Torture Defendants are Mostly Acquitted
Following are some examples taken from the report:
Human Rights in Turkey: September 2004 Report
Trials on Deaths under Detention
Birtan Altinbas: On September 10, a Turkish court ruled on the case in which police officers Naip Kilic and Ahmet Bastan were being charged for the death of Birtan Altinbas while he was under detention.
The court acquitted retired police officer Naip Kilic and sentenced retired police officer Ahmet Bastan to eight years in prison for "accidentally killing a person." The sentence was then reduced to four years, five months and 10 days in prison.
Trials and Probes on Torture and Bad Treatment
Siddik Onay: According to lawyer Sehmus Kabadayi, the preliminary inquiry about the torturing of Siddik Onay, who was detained in Diyarbakir on May 25, 2002, has still not been completed after 2,5 years.
Kabadayi said that forensic medical reports proved that Onay, who was detained along with another person known as "Kurd Mustafa," was tortured. The lawyer added that Onay applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with torture complaints.
"In very comprehensive cases where collecting evidence takes time, an inquiry period can last two years," said lawyer Kabadayi. "But our case is not like that. We already had all the evidence and presented it to the prosecutors."
Senol Gurkan: On September 9, an Ankara court continued to try police officers Murat Dedeoglu (the son of Ibrahim Dedeoglu, who was charged for the death of Birtan Altinbas under detention), Rifat Dogru, Gurah Ayhan, Atanur Arslan, Erdal Simsek, Ahmet Horoz, Tekin Tasliova, Recep Comert and Mustafa Usul, for torturing university student Senol Gurkan for six days during which he was under detention.
At the same time the Ankara prosecutor's office dismissed proceedings about Kadri Tuncel, who allegedly tortured Senol Gurkan at the Ankara Police Headquarters. Senol Gurkan had identified Kadri Tuncel who was sitting among audiences during the hearing on November 5, 2003.
The Ankara prosecutor's office decided there was no ground for legal action against Tuncel citing the fact that, "the case was already in opened and in progress, Tuncel's name had not been mentioned during the questioning, Gurkan did not identify Kadri Tuncel when he looked at the photographs of suspects, and that he identified him two years after the incident."
Ferhat Kaya: Ferhat Kaya, the local head of the Democratic People's Party in Ardahan, was detained on May 5. Eleven police officers were later sued for "bad treatment" of Ferhat Kaya during the time of his detention.
A court on September 27, ruled that there was not enough evidence and acquitted police officers, Nebile Karaman, Ergun Karakus, Ercan Yaman, Osman Kocabas, Ozer Celik, Karaman Edis, Sener Emir, Yalcin Yildiz, Selim Cam, Recep Cesur and Yunus Ulus.
Muslum Turfan, Ahmet Turan, Dincer Erduvan: Muslum Turfan, Ahmet Turan, Dincer Erduvan, all employees of the Kizil Bayrak (Scarlet Flag) and Ekim (October) magazines were detained on November 11, 1998.
Police officers Mehmet Hallac, Seref Bayrakci, Mahmut Yildiz and Ahmet Okuducu were sued for torturing the detainees. On September 30 an Istanbul court acquitted the police officers, citing lack of adequate evidence.
Human Rights in Turkey: July 2004 Report
Trials and Probes on Torture and Bad Treatment
A group of human rights activists were detained in June 2003 in the province of Bingol as they tried to set up a "Table of Peace," for the "establishment of societal peace." A decision to dismiss the proceedings against police officers Oktay Kilic, Adem Tekinay, Sezgin Gundogdu and Nuri Mete, who allegedly treated the activists badly, was lifted in July.
Tahir Yildiz, Ismail Yuncu, Salih Duran, Salih Yuncu, Erol Kirci, Ali Macit, Ali Gokpinar, Yunus Gurbuz, Nurettin Aydin, Tahsin Horzum, Orhan Kaymakci, Ramazan Danaci, Ragip Uysal, Ramazan Karaaslan, Abdullah Parlar, Ayar Cakir, Hasan Ayyildiz: Tahir Yildiz, Ismail Yuncu, Salih Duran, Salih Yuncu, Erol Kirci, Ali Macit, Ali Gokpinar, Yunus Gurbuz, Nurettin Aydin, Tahsin Horzum, Orhan Kaymakci, Ramazan Danaci, Ragip Uysal, Ramazan Karaaslan, Abdullah Parlar, Ayar Cakir and Hasan Ayyildiz were detained for "theft" in March 2000 in the provinces of Burdur and Afyon.
Nine police officers stood trial for torturing the detainees. On July 2 a Burdur court sentenced paramilitary police commander Hikmet Batur to six years in prison for "torturing, threatening and individual's freedom and not allowing a detainee to see his/her lawyers."
Intelligence officer Sedat Sukru Anafarta and an officer of the paramilitary police intelligence department, Mustafa Turkoz was sentenced to two years in prison for "torture." The court acquitted four other paramilitary police members.
Human Rights in Turkey: June 2004 Report
Ozgur Unal: Police Officers Hakan Izmir, Hayri Gunturk, Yakup Kadri Ozturk, Salih Koksal, Engin Ayisik, Ekrem Cirakoglu and Huseyin Duran are being charged for the death of Ozgur Unal, who died on August 22, 2001 at the Edremit Police Headquarters. The last trial on June 16 was postponed to July 13 to wait for the Forensic Medical report. On March 11, 2004, seven police officers were acquitted in the Ozgur Unal trial.
Trials and Probes on Torture and Bad Treatment
Gokhan Bicer: On June 16, a Diyarbakir court acquitted two police officers, Ismail Icen and Fatih Resat Gurbuz from the anti-terrorism unit, standing trial for torturing Gokhan Bicer, who was detained in 2002.
Gokhan Bicer was detained on February 2002, together with Devran Ak, for "chanting slogans in favor of the illegal terrorist organization." (YS/BB/EA/NM)