According to the information received, on June 14, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. Ms. Gündüz was abducted from the street by four men and was blindfolded. While the abduction was taking place, Ms Gündüz claims to have heard a person on the street tell her abductors to leave her alone and the men responded by identifying themselves as police officers.
The information received indicates that Ms. Gündüz was taken to a dark room where she remained blindfolded while she was interrogated and tortured.
She claims that the men told her that she should not be leading political activities because she is a woman and that this would be a lesson to her.
The men reportedly beat her with a steel rod between her legs, tore the skin on her back, and put out cigarettes on her cheek, all injuries verified by the doctor's report.
Ms. Gündüz also claims that one of the men forced his penis into her mouth. Twelve hours later, Ms. Gündüz was reportedly pushed from a moving car out onto the street near Gaziosmanpasa, a part of Istanbul. Police are currently denying that this event occurred.
Ms. Gündüz was reportedly harassed by the police in connection with her political activities leading up to March 8, International Women's Day.
The police have also denied involvement in that incident. OMCT is gravely concerned for the psychological and physical integrity of Ms. Gündüz and calls on the government of Turkey to initiate an immediate, impartial investigation into these allegations.
OMCT is also deeply troubled by the sex-specific nature of the torture and the targeting of women political activists because they are women, and would like to highlight that it has received other reports of torture of women, as detailed in OMCT's recent alternative report on violence against women in Turkey to the Committee against Torture.
OMCT recalls that Turkey is a State Party to international instruments that prohibit and punish torture and violence against women, including the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Turkey urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Gülbahar Gündüz;
ii. ensure an immediate, impartial investigation of the allegationsof torture and rape arising from the incident on June 14, 2003;
iii. guarantee adequate reparation and protection from future attacks for Ms. Gündüz;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout Turkey in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Mr Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
President of the Turkish Republic,
CumhurBaskanligi, 06 100, Ankara / Turkey,
Fax: 00 90312 427 1330
Minister of the Interior, Mr Abdulkadir Aksu,
Ministry of Interior,
Icisleri Bakanligi, 06644 Ankara, Turkey,
Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95
·Minister of Justice,
Mr Cemil Cicek, Ministry of Justice,
Adalet Bakanligi, 06659 Ankara, Turkey,
Fax: + 90 312 418 5667
Ambassadeur, Sungar, Murat,
Ch. du Petit-Saconnex 28b - CP 271,
CH-1211, Genève 19, Suisse,
e-mail : [email protected],
fax: +4122 734 08 59
Please also write to the embassies of Turkey in your respective country.
Geneva, June 17th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
Appeal in your reply.
* Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT) 8 rue du Vieux-Billard Case postale 21 CH-1211 Geneve 8 Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org
