27 August 2004

1. "Turkish rights reforms fall short, Kurds say", Human rights reforms aimed at winning Turkey a date for EU entry talks have eased life in the tense southeast of the country but enforcement on the ground has a long way to go, lawyers and residents say.

2. "EU hopes are raised for Turkey", the European Commission should open EU membership talks with Turkey within 24 months, a Dutch advisory body said Wednesday, strengthening the hopes of the first predominantly Muslim country to seek membership in the 25-member union.

3. "Women Are Against Virginity Tests", the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a decision about a defendant who confessed to raping 12 girls, all under the age of 15. The court ordered the girls to take virginity tests. Women in Turkey want the TCK amended to abolish virginity tests.

4. "IHD: First village evacuation in three years", a Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) investigation report states security forces have forcibly evacuated Sirnak's Ilicak village in southeastern Turkey. "About 350 villagers were ordered to leave last month, allegedly because they could potentially supply Kurdish rebels," it read.

5. "10 thousand petitions to Izmir Governorship for Ocalan", stating Kurdish National Leader, Abdullah Ocalan was the addressee of a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish Question, Free Citizens' Movement has submitted 10 thousand petitions to Izmir Governorship.

6. "Kurds accuse Syria of campaign of arrests, torture", Syrian Kurdish parties accused Damascus on Thursday of continuing a wave of arrests of Kurds that began during ethnic violence in March and which they say has been followed by torture of detainees.

1. - Reuters - "Turkish rights reforms fall short, Kurds say":

DIYARBAKIR / 26 August 2004 / by Gill Tudor

Human rights reforms aimed at winning Turkey a date for EU entry talks have eased life in the tense southeast of the country but enforcement on the ground has a long way to go, lawyers and residents say.

They say a "no" to talks from Brussels, which is closely scrutinising Turkey's long-tarnished human rights record, would jeopardise the gains that have been made.

European Union leaders will decide in December whether to give Turkey a date to start full membership talks with the bloc, and diplomats say human rights will be high on the agenda.

Activists say the reforms have eased freedom of speech and substantially cut torture and deaths in detention in the mainly Kurdish southeast, the biggest theatre for abuses because of a armed conflict that has killed more than 30,000 people.

But they say foot-dragging by elements of Turkey's powerful "deep state" -- the staunchly nationalist ranks of the military, judicial and bureaucratic establishment -- means the reforms are not being enforced consistently or fully.

"So many laws have changed in the past two years. But the most important thing is implementation, and they are not being fully implemented," said lawyer Selahattin Demirtas, chairman of the Diyarbakir branch of Turkey's Human Rights Association.

"The government is making an effort but the people who define themselves as the state are resisting."

Local government and security officials in Diyarbakir, one of the southeast's main cities and a flashpoint for the 20-year conflict, were not available for comment.

THEORY

The government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has raced to pass a swathe of judicial and human rights legislation aimed at convincing Brussels it has met the political criteria for talks.

It has abolished the death penalty and much-criticised state security courts, cut the length of detention without trial from 30 days to a maximum of four, set rules allowing detainees to see a lawyer immediately and launched a crackdown on torture.

In principle demonstrators can now hold protests anywhere, without permission or harassment. Other reforms include better women's rights, the debut of limited Kurdish language broadcasts on state television and permission for Kurdish language classes.

The release of four Kurdish politicians viewed by the EU as political prisoners has helped Ankara's cause.

Residents and human rights activists in the southeast say this is all good, even if they believe it does not go far enough to meet Kurds' cultural and political aspirations.

But they list many cases where police have broken up demonstrations by force, or beaten detainees, or delayed their access to a lawyer, or a wide range of other infringements.

Although the official permitted detention period has been slashed and "disappearances" are far less common than they used to be, they say unofficial, arbitrary detentions continue.

Implementation of the reforms varies from place to place depending on how ready local officials are to embrace them.

Tension has risen everywhere since June, when Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas suspended their six-year unilateral ceasefire in what they said was self-defence.

In one recent operation against the PKK, residents say troops effectively stopped a whole Diyarbakir neighbourhood from leaving their homes for 10 days.

"It's good to reduce the detention period. But what use is that if you're kept prisoner in your own house for 10 days?" said one resident of the city, who asked not to be identified.

DELAYS

The AKP's member of parliament for Diyarbakir, Irfan Yazicioglu, played down the reform problems but acknowledged the government faced resistance from within the state.

"There are delays in implementation, but in the coming months everything will be applied," he said. "There are people who don't want the government to be successful, but we will succeed in a very short time."

Residents in the southeast say much is hanging on the EU's decision in December -- and not just because this impoverished region hopes to taste economic benefits from EU membership.

Erdogan has staked his government's political reputation on gaining a start date for talks, and analysts say a "no" from Brussels could spark a sharp backlash from anti-reformists.

"The EU date is the final showdown between the reformists and those who want the status quo," said lawyer Mahmut Vefa. "If we don't get a date things will go back to how they were before the reform process. We pray Europe will give us a date."

2. - AP - "EU hopes are raised for Turkey":

THE HAGUE / 26 August 2004

The European Commission should open EU membership talks with Turkey within 24 months, a Dutch advisory body said Wednesday, strengthening the hopes of the first predominantly Muslim country to seek membership in the 25-member union.

But the report to the Dutch government, which holds the rotating EU presidency and will oversee a decision on membership talks in December, said it would be unwise to set a target date for admitting Turkey, arguing that it could create false expectations.

The Advisory Council on International Affairs, presenting its report, praised Turkey for reforms in recent years, but said new democratic laws had not yet trickled down to lower bureaucratic levels, where human rights violations still occur.

The report cited the continued torture and mistreatment of prisoners at police stations, the widespread abuse of women and restrictions on free expression as hurdles to EU integration.

"There are major shortfalls in the area of women's rights," said Peter Baehr, a human rights expert and member of the advisory council. "Hundreds of thousands of women are hit, tortured and killed and even forced to commit suicide."

"Progress has undoubtedly been made, but concerns remain over the follow through of that progress," Baehr said.

A period of two years was recommended as a maximum time for EU membership negotiations to begin, but commission members said the talks could start sooner if Turkey pressed ahead with reforms.

Ben Knapen, the commission chairman, stressed the need to weigh Turkey's membership carefully because of its sheer size and potential effect on the union.

Turkey's differing "cultural history and the fact that it is predominantly Muslim should not prevent the country from joining the EU," said a summary of the council's report.

"Admitting a Muslim country may be new to the EU, but does not principally differ from earlier expansions. One way or the other, Islam should gain a place within the EU, if only because there are 20 million Muslims" in the EU countries, it said.

Targets for negotiations should be set, and talks could be suspended if Turkey failed to meet those targets, a council statement said.

Among those targets is whether Turkey's democracy is judged to be stable and whether it is adequately protecting human rights, the statement said.

Turkey's entry into the EU is one of the priorities of the Dutch presidency. A decision on when negotiations with Turkey will begin is to be announced before the Dutch presidency ends, in December.

The council recommended against setting a date for actual membership, even though it said Turkey had been waiting since 1959.

"An accession date should not be set because it could create false expectations and risk compromising careful preparation to an artificial, politically loaded timetable," it said.

The Dutch council advises the government on foreign policy, in particular with respect to human rights, peace and security, development cooperation and European integration.

The council, which also reviewed Turkey's preparedness to negotiate its EU membership in 1999, based its findings on information provided by the European Commission, European Council and human rights groups, including Amnesty International.

EU leaders are to decide at a December summit meeting in Brussels whether Turkey has reformed sufficiently to begin membership talks - a major policy goal of successive Turkish governments.

Turkey has passed sweeping legal reforms in recent years, including banning the death penalty, allowing greater cultural rights for minority Kurds, limiting the role of the military in politics and broadening freedom of expression. Some of the reforms, however, have yet to be fully carried out.

EU officials have praised the reforms undertaken so far.

3. - Bianet - "Women Are Against Virginity Tests":

The Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a decision about a defendant who confessed to raping 12 girls, all under the age of 15. The court ordered the girls to take virginity tests. Women want the TCK amended to abolish virginity tests.

ISTANBUL / 26 August 2004 / by Burcin Belge

Women are angry at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which overturned the decision on Yaman Ozcelik, who raped 12 girls under the age of 15 and attempted to rape three others. The court overturned the decision noting, "it could not be proven that two of the girls lost their virginity." "Rape is not just taking someone's virginity," said the women and demanded that virginity tests are completely abolished in the new TCK(Turkish Penal Code).

Mujde Bilgutay from the Women's Human Rights Project New Solutions Foundation, Esin Bozoglu from the Balikesir branch of Supporting and Educating Women Candidates (KADER), Tulin Ozler from the Aegean Women's Solidarity Foundation (EKDAV) and Fatma Kaya from the Adana Local Agenda 21 Towns Council Women's Solidarity Center spoke to bianet about the issue.

"The TCK draft should change"

According to Bilgutay, the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals is a product of the "male-dominated viewpoint", also present in the new TCK draft. The following are the issues which the "TCK Women's Platform and Platform Against Violence" will launch a campaign on:

* the article on killing a qualified person now also includes the "tradition" killings. But, the term "tradition" does not always include honor killings.

* In the new TCK law, it will be up to the judges and prosecutors to decide whether a virginity test is necessary or not. It is considered a crime to make someone take a virginity test, but it is not a crime to conduct the test itself.

* The article on having a sexual relationship with non-adults will include punishing up to two years in prison of persons having sex with someone of age 15-18, even with their consent.

* It is not considered a crime to discriminate against homosexuals. The article on obscenity brings about heavy punishments without clearly defining the term "obscenity."

Bilgutay: They look at women's bodies as commodities that belong to men

Bigultay gave the example of a person charged with honor killing in the province of Urfa being sentenced to 136 years in prison. The family had also encouraged that murder, she said, adding that open-minded judges make the right decisions even under the current TCK.

"Forcing a girl, who has been raped, to take a virginity test would put her through yet another trauma," said Bigultay.

She reminded that the TCK defines rape as "inserting any organ or object anally, orally or into any part of the body without that person's consent." "It should not affect the punishment whether the person lost her virginity or not, or whether the victim is a virgin. But still, the law allows virginity tests."

Bozoglu: The male-dominated mentality views being woman a crime

"The girls say they were raped, and the defendant confesses to his crime. What difference would it make if the girls are still virgins?" asked Esin Bozoglu from the Balikesir branch of KADER Bozoglu said they had brought to the parliament's attention women's views,
criticisms and proposals on the TCK. But the lawmakers do not see women and men as equals, she added. "We can change the articles but not the mentality. And every article that has been changed is regarded as a huge favor to women."

"Those who make women take virginity tests should be punished"

Tulin Ozler from EKDAV and Fatma Kaya from the Adana Local Agenda 21 Women's Solidarity Center said every attempt on a girl's or woman's body without her consent is against equality between men and women.

"We are against virginity tests in Turkey or anywhere else in the world," said Ozler.

Kaya said virginity tests could cause women go through new traumas. "We want virginity tests to be clearly outlawed and we want those who make women take these tests and those who conduct the tests to be punished," she said.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "IHD: First village evacuation in three years":

IZMIR / 26 August 2004

A Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) investigation report states security forces have forcibly evacuated Sirnak's Ilicak village in southeastern Turkey. "About 350 villagers were ordered to leave last month, allegedly because they could potentially supply Kurdish rebels," it read.

IHD Deputy Chairman Reyhan Yalcindag said: "The right to own property was infringed in Ilicak. When we visited we saw a tent city 600 metres from the village, which portrayed a horrible situation. 343 people are close to starving in squalid conditions."

An armed conflict between security forces and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) died down with a unilateral cease-fire when PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999. Official figures show more than 3,600 ethnic Kurdish villages in Turkey were forcibly emptied during the 15 years of fighting. During the cease-fire forced-evacuations waned, however, after the PKK ended the cease-fire, armed conflicts escalated two months ago.

Yalcindag said: "Most of the unjustly treated people are women and children. At the beginning they were forced to settle near their village, but were then forced further away. The aim is to force them to leave completely."

Yalcindag asked for the authorities to monitor health, saying villagers were living in unhealthy conditions and should be allowed to live in their home village.

5. - DIHA - "10 thousand petitions to Izmir Governorship for Ocalan":

IZMIR / 25 August 2004

Stating Kurdish National Leader, Abdullah Ocalan was the addressee of a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish Question, Free Citizens' Movement has submitted 10 thousand petitions to Izmir Governorship.

Gathering in front of Konak Branch of DEHAP nearly 200 people opened the placards reading "Freedom for Ocalan, Peace in Turkey", "The Kurdish Question is not solved through war, extermination or denying, it is solved with dialogue", "A life without Ocalan? Never!" and marched to in front of the Konak Old Sumerbank.

Police did not let the mass who charted "A life without Ocalan? Never!", "Freedom for Ocalan, Peace in Turkey", to go Izmir Governorship as a group. The tension increased, then 4 people took the petitions that states they accept Ocalan as their national leader and submitted to Izmir Governorship.

'Ocalan should be released as soon as possible'

The committee came back after 20 minutes. In speech she delivered in demonstration, the member of Free Citizens' Movement, Nese Kayacan said, "We agree with Ocalan's ideas that he offered for the all people and we accept him as our national leader. We believe that emancipation of Ocalan will bring peace to Turkey and because of this idea we submitted 10 thousand petitions to Izmir Governorship."

Mass stated to chart "A life without Ocalan? Never!" and marched to Kanok Branch of DEHAP after the speech.

6. - Reuters - "Kurds accuse Syria of campaign of arrests, torture":

DAMASCUS / 26 August 2004 / by Lin Noueihed

Syrian Kurdish parties accused Damascus on Thursday of continuing a wave of arrests of Kurds that began during ethnic violence in March and which they say has been followed by torture of detainees.

Hundreds of Kurds were detained across the country in the immediate aftermath of riots that erupted in largely Kurdish parts of northern Syria in March, leaving about 30 people dead. Most detainees were later released.

But a statement from Syrian Kurdish parties accused authorities of more arrests this month, and an official of one party said relatives of detainees feared they would die of torture.

"During this month, August, over 20 young Kurdish men and women were arrested across Kurdish areas, such as Kameshli, Ras al-Ayn," Hassan Saleh, secretary-general of Syria's small but active Yikiti Kurdish party, told Reuters by telephone.

"The authorities are carrying out a campaign of arrests against Kurds, whose parents fear they will die of torture in jail," said Saleh, calling for international pressure to free those still in detention.

The statement said more than 180 of those arrested after the March riots were still in detention. Saleh said 17 of those detainees would face a state security court on August 29.

ELECTRIC SHOCKS

Rights groups and Kurdish political parties have complained that many of those arrested after the clashes were badly treated and quote doctors as saying 35 teenagers were tortured -- some with electric shocks or by having toenails ripped out.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International urged an investigation into the deaths of two Kurds held by Syrian authorities, saying it had reports they died after being tortured.

It was not immediately possible to verify claims of arrests, deaths and mistreatment with authorities in Syria, which like neighbouring Turkey and Iran is wary that Kurdish autonomy in Iraq could inspire similar ambitions within its borders.

Syria's 2 million Kurds have demanded the right to teach their language and citizenship -- required for state education and employment, but denied to some 200,000 Kurds classified as stateless based on a census from the 1960s.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pledged to look into the statelessness issue after the riots, raising hopes among Kurds of a new chapter in relations with Syria, but Kurdish activists later said several Kurdish political parties had been banned.

"We want a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, not a solution of arrests and abuse," Saleh said. "We were hopeful initially but we have seen nothing on the ground. Nothing has been solved; not the stateless Kurds, not the language issue, not work issues. Our rights have not been addressed."