Amnesty International Irish Section

NO SECURITY WITHOUT HUMAN RIGHTS

Ali Ekber Kaya

Ali Ekber Kaya is one of the many courageous people who, at great personal risk, have spoken out in defence of human rights in Turkey. A civil servant and father of three, he was president of the Tunceli branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA), a politically independent organisation founded in 1986 which has outspokenly condemned violations of human rights. The Tunceli branch has now closed down as a result of threats and harassment.

In March 1995 Ali Ekber Kaya was detained and taken to the Anti-Terror Branch of Tunceli Police Headquarters on suspicion of having links with an illegal organisation: "…I was taken to the ‘torture room’. I guess there were at least seven or eight police officers present. I had to sit down and they tied my arms to my legs. Then they hosed me with cold pressurised water. They pointed the water jet particularly at sensitive areas of the body such as the kidneys, genitals and rectum. They lifted me up so that my whole weight hung on my arms. While hanging in the air they gave me electric shocks through my fingers and genitals… Due to hard beating two of my ribs were broken… After I was released I visited a doctor who confirmed that my ribs had been broken… He was afraid to write a report because of possible risks."

Ali Ekber Kaya made a formal complaint about his torture, but no decision has yet been taken to prosecute those responsible. He was released in May 1995 and has been cleared of all charges. But the threats and harassment against him, his family and other HRA activists continue. His torturers remain free: "I meet my torturers almost every day in the street or the market. Sometimes they say ‘hello’ or invite me for a tea. They are not ashamed at all."

A human rights worker from the Van branch of the HRA
in southeast Turkey takes down the testimony of a
victim of a forced village evacuation. The branch office
later closed after members received death threats.

Human rights defenders in Turkey are under intense pressure from the authorities. Many have been threatened, imprisoned and tortured; some have paid for their commitment to human rights with their lives. Human rights defenders who document abuses against people suspected of belonging to armed groups are often accused of supporting these groups. In December 1994, for example, the General Director of Security, who later became the Minister of Justice, claimed that allegations of torture were only made with "the aim of undermining the police force’s struggle against terrorism". Such statements put human rights defenders at even greater risk.

For decades Amnesty International has documented the widespread and systematic use of torture and ill-treatment in Turkey. The factors which contribute to this gross abuse of human rights remain unchanged. Principal among them are incommunicado detention, the failure of the judicial system to investigate allegations of torture, and the almost complete impunity enjoyed by members of the security forces who continue to be protected by high-ranking police and gendarmerie officers, prosecutors, courts and even Turkish law.