Amnesty International
21 Nov 2000
Risk of torture and ill-treatment : TURKEY

Haci Muhittin Ak (m), aged 65
Ayshe Ak (f), aged 55
Abdulhamit Ak (m), aged 25
Gulizar Ak (f), aged 20
Dilber Ak (f), aged 16

Amnesty International is concerned that five members of the Ak family, who have been
arrested in southeastern Turkey, are at risk of torture. Haci Muhittin and Ayshe Ak, and
their children, Abdulhamit, Gulizar and Dilber, were arrested early in the morning on 18
November by gendarmes (soldiers who act as police in rural areas) from a local outpost near
their home in the Kurdish village of Davahirap in Bingol Province, southeastern Turkey.
They were subsequently brought to the Gendarmerie headquarters in Genc, a borough of
Bingol. It is not known where they are detained at present, or on what charges they are held.
However, at least two family members have been tortured while in detention previously, and
it is feared that they are at serious risk of being tortured once more.

Sixty-five-year-old Haci Muhittin Ak has been detained four or five times, and was
imprisoned for aiding and abetting the armed opposition group, the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), until May this year. He is paralysed and has difficulty walking, reportedly
because of previous torture. His son, Abdulhamit Ak, has also been arrested previously, and
was imprisoned for six or seven years.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt and proper
registration of detainees and for notification of their families are frequently ignored. This is
extremely distressing for the families of detainees and creates conditions in which
"disappearances" and torture can occur.

People suspected of offences that fall under the jurisdiction of the State Security Courts can
be held in police custody without access to family, friends or legal counsel for up to four
days. If they are held for longer (up to a total of seven days), detainees have the right of
access to a lawyer, under certain conditions. In most cases this right is denied.

With no access to the outside world detainees are at the mercy of their interrogators. Torture
is regularly used to extract confessions, to elicit information about illegal organizations, to
intimidate detainees into becoming police informers or as unofficial punishment for
presumed support of illegal organizations. Torture methods in Turkey documented by
Amnesty International include severe beatings, being stripped naked and blindfolded, hosing
with pressurized ice-cold water, suspending by the arms or wrists bound behind the victim's
back, electric shocks, beating the soles of the feet, death threats and sexual assault.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in
English or your own language:
- expressing concern for the safety of the five members of the Ak family who have been
arrested, and asking to be told where they are held;
- urging that they are not tortured or ill-treated;
- asking to be informed of any charges that may be brought against them;
- reminding the government of Turkey of its obligations under Article 3 of the European
Convention of Human Rights, to which Turkey is a state party, which states: "No one shall
be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

APPEALS TO:
Bingol Gendarmerie Headquarters
Jandarma Komutan2
Bingol Jandarma Komutanl2?2
Bingol, Turkey
Telegrams: Bingol Jandarma Komutanl2?2, Bingol, Turkey
Salutation:Dear Commander

Governor of Bingol
Bingol Valisi
Bingol Valili?i
Bingol, Turkey
Telegrams: Bingol Valili?i, Bingol, Turkey
Salutations: Dear Governor

Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie
General Aytach Yalman
Jandarma Kuvvetleri Komutanl2?2
Bakanl2klar
Ankara, Turkey
Telegram: Jandarma Genel Komutani, Ankara, Turkey
Fax: + 90 312 418 9208
Salutation:Dear General

COPIES TO:
State Minister with responsibility for Human Rights
Mr Rushtu Kaz2m Yucelen
Office of the Prime Minister
Bashbakanl2k
06573 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: + 90 312 417 0476
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 December 2000.
*******************
The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

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