Report (Amnesty International publication number AI EUR 44/26/91) noting the lack of both legislative and practical progress in Turkey in implementing safeguards against torture for detainees in police custody ('Torture persists as a widespread phenomenon, with the apparent collusion of the authorities'). Among numerous cases profiled in the report is that of Yakup Aktaş, pointing out that the official autopsy report stated that Aktaş died of a heart attack, and it was while the body was washed for burial that injuries consistent with torture were reported by witnesses. A second autopsy carried out by two doctors and two government prosecutors produced conflicting results: the doctors reported bruising consistent with restraint and asphyxiation, while the government report stated no injuries consistent with torture. (File pages 64-79)
Report (Amnesty International publication number AI EUR 44/26/91) noting the lack of both legislative and practical progress in Turkey in implementing safeguards against torture for detainees in police custody ('Torture persists as a widespread phenomenon, with the apparent collusion of the authorities'). Among numerous cases profiled in the report is that of Yakup Aktaş, pointing out that the official autopsy report stated that Aktaş died of a heart attack, and it was while the body was washed for burial that injuries consistent with torture were reported by witnesses. A second autopsy carried out by two doctors and two government prosecutors produced conflicting results: the doctors reported bruising consistent with restraint and asphyxiation, while the government report stated no injuries consistent with torture.
Letter from Hamsa Çiçek to H.C. Krüger, Secretary to the European Commission of Human Rights, authorising Kevin Boyle and Françoise Hampson as her legal representatives.
Appendix containing documents numbered 5A, 5B, and 11a through 11g, comprised of Turkish newspaper clippings (with English translations) documenting the Lice massacre and immediate aftermath. Clippings come from Özgür Gündem (mainly read by Kurds) and the mainstream Turkish newspapers Hürriyet and Sabah.
Article by Osman Turan, clinical psychologist, explaining traditional attitude toward women in Kurdish society, with special regard to the negative stigmas associated with women who are victims of sexual assualt and are thus considered 'defiled'. The article includes a clipping from the 13 October 1993 Özgür Gündem newspaper which mentions the sexual assault of Şükran Aydın by gendarmerie.
Response of the applicant in the Gülten Aytekin case to the questions set out in the European Commission of Human Rights' letter of 26 October 1995. The reply states that the killing of Ali Rıza Aytekin is a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the lack of procedural safeguards in the failure to hold an impartial, thorough, and careful examination of the circumstance surrounding the killing is another violation of Article 2. The reply notes that the victim made no attempt to escape that would justify the use of gunfire to stop the vehicle.
Decision (in Turkish with English translation) of the Diyarbakır State Security Court in the case against 24 members of the Democracy Platform who signed the press statement of 27 May 1993 strongly condemning killings, village burning, and evacuations carried out by state forces. Sedat Aslantaş was one of five absent defendants who had their cases separated from this decision. Note: the appendix was submitted on 13 January 1995.
Letters from the applicants to H.C. Krüger, Secretary to the European Commission of Human Rights, authorising Kevin Boyle and Françoise Hampson to be their legal representatives.
Statement from Dr Bridget Hughes, St George's Hospital, London, interpreting the electromyography reports of Zeki Aksoy from Dicle University Medical Faculty and photographs showing Zeki Aksoy with his forearms in splints. Dr Hughes notes that Aksoy has injuries consistent with radial and ulnar nerve injuries and with brachial plexus injuries. Photocopies of four photographs of Aksoy in his splints are attached.
Compiled reports from non-governmental organisations investigating and documenting the use of torture in the Turkish justice system, and on human rights in Turkey in general. Includes:
a) Amnesty International reports:
- 'Turkey: A policy of denial', February 1995 (AI EUR 44/01/95)
- ‘Turkey: A policy of denial - update 1', February 1995 (AI EUR 44/24/95)
- ‘Turkey: Human rights defenders at risk', September 1994 (AI EUR 44/22/88)+F1137
- 'Turkey: Human rights and the medical profession in the southeast', 2 April 1993 (AI EUR 44/17/93)
b) Kurdistan Human Rights Project, 'The European Convention Under Attack: The Threat to Lawyers in Turkey and the Challenge to Strasbourg', May 1995
c) Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (FIDH), 'Mission d'enquête internationale du 17 au 24 septembre 1992 dans le sud-est de la Turquie' (excerpts, in French), No. 161, October 1992
d) Lord Avebury, et al, ‘Human Rights Delegation to the Kurdish Region of Turkey, April 15th to April 22nd 1992’
e) Helsinki Watch reports: - ‘Torture and Killings Continue in Turkey’, December 1992
- ‘Turkey: Eleven deaths in Police Detention since February’, Vol. 4 No. 12, June 1992
- ‘Kurds Massacred’, Vol. 4 No. 9, June 1992