9 June 2006

1. "Four policemen wounded in Kurdish rebel attack in Turkey", four police officers were wounded when Kurdish rebels opened fire on the residence of a local government official in southeast Turkey, local security sources said Friday.

2. "Turkish sociologist cleared in legal saga over deadly blast", a dissident Turkish sociologist was cleared Thursday of helping to organize a deadly blast after the court was unable to establish whether a bomb or a gas leak caused the explosion, Anatolia news agency reported.

3. "Turkish journalist in court for 'undermining armed forces'", a prominent Turkish journalist went on trial on Wednesday charged with undermining the authority of the armed forces by writing in support of a young man who refused to do military service.

4. "Turkey: Anti-Terror Law Used Against Peaceful Activists", the trial tomorrow of three Kurdish activists on anti-terrorism charges after they attempted to stage a peaceful protest near the Iraq border calls into question the Turkish leadership's commitment to human rights reforms, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

5. "Jurist Kaplan Acquitted of 'Hate Speech'", Istanbul court acquits jurist Hasip Kaplan for his views on Kurdish Question in a TV talk show, concluding he did not "incite hatred and enmity". Presiding Judge Uncu agrees with Prosecutor Akilli's opinion that his "remarks did not lead to violence".

6. "Rights Activists Rise to Defend Keskin", Human rights activists stand up for IHD Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin after group of women organizations make her public target in newspaper ads. IHD chairman Alatas says "Keskin is marked". IHDG: "This is an unacceptable lynch campaign".

7. "Kurdish party faces ban for speaking mother tongue", a public prosecutor requested the ban of the pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) yesterday for speeches made in Kurdish by party members at its congress last year.

8. "SYRIA: Online Kurdish Journalist To Serve Six Months In Prison", the Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prison sentence handed down to a Syrian online journalist by a military court for articles advocating rights for Syria’s Kurdish minority, and criticizing the ruling Baath Party.

1. - AFP - "Four policemen wounded in Kurdish rebel attack in Turkey":

DIYARBAKIR / 9 June 2006

Four police officers were wounded when Kurdish rebels opened fire on the residence of a local government official in southeast Turkey, local security sources said Friday.

The attack took place late Thursday in the town of Kozluk in Batman province.

The policemen, who were on duty around the residence of the town's governor, sustained injuries to their hands and feet. None of them was in a life-threatening condition, the sources said.

Governor Mustafa Balli was out of town at the time of the attack for which officials blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Fighting between the army and PKK rebels has markedly intensified this year, and Kurdish militants have claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks in urban centers.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

2. - AFP - "Turkish sociologist cleared in legal saga over deadly blast":

ISTANBUL / 8 June 2006

A dissident Turkish sociologist was cleared Thursday of helping to organize a deadly blast after the court was unable to establish whether a bomb or a gas leak caused the explosion, Anatolia news agency reported.

Pinar Selek, 35, known for her critical studies of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey and her work with street children, was accused of helping separatist Kurdish rebels to organize the powerful blast at the entrance of the historic Space Bazaar in Istanbul on July 9, 1998.

The court said it was impossible to reach a conclusion on the cause of the blast, and that there was no other evidence to prove Selek was guilty, Anatolia reported.

She faced a life sentence if found guilty of involvement in the explosion, which claimed seven lives and left 127 others injured.

Selek was implicated in the case after she refused to give police the names of Kurdish rebels she had interviewed for a book she was writing. She was reportedly tortured in detention.

The court also dropped a separate charge of "aiding and abetting an illegal organization" against the defendant, citing the statute of limitations.

Selek had spent more than two years in jail when she was released in December 2000 following an initial expertise report that the blast was caused by a leak from a gas cannister in a nearby snack kiosk.

Three alleged militants from the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), on trial in the same case, were jailed for life for separatism, but their convictions stemmed from offenses unrelated to the blast, Anatolia reported.

Two others were sentenced to 12.5 years in jail, while a sixth defendant got five months in prison, the agency added.

Selek was a year into her master's studies when she was arrested. After her release from prison, she completed her thesis and received her master's degree.

She is now working with civic movements promoting women's rights and anti-war campaigns.

The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than 37,000 lives since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

3. - Financial Times - "Turkish journalist in court for 'undermining armed forces'":

ANKARA / 7 June 2006 / by Vincent Boland

A prominent Turkish journalist went on trial on Wednesday charged with undermining the authority of the armed forces by writing in support of a young man who refused to do military service.

Perihan Magden is one of several journalists and writers who face the courts this week as nationalist prosecutors inside the criminal justice system try to silence opinion and comment that, they argue, threaten Turkey's unity or the integrity of the state.

Ms Magden's trial, which was adjourned until late next month, is being closely watched by the European Union. Brussels is taking an increasingly hard line with Turkey over restrictions on freedom of expression.

Separately, some staff at TRT, the state broadcasting network, demonstrated in Istanbul yesterday against alleged censorship and interference by the government, which has its roots in political Islam.

Freedom of expression in Turkey, which has frequently clamped down on dissident views in the past for fear of stoking separatist or leftist strife, is one of the most contentious issues in Ankara's relations with the EU. It is expected to feature high on the agenda at a bilateral meeting on Monday aimed at making progress on Turkey's bid to join the Union.

Also yesterday, a court ruled that Necmettin Erbakan, a former prime minister and a founder of Turkey's Islamist movement, could serve a 28-month prison sentence at home. Mr Erbakan was convicted earlier this year of corruption in the financing of his defunct Welfare party, which briefly held power in the mid-1990s.

His government was forced to resign in 1997 under pressure from a public campaign by the armed forces after he tried to reorientate Turkey's foreign policy towards militant Middle Eastern countries.

4. - Reuters Alerts - "Turkey: Anti-Terror Law Used Against Peaceful Activists":

NEW YORK / 7 June 2006 / Source: Human Rights Watch

The trial tomorrow of three Kurdish activists on anti-terrorism charges after they attempted to stage a peaceful protest near the Iraq border calls into question the Turkish leadership's commitment to human rights reforms, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. To demonstrate that his government stands by the reform process, Prime Minister Erdogan must ensure that Ibrahim G?Zeynel Abidin ?alp and Ahmet Sedat Ogur are released. These three Kurdish activists are scheduled to go on trial tomorrow in the eastern city of Diyarbakir. They were arrested on May 2 as they prepared to walk to the border of Iraq to peacefully protest the recent killings of civilians by security forces in southeastern Turkey and express their concern about tensions between the Turkish government and the Kurdish-led administration in northern Iraq.

The men are being charged under the Anti-Terror Law for "making propaganda for the PKK," a charge that is all the more ironic in light of the fact that G?as repeatedly and publicly condemned violence by the PKK (the Turkish acronym for the Kurdish Workers' Party, a prominent illegal armed opposition group). All three are officials of Kurt-Der, a Kurdish association that Turkish authorities closed last month for conducting its internal business in the Kurdish language.

The detention and trial of these activists reflect a broader deterioration of Turkey's human rights record in recent months, Human Rights Watch said. The Turkish leadership must reverse this negative trend and reaffirm its commitment to human rights reforms, underway since 1999 and driven partly by Turkey's quest for European Union membership.

"This trial of peaceful Kurdish activists on anti-terrorism charges is a litmus test of Turkey's commitment to reform," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Anything short of releasing these men would serve a severe blow to the already frail reform process."

Human Rights Watch expressed strong concern about the disproportionate use of force by police dealing with protestors, particularly in the southeast, where 19 people have been killed in demonstrations and disturbances since November. The Turkish government must conduct swift investigations into the widespread allegations of torture and ill-treatment of people detained during violence that erupted after funerals in Diyarbakir of PKK militants killed by Turkish security forces.

Draft amendments to the Anti-Terror Law are an ominous sign of the retrograde trend currently prevailing in Turkey, Human Rights Watch said. The proposed amendments would facilitate prosecutions like the one initiated against G??alp and Ogur, and would also remove safeguards for detainees that have significantly forced down the rates of torture and ill-treatment in Turkish police stations.

"These recent safeguards against torture constitute perhaps the single most significant human rights achievement in Turkey's reform process so far," said Cartner. "Now even this achievement is under serious threat."

Political violence and the state's violent response to it have sharply increased in Turkey since late last year, and there are troubling indications that elements within the military and armed opposition groups may be deliberately undermining the reform process.

Even the modest progress in human rights and the rule of law have brought clear benefits to ordinary Turkish citizens. But at the same time, government reforms such as easing restrictions on freedom of expression and partially recognizing the linguistic rights of minorities are removing the traditional raisons d'?e of Turkey's powerful security establishment and armed opposition groups like the PKK.

"Proponents of violence within the state and armed opposition groups like the PKK feel threatened by the reform process," said Cartner. "Both camps are committing grave human rights violations in an effort to thwart the reform process and re-establish their authority."

Human Rights Watch urged Prime Minister Erdogan to show firm leadership in defending and carrying through the reform program.

"Prime Minister Erdogan needs to affirm that he stands by the reforms of the past years and to present a detailed, confident picture of where the process is going," said Cartner.

To clearly show his renewed commitment to reform, Erdogan must ensure that G??alp and Ogur are released, abandon the proposed changes to the Anti-Terror Law, initiate urgent inquiries into the use of lethal and disproportionate force against protestors in Diyarbakir and the widespread allegations of torture during the arrests that followed, and remove the expression laws that curb open debate.

Background

In October, the European Union opened negotiations for full membership with Turkey, a decision based on the country's progress on reforms. Just one month later, gendarmerie intelligence officers were captured by local people after a bomb had been thrown into a bookshop in the southeastern town of Semdinli, killing one man and wounding a number of others. The gendarmes were found to have another bomb identical to that used in the attack, and other apparently incriminating material.

When the prosecutor who indicted the officers proposed to explore whether the attack had been committed on orders from above, the military high command blocked the inquiry, and the prosecutor was expelled from his post and from the legal profession. A senior police officer who suggested the military might have been aware of the attack was also promptly removed from his post.

Street disturbances broke out in the wake of the Semdinli bombing and most recently in March after funerals of PKK militants in Diyarbakir. Security forces responded with patent disregard for human life. They killed 19 people, including four children under the age of 10.

Armed opposition groups also escalated their violent activities, and civilians paid the price. Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility for a bomb that exploded in an Istanbul internet caf?n February, killing the owner and injuring 15 other people, including three children. On May 3 a bomb in Hakkari wounded 21 people, including 11 children. Authorities in the region blamed the PKK for the attack and it has not denied responsibility. On April 2 youths rioting in Istanbul following the funeral of PKK militants threw Molotov cocktails at a city bus, causing a crash that killed three women.

5. - Bianet - "Jurist Kaplan Acquitted of 'Hate Speech'":

Istanbul court acquits jurist Hasip Kaplan for his views on Kurdish Question in a TV talk show, concluding he did not "incite hatred and enmity". Presiding Judge Uncu agrees with Prosecutor Akilli's opinion that his "remarks did not lead to violence".

ISTANBUL / 8 Erol Onderoglu

Jurist Hasip Kaplan was acquitted on charges of "inciting hatred and enmity" through disclosing his views on current issues on the April 3, 2005, "Alternatif" program aired by the private Flash television.

The trial against Kaplan was launched on November 29 last year based on a complaint filed by the Military Prosecutor of the Chief of General Staff office. He was charged under article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code and if found guilty, faced a maximum of 4.5 years imprisonment.

In his deliberation on the case, Beyoglu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance Prosecutor Mehmet Akilli asked on Thursday, June 8, for Kaplan to be acquitted on grounds that an offence had not taken place.

The prosecution said that when the text of the speech was examined in whole, taking into account that after what he said there was no action throughout the country that turned into violence, it could be concluded that what Kaplan said was within the scope of the freedom of expression under the European Court of Human Rights.

Kaplan who submitted a 4-page defence document to presiding judge Irfan Adil Uncu stressed that he had made no remarks inciting violence and said "I strongly reject the allegation. On the contrary, I reacted to so-called citizen statements and those wearing suits who created the flag burning provocation in Mersin."

Kaplan stressed that the supremacy of justice and law was more required now then ever and said "we need unity, peace and brotherhood, more freedom of thought and organisation, more human rights and democracy".

Uncu, listening to the prosecutor and Kaplan's defence, concluded that the evidence gathered, tape transcripts and defences all together amounted to no offence having been committed and decided on Kaplan's acquitted.

In the previous case heard on May 31, Kaplan's defence attorneys Ercan Kanar and Kemal Aytac had argued that the courts were being needlessly occupied by these kind of cases and requested for the indictment to be dismissed. They also said that a case launched on complaint by a military prosecutor was against the law.

6. - Bianet - "Rights Activists Rise to Defend Keskin":

Human rights activists stand up for IHD Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin after group of women organizations make her public target in newspaper ads. IHD chairman Alatas says "Keskin is marked". IHDG: "This is an unacceptable lynch campaign".

ISTANBUL / 8 June 2006 / by Tolga Korkut

Advocates of human rights in Turkey are standing up in defence of Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin after a group of Turkish women organisations this week gave public adverts to Turkish newspapers "violently condemning" her for implied support to an outlawed armed organisation and openly charging her with "showing extraordinary efforts to diminish respect in the Turkish Armed Forces".

The advertisements, which appeared in the mass circulation Turkish daily Hurriyet and the Cumhuriyet newspapers, claimed that while Keskin was head of the IHD Istanbul branch, she used every meeting she attended "to voice the factitious slander of the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party] PKK". The advert also claimed she was involved in activities "to spoil the atmosphere of peace".

Keskin, a lawyer by profession, chaired the IHD Istanbul branch until the end of last month when, following scheduled elections, she was replaced by Hurriyet Sener.

As founder of the "Legal Aid For Victims of Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention Project", Keskin was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment this year for "insulting the armed forces" for a speech she made back in Germany in 2002. Though the sentence was later converted to a fine, she said in March that she would rather serve it.

"Keskin is marked as a target"

IHD chairman Yusuf Alatas who said they respected everyone's right to express their opinions, warned that the advertisement against Keskin "shows one of our executives as a target. It creates a relationship with an outlawed and armed organisation. There is first an unjust claim, then a marking of target through this unjust claim".

Alatas added that "if you reflect someone as if that person is a traitor, then some people will come up to punish hose traitors". Noting that the condemnation advert had come from organisations that where both women organisations and non-governmental organisations, Alatas said "but the views they express actually say that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are privileged and cannot be criticised. That the supremacy of law cannot be applied to the TAF. It supports a militarist view and system which is something that is unacceptable".

The IHD chairman stressed that "civilian society organisations must first be civilian themselves. Organisations of women should uphold woman rights on the foreground. Actions and statements that stem out of the concept 'every Turk is born as a soldier' do not serve democracy".

"They want to intimidate IHD"

The day the advert against Keskin went out, IHD Istanbul branch received a threat letter containing an unknown substance in powder form as part of an ongoing campaign against the association.

With regard to the two simultaneous incidents, "what they want to do is intimidate the IHD" explained Alatas in an interview with Bianet.

"What we are living through are the result of the general repressive attitude towards the human rights struggle in Turkey," he said. "When the judiciary, government and police fail to fulfil their responsibilities in face of such repression, when those responsible are not apprehended and brought before the law, they become even more courageous".

Alatas said attacks and threats against the IHD has two purposes. "The first is to escalate the tension. Then they specifically want to intimidate the IHD. Because an atmosphere of tension can harbour any king of outlawed activity".

"Stop this lynch campaign"

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Agenda Association (IHDG) issued a statement in protest of the women organisation's advert saying that an attempt was being made to display Keskin as if she was a terrorist in the public eye and noting that the "slander against her" had come after the case on insulting the army.

"We are genuinely concerned over the lynch campaign opened against human rights advocate Eren Keskin and we condemn such initiatives" the IHDG said.

The statement said it was "surprising" that non-governmental organisations were displaying a position against human rights, democracy and the supremacy of the law and continued, "human rights activists, as part of the nature of the struggle they are involved in, can many times fall on the opposite side of the state and state institutions. The same thing may also be valid.. for armed political groups. In view of this situation, no one has the right to lynch human rights advocates for speeches they have made, reports they have prepared or their statements".

Persona non grata

A version of the women organisation's advert is now being distributed over the internet where reference is made to a different part of the text that also condemns a campaign launched in Turkey previously to support Keskin in view of legal actions taken against her.

The campaign to support Keskin has been branded "a campaign to support the PKK" while communiqués have been issued online declaring the human rights activist as a "persona non grata".

7. - The New Anatolian - "Kurdish party faces ban for speaking mother tongue":

ANKARA / 9 June 2006

A public prosecutor requested the ban of the pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) yesterday for speeches made in Kurdish by party members at its congress last year.

In yesterday's hearing of the case, which has been going on for a year, the public prosecutor argued that party leaders knew the use of Kurdish at public meetings is a crime, but that the defendants committed the crime deliberately and accepted that they did.

Prosecutor Hasan Coskun Cetinbilici requested the party be banned under Article 81/c of the Political Parties Law. He asked for at least six months in prison for the accused, party head Abdulmelik Firat and other party administrators.

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), which distributed cards to celebrate Nevruz, which included a Kurdish phrase, for the occasion a few months ago, also faced legal proceedings under the same article. A court ruled the cards be confiscated.

Article 81/c of the same law, entitled "Prevention of the Occurrence of Minorities," stipulates that political parties can't use languages other than Turkish for their party congresses, meetings, election campaigns, bylaws or party programs. They also can't use or distribute signs, banners, video or audiocassettes, in short, any kind of document, written or verbal, in a foreign language.

A Nationalist Action Party (MHP) provincial member who gave a speech in Kurdish in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir last month, however, hasn't faced prosecution. Neither has his party, known for its nationalist tendencies, criticized him.

The Hak-Par defendants accepted that they made speeches in Kurdish but maintained that the crime defined in the law is against the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The prosecutor, in reply, said that the courts aren't the places to discuss the rationale behind existing laws and that they are obliged to implement existing legislation.

At today's hearing the defendants will present more of their defense.

8. - cpj.org - "SYRIA: Online Kurdish Journalist To Serve Six Months In Prison":

NEW YORK / 7 June 2006

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prison sentence handed down to a Syrian online journalist by a military court for articles advocating rights for Syria’s Kurdish minority, and criticizing the ruling Baath Party.

Muhammad Ghanem, editor of the news Web site Surion, was found guilty Tuesday of insulting the president, undermining the state’s dignity, and inciting sectarian divisions, according to an e-mail sent by Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, to The Associated Press. Ghanem was sentenced to one year in jail but the judge commuted his sentence to six months, Surion said, without offering further explanation.

Ghanem has been detained since March 31, Surion and human rights organizations reported. Ghanem has written many articles advocating political and cultural rights for Syria’s Kurdish minority and has been critical of the Baath Party’s handling of domestic issues.

Ghanem was arrested at his home in the northern town of al-Raqqah by military intelligence, transferred to Damascus, and detained in the “Palestine Branch” of the Military Intelligence Security (Branch 235), one of many branches in Syria’s vast security apparatus. He was taken in May to al-Raqqah al-Markazi prison.

Ghanem was previously arrested and detained for 15 days by military intelligence in March 2004.

“We are outraged at this miscarriage of justice, and call for the immediate release of our colleague Muhammad Ghanem,” said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. “This latest effort to crush freedom of expression reinforces Syria’s image as one of the most repressive countries in the world.”

On World Press Freedom Day last month, CPJ named Syria among the 10 most censored nations worldwide. See CPJ’s report.

Syrian authorities have cracked down on political and human rights activists this year. Over the last three months, Human Rights Watch documented the arrest of 26 activists.