20 January 2004

1. "Turkey’s shame: Sexual violence without redress", the plight of Kurdish women.

2. "US State Department listed KONGRA-GEL as a foreign terrorist organisation", Press Statement by KONGRA-GEL Foreign Affairs Committee.

3. "Turks do not trust their judicial system", according to a report by the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association, there is a common view among the public that 'there is no justice in the country'.

4. "Turkey plans to compensate victims of struggle with Kurdish rebels", the Turkish justice ministry Monday published a bill paving the way for thousands of victims of a 15-year war between the army and Kurdish rebels to claim compensation from the state.

5. "Exile Alliance to Push Reforms", an international alliance of Syrian exile groups, buoyed by events in Iraq, announced yesterday that it plans to confront Syria's authoritarian regime by chartering a plane to fly dissidents to Damascus later this year.

6. "Message on Cyprus to Ankara by Simitis", Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis sent a message to Turkey to change its stance on Cyprus and stop supporting Rauf Denktash's intransigence after the meeting he had in Athens today with Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos, adding that there can be no EU accession course for Turkey if the Cyprus issue is not solved.

1. - KHRP - "Turkey’s shame: Sexual violence without redress":

The plight of Kurdish women

19 January 2004

A new report published by the Kurdish Human Rights Project[1], shows how Kurdish women in Turkey have increasingly become the target of State suppression of the Kurdish community and face a continuing and growing risk of sexual violence by state actors.

The magnitude of the problem of sexual violence against Kurdish women is widely unappreciated as even most recent statistics concerning incidents of sexual violence are only indicative of number of women affected. Many of the victims of sexual torture dare not speak of their experiences, because of the dishonour associated with rape and sexual violation in traditional communities.

KHRP’s report is based on the findings of a November 2003 delegation to Mardin in Southeast Turkey to observe the trials of state officials for the rape and sexual torture of Kurdish women.

The first trial observed concerns the case of Sukran Esen, a Kurdish woman who was sexually tortured during three detentions which took place during 1993 and 1994. During these detentions Ms Esen was stripped, subjected to falaka, electric shocks, placed in a car tyre and rolled around, blindfolded and repeatedly raped by several men. All of those indicted for the crime worked at paramilitary police stations; 64 were senior officers.[2]

The second trial concerned the sexual torture and rape of another Kurdish woman on 5 March 2002 by five members of the Anti-Terror branch of the Mardin police. The victim HHamidiye Aslan, a Kurdish mother was detained for 48 hours in the police station where she was blindfolded, subjected to pressurised cold water, verbally abused and anally raped with sticks.

In addition, the KHRP delegation also conducted interviews with various State officials, NGOs and women victims of torture. During one such interview with by the Assistant Case Prosecutor in Mardin, the Delegation was told that Kurdish women had “ample opportunity” to use the existing domestic remedies in Turkey. “Every problem, however small, can be brought to a court in Turkey… She should not be afraid as the alleged perpetrator is a State official.”

In its report, ‘Turkey’s shame: sexual violence without redress – the plight of Kurdish women,’ KHRP condemns the continuation of state violence against Kurdish women and the lack of redress available to them. The report makes recommendations to the Turkish government and the international community about protecting women from sexual violence and ensuring that state actors may not act with impunity.

Kerim Yildiz of the Kurdish Human Rights Project commented, “The report highlights that the incidences of rape and sexual violence against Kurdish women in Turkey are not only “isolated incidents”. Kurdish women are vulnerable both due to their gender and to their ethnicity. The Turkish Government and international community must take positive measures to safeguard Kurdish women from sexual violence from state actors.”

Notes:

[1] KHRP, ‘Turkey’s shame: Sexual violence without redress – the plight of Kurdish women’ (December 2003) is available from KHRP.

[2] A further forty gendarmerie were subsequently indicted, bringing the total number of defendants to 445.

For further information please contact:

Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Rochelle Harris, Public Relations Officer / Suzanne Dowse, Human Rights & Environmental Officer

Kurdish Human Rights Project, 2 New Burlington Place, London, W1S 2HP; Tel: 020 7287-2772; khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk; http://www.khrp.org

2. - Kurdish Media - "US State Department listed KONGRA-GEL as a foreign terrorist organisation":

Press Statement by the KONGRA-GEL Foreign Affairs Committee

18 January 2003

On 13 January, the US State Department listed the Kurdistan People’s Congress, otherwise known as KONGRA-GEL, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

KONGRA-GEL was founded in October 2003 in order to campaign more effectively for the rights of the Kurdish people in the Middle East, where Kurds remain unrecognised as a people. The KONGRA-GEL has formally pledged to work entirely by peaceful means through the democratic process both in the Middle East and in the Diaspora in order to achieve objectives which are reasonable and legitimate by any standards.

Completely disregarding the commitments repeatedly given by the Kurdish organisation, the US now asserts that KONGRA-GEL, which enjoys widespread popular support, is simply `an alias` of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

According to press reports, the decision means that the group`s members can be subject to sanctions when travelling and any assets that it possesses can be frozen by the US Treasury Department as terrorist property.

It is hardly a coincidence that the announcement comes at a time when US Turkish relations are once again improving following the tensions arising from the war against Iraq and that it is only days before the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is due to make an official visit to Washington. The US action therefore must be viewed as a political manoeuvre designed primarily to appease the Turkish government.

The imposition of this blacklisting will certainly do nothing to resolve the injustices inside Turkey in relation to the denial of Kurdish rights. Furthermore, the fact that a leading Kurdish organisation can be banned so ruthlessly exposes the weaknes of the US commitment to the Kurds as a people generally.

The spotlight will now fall on what the European Union may do. Will they blindly follow the US or will they exercise more sensible judgement taking account of the strength of feeling among the hundred of thousands of Kurds living in Europe? Any ban in Europe would be a highly provocative move.

Kurds, numbering 40 million, demand justice and peace. Adding KONGRA-GEL to the list of foreign terorist organisations is not a just move and will not serve the efforts for democracy in the Middle East. We therefore call on the US to correct this decision.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "Turks do not trust their judicial system":

According to a report by the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association, there is a common view among the public that 'there is no justice in the country'

ANKARA / 20 January 2004

Turkish people do not trust the judiciary and they are not satisfied with the implementation process in the judicial system, revealed a report prepared by an influential Turkish businessmen's association.

According to the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association (TUSIAD) report, there is a common view among the public that "there is no justice in the country."

The report issued on Monday also revealed that people, generally, believe that those who commit crimes go unpunished.

"A decrease in the trust felt towards the judiciary and a decrease of respect towards judicial organs in causes people to believe there is no use in applying to courts for the solution of judicial problems," said the report on "Judicial Reform."

According to the report the main danger of this view is that some people will try to solve their problems in other ways, some being illegal, instead of applying to courts.

"Due to the lack of swift and fair trials, some illegal groups and gangs occur," said the report.
The report revealed that the main reason behind this mistrust is the belief that Turkish judiciary lacks some vital elements of a state of law.

The report is prepared by a group of distinguished academicians under the coordination of Professor Suheyl Batum who is also serving as the rector of the Bahcesehir University.

People often criticized the judiciary system of the country for being too slow.

The TUSIAD report comes in the midst of an operation investigating corruption allegations against some jurists.

Pekin Baran of TUSIAD said on Monday that he feared this important operation will be forgotten in a short period of time.

The report includes other reasons for the public's lack of trust in the judiciary, including political influence and a perceived lack of independence and neutrality among jurists.

Judicial reform important for Turkey's EU bid

The report underlines the importance of judicial reform in Turkey in light of Turkey's desire to become a part of the EU.

Turkey was recently criticized for shortcomings in its judicial system in the Progress Report prepared by the European Union.

The report said the country's judiciary was not consistent with the Copenhagen Criteria.

TUSIAD's Baran told reporters during a press conference held in order to launch the report that fundamental reform on the judiciary is vital for Turkey's possible membership to the EU.

He said that TUSIAD had already presented its report to the government and to Justice Minister Cemil Cicek.

4. - AFP - "Turkey plans to compensate victims of struggle with Kurdish rebels":

ANKARA / 19 January 2004

The Turkish justice ministry Monday published a bill paving the way for thousands of victims of a 15-year war between the army and Kurdish rebels to claim compensation from the state.

The project is part of human rights reforms Turkey has pledged to adopt to boost its democratic credentials and advance its bid to join the European Union.

The draft, published on the ministry's Internet site on Monday, envisages compensation for people who have suffered damages "both from acts of terrorist organizations and from measures taken by the state in the struggle against terror."

Hundreds of villages in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast have been destroyed in fighting between government troops and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since 1984 when the outlawed group took up arms for self-rule in the region.

Many villages were destroyed by the army to prevent local people from feeding or hiding the rebels.

Residents were displaced, mostly to crowded urban centers, where they often fell into economic hardship.

The conflict has claimed some 36,500 lives, most of them PKK rebels.

The draft bill says applicants can claim compensation over damages stemming from injuries or death as well as damages to property, livestock and crop.

It was not immediately known when the government would send the bill to parliament.

The move also aims to spare Turkey from having to pay hefty compensations in cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights.

Fighting in the southeast abated in 1999 when the PKK, whose leader Abdullah Ocalan was arrested, said it was abandoning its armed struggle in favor of a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict.

Ankara has also expanded the cultural rights of its sizeable Kurdish minority as part of its efforts to join the EU.

5. - The Washingtin Times - "Exile Alliance to Push Reforms":

BRUSSELS / 20 January 2004 / by Paul Martin

An international alliance of Syrian exile groups, buoyed by events in Iraq, announced yesterday that it plans to confront Syria's authoritarian regime by chartering a plane to fly dissidents to Damascus later this year.

The recently formed Syrian Democratic Coalition also criticized the European Union for its ties with Syria.

The coalition advised France and Germany, in particular, not to buck a trend away from authoritarianism toward democracy in the Middle East.

After a three-day meeting in Brussels, the coalition of 19 associations and parties declared that it would hold a congress in the Syrian capital and that its members were willing to face jail -- or worse -- for their defiance.

"We expect the worst," said coalition President Farid N. Ghadry, a naturalized American citizen, whose Reform Party of Syria is based in Potomac, Md.

"But we are determined to go back. We cannot liberate our country without taking risks."

Some were skeptical that Syria would allow a planeload of dissidents to enter its airspace, let alone hold a conference.

In an interview with The Washington Times later, Mr. Ghadry said the move was not a publicity stunt but a means of exerting pressure and encouraging internal change.

The participants in yesterday's conference included Nizar Nayouf, who this week made public a letter, which bears what appears to be the official stamp of Syria army intelligence, saying that Syrian banks hold at least $2 billion in cash that was smuggled out of Iraq.

The letter, first reported by The Washington Times yesterday, says the cash, plus an undetermined amount of gold and platinum, is being held by the Syrian Central Bank and the Syrian-linked Medina Bank in Lebanon.

Attempts yesterday to reach the Syrian Embassy in Washington and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for comment were unsuccessful, apparently because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Plans at the conference in Brussels to fly dissidents to Damascus would test the Syrian government's claims that it wishes to move toward reform.

"We need to break the wall of fear," Mr. Ghadry said repeatedly at a press conference yesterday that was attended by international and Arab news agencies and by the Al Arabiya satellite television network.
"A mere 5 percent of the country cannot rule over 95 percent for much longer," he said.

He was referring to President Bashar Assad and fellow members of his Alawite sect, which have dominated Syria for decades even though most of the country is Sunni muslim or Kurdish, with some Assyrian Christians.

Mr. Ghadry said opposition activity within Syria was significant and that dissidents needed signs of encouragement.

The opposition coalition plans to rent an international hotel as the venue for a Damascus conference.
Mr. Ghadry said the war in Iraq had opened opportunities to force regime change or reform in the Arab world. "We have learned a good lesson from Iraq, and I think the war in Iraq has created alternative possibilities for Arab peoples," he told reporters.

Mr. Ghadry, who wore an elegant suit and spoke perfect English, said a recent association agreement between the European Union and Syria to boost trade and other links was ill-advised.

6. - Macedonian Press Agency - "Message on Cyprus to Ankara by Simitis":

ATHENS / 19 January 2004

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis sent a message to Turkey to change its stance on Cyprus and stop supporting Rauf Denktash's intransigence after the meeting he had in Athens today with Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos, adding that there can be no EU accession course for Turkey if the Cyprus issue is not solved.

The key to the solution of the Cyprus problem is always in the hands of Ankara, said Mr. Simitis, adding that Ankara controls the political situation in the occupied northern Cyprus and until now it determines the moves of the Turkish Cypriot side. He expressed the wish that the Turkish side will change its intransigent stance and adopt the resumption of negotiations without terms and special preconditions for the reunited Cyprus to become a member of the EU on May 1.

Mr. Simitis characterized as positive in principle the latest Turkish declarations in support of the UN Secretary General goodwill initiatives. However, he added that the Turkish side should prove in tangible terms its will to cooperate for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Both Mr. Simitis and Mr. Papadopoulos pointed out that they share the same views and work for Cyprus' EU accession and the solution of the Cyprus issue based on international law, the UN decisions, the European standards and the respect of human rights and international treaties.

The Cypriot Republic President is ready to enter negotiations under the auspices of the UN Secretary General for the solution of the Cyprus problem based on the Annan Plan.

Mr. Simitis and Mr. Papadopoulos also discussed developments concerning Cyprus' accession into the EU, the Cyprus issue, the compensation case of Titina Loizidou and the issue of the missing since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

"The world is moving toward democracy, not authoritarianism," he said, adding that the EU was "backing an authoritarian regime, which is ultimately doomed."