English - Amnesty International

EXTERNAL
EXTRA 161/95
AI Index: EUR 44/152/95
Use of excessive force / Fear for safety 15 December 1995
TURKEYHaydarpa_a Municipal Hospital: Ali Kanat, Nazif (Gürbüz Ergin), Erol
Engin, Y_lmaz Esbal, Yas_n Ipek, Mehmet Bahri Kurt, Celal Cengiz,
Cemal Odaba_, Burhan De_er, Ismail Ölmez, Abdullah Talay, Resul
Arslan, Selahattin Ba__r, Erol Çelikten, Hikmet Ezen, Mahmut
Karakaya, Mahmut Türk, _akir Dinç, Mehmet _erif Düner, Abdullah
Kanat, Zeynel Koç, Ismail Y_lmaz
Bayrampa_a State Hospital: M. Nuri Fidan, Hasan Gönderici, Mehmet Demir, Ahmet
Akkurt, Latif Do_an, Medeni Ad_yaman, Umit Kaydu, Fevzi Bor, Soner
Önder (in coma), Cengiz Hasano_lu, Yüksel Yak___r
Haseki Hospital: Kemal Y_lan
Amnesty International is deeply concerned at reports indicating that excessive
force may have been used to restore order at Ümraniye E-Type Prison for political
prisoners in Istanbul after tension over prison conditions erupted into protests
by detainees. There have been reports that 36 prisoners have been injured,
at least one severely. Amnesty International fears that further casualties
may occur as some 80 prisoners are reported to be continuing their protest.
The disturbances began on the afternoon of 13 December 1995, when visiting
time for relatives and lawyers was restricted. After prisoners occupied
certain wards in the prison, some 200 police and gendarmes (soldiers carrying
out police duties, under the authority of the Interior Ministry) were called
in, and the prison was cordoned off by tanks. Ambulances were seen rushing
in and out of the prison.
According to newspaper reports, some 50 tear-gas and smoke bombs were thrown
into wards and prisoners were removed while being brutally beaten. The operation
lasted from 8.30pm on 13 December until 4.30am on 14 December. Affected wards
are said to have been completely destroyed. Those named above were transferred
to hospital. One of them, Soner Önder, is said to be in a coma at Bayrampa_a
State Hospital after head injury. A number of police officers, soldiers and
prison staff were also reported to have been injured, but no details are
currently available.
On 14 December some 80 inmates were continuing their occupation of certain
wards near the kitchen wing, raising fears for their safety if the authorities
use excessive force to remove them.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In a similar incident in Buca Prison, Izmir, on 21 September 1995, three
political prisoners were killed and scores injured. Thirty-seven prisoners
were hospitalized, seven of whom were kept in hospital with severe injuries,
mainly to the head (see EXTRA 109/95, 22 September, EUR 44/98/95, and follow-up
of 25 September).
In October 1994, 50 remand prisoners were injured when gendarmes and police
entered Diyarbak_r E-Type Prison to remove a prisoner for further interrogation.
Although prisoners resisted security forces with barricades, it is clear that
unnecessary force was used. One prisoner died of asphyxiation, the other of
injuries from beating and medical neglect. No legal proceedings have yet been
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opened in this case, or against those responsible for the killing of the three
prisoners at Buca Prison.
Most reports of ill-treatment of remand or convicted political prisoners have
occurred when prisoners are being transported in and out of prison under guard
by gendarmes for trial or medical treatment, or alternatively, when gendarmes
and police are brought into prisons to quell prisoners' protests. Police and
gendarmes take these opportunities to "punish" alleged or convicted members
of illegal armed organizations.
Since the summer of 1995, political prisoners in special type prisons all over
Turkey have engaged in hunger-strikes demanding an end to ill-treatment,
improvement of their prison conditions and that those responsible for the above
incidents be brought to justice.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail
letters in English or your own language:
- expressing concern about initial reports indicating that excessive force
has been used to restore order in Ümraniye Prison, and urging that any further
operations be conducted in accordance with the UN Basic Principles on the Use
of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officers;
- urging that Soner Önder and all those wounded in the disturbances at Ümraniye
Prison, Istanbul, be given promptly all medical assistance they may require;
- calling for prompt and thorough investigations into reports that prisoners
were severely beaten as they were removed from wards, for the results to be
made public, and for anyone found responsible to be brought to justice.
APPEALS TO:
1) General Director of Prisons:
Mr Zeki Güngör
Cezaevleri Genel Müdürü
Adalet Bakanl___
06659 Ankara, Turkey
Faxes: +90 312 425 4066 (or use Justice Minister fax, below)
Telegrams: Cezaevleri Genel Muduru, Ankara, Turkey
Salutation: Dear Sir
2) Justice Minister:
Mr Firuz Çilingiro_lu
Adalet Bakanl___
06659 Ankara, Turkey
Telegrams: Justice Minister, Ankara, Turkey
Faxes:
+90 312 417 3954
Salutation: Dear Minister
3) Interior Minister:
Mr Teoman Ünisan
Ministry of Interior
_çi_leri Bakanl___, 06644 Ankara, Turkey
Telegrams: Icisleri Bakanligi, Ankara, Turkey
Faxes: +90 312 418 1795
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
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State Minister with responsibility for Human Rights:
Mr Adnan Ekmen, Office of the Prime Minister
Ba_bakanl_k, 06573 Ankara, Turkey
Faxes: +90 312 417 0476; +90 312 420 5394
and to diplomatic representatives of TURKEY accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
or your section office, if sending appeals after 20 January 1996.