Both IHD and the TIHV attempted to start legal action about the unfairness Avci was faced with. None of the attempts yielded any results.

Bureaucratic obstacles

Dr. Onder Ozkalipci, from the Istanbul branch of TIHV, made a press statement organized together with IHD.

He said they attempted to open a legal case in the U.S. through Ismail Hakki Avci's lawyers.

Ozkalipci said Avci's oath was not enough so they needed permission from the chief prosecutor. The prosecutor's office said the Foreign Ministry would have to deal with the case, according to Ozkalipci. He added the Foreign Ministry could not do anything about the issue because Avci had already returned to Turkey.

IHD and TIHV said they had both sent petitions to law officials in the U.S. but they could not get any response. They demanded for the necessary conditions to allow Avci open a case in the U.S.

Double Torture

Ismail Hakki Avci said he had been detained once before the one that resulted in his deportation, for driving under the influence of alcohol.

He said he had been tortured during that detention too. (YS/BB/EA/YE)