Introduction: Mass Show Trial seeks to put all Kurds in ...
MASS SHOW TRIAL PUTS ALL KURDS IN THE DOCK
Report of the UK Delegation to Diyarbakir - October 2010
Reflections and observations on the trial of 151 Kurdish human rights lawyers, politicians and human rights activists
Published by
PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN
8 November 2010
MASS SHOW TRIAL PUTS ALL KURDS IN THE DOCK
OBSERVATIONS OF THE TRIAL
UK DELEGATION TO DIYARBAKIR
Hugo Charlton – Barrister
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Ali Has, Lawyer/ Spokesperson of Peace Council Britain
Margaret Owen, Barrister/ Human Rights Activist
Serife Semsedini - Human Rights Advisor, Trott & Gentry Solicitors
Hywel Williams MP
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L - R: Ali Has, Jeremy Corbyn, Hugo Charlton, Margaret Owen, Hywel Williams,
Serife Semsedini
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Tel: 020 7272 4161 or 020 7586 5892
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP,
Jean Lambert MEP, Alyn Smith MEP, Margaret Owen, barrister, Hywel Williams MP,
Elfyn Llwyd MP, John Austin (former MP), Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky,
Edward Albee, Mark Thomas, Bairbre de Brún MEP
CONTENTS
Introduction
Mass Show Trial seeks to put all Kurds in the Dock …………………………. 1
Hugo Charlton
If you can’t beat them – imprison them ………………………………………. 3
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Inadmissible evidence: Turkey and the BDP trials …………………………... 5
Ali Has
Turkey on Trial ……………………….……………………………..……….. 8
Margaret Owen
How the KCK Trial affects Kurdish women and children and their future .… 10
Serife Semsedini
Reflections on identity and democracy ……………………………..…...…... 12
Hywel Williams MP
Impressions and reflections from the trial ………….………………....…….. 14
APPENDICES
Peace in Kurdistan
Original appeal for international monitors to observe the trial …………….. 16
Jake Hess
24 December 2009: yet another day in Kurdish calendar of misery
and betrayal ……….………………………………………………..……….. 18
Margaret Owen, Prospect Magazine
Turkey’s reputation on the line ………………………………………....…… 22
Extracts from the summary of the defence ………………...………....……… 24
This report was compiled by David Morgan, Rachel Bird and Estella Schmid from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
INTRODUCTION
Mass Show Trial puts all Kurds in the Dock
A team of lawyers and politicians from the UK joined observers from around the world to attend the opening of the mass trial of Kurdish political leaders which began in Diyarbakir on 18 October. This document contains their eyewitness accounts of what they saw and their reflections on the implications of the trial for the future of democracy in Turkey and the prospects for addressing Kurdish aspirations for autonomy and equality inside the country.
The legality of the trial has itself been called into question, but more importantly the fact that Turkey has embarked on such a trial at this time has put in question its willingness to seriously engage with its Kurdish population and address their legitimate grievances. The trial puts in doubt the democratic reform process in the country and the much talked about “democratic opening” to the Kurds.
Who is on trial?
A total of 151 Kurds, including a dozen elected mayors, went on trial in Diyarbakir on 18 October for alleged links with Kurdish guerrillas. Those charged include seven elected mayors from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) as well as representatives from nearly 100 municipalities and 20 parliamentarians. One of the most prominent defendants is Muharrem Erbey, a leading lawyer and vice chairman of IHD, Turkey's largest and oldest human rights monitoring organisation.
Many of the defendants have already been held for many months in Turkish prisons in the run up to the trial. A major clamp down on legal Kurdish political activities in Turkey has led to approximately 1,700 Kurdish politicians placed under arrest since 14 April 2009.
The mass trial comes at a time when the Turkish government is apparently engaged in efforts to achieve reconciliation with the Kurdish minority population.
What are the accusations?
Turkish prosecutors have prepared a 7,500-page indictment against the 151 Kurdish political and cultural figures for their alleged contacts to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
During the opening of the trial, Aysel Tugluk, a prominent Kurdish politician, was quoted as saying that most of the international observers regarded the “allegations as baseless and say the whole process is politicized and in conflict with law”. She went on to accuse the Turkish government of “intolerance towards the Kurdish democratic struggle”, saying the trial had been planned in advance. “This is a historic trial for Turkey because the whole world is watching and so it will reflect on Turkey’s reputation at the international level,” Tugluk stated.
The trial is not only damaging to Turkey’s reputation internationally; it is confirming the suspicions of those who like to portray the country as inherently autocratic.
Despite the defendants’ demands to use the Kurdish language during the trial, the court did not permit them to do so. The microphones were switched off when the defendants tried to speak in Kurdish. Preventing the defendants from speaking in their mother tongue is seen as illegal according to international standards. Observers said this meant that the defendants were in fact being prevented from defending themselves.
What is the trial really about?
The mass trial comes at a time when the Turkish government is apparently engaged in efforts to achieve reconciliation with the Kurdish minority population. The best that can be said is that this is sending out mixed messages to the Kurds, simultaneously giving them hope, on the one hand, that there can be a peaceful resolution and fear, on the other, that Turkish leaders are intent on deception and seeking to eliminate all traces of independent Kurdish political activity. The decision to embark on the trial has led to accusations that the Turkish authorities have been engaged in cynicism: it is widely believed that Turkey has adopted a dual strategy towards the Kurds with the objectives of controlling their aspirations and designed to ensure that they are not going to select as their chosen representatives people who are deemed unacceptable to Turkey. All those who challenge in any way Turkey’s state ideology which is still based on the exclusive Turkish identity are still seen as “beyond the pale”. So in this respect, there is no change in Turkey’s policy towards the Kurds despite all the talk of “democratic openings”.
What are the implications?
The outcome of the trial is likely to have far-reaching implications for the future stability and democratic nature of the Turkish state, in particular its ability to reach an accommodation with the Kurdish population that is based on consensus.
The trial also has major implications for Turkey and its relations with the outside world: if it is not seen as democratic it will not be able to gain acceptance within the EU despite its many allies who remain prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt. Conflict is likely to be viewed by Kurds as the only option available to them if Turkey closes off all legal and constitutional means to achieving civil and political rights. The Kurds are highly unlikely to bend to Turkey’s will. They are too cohesive as a community with a common identity to be cowed into subservience any longer.
Should Turkey seek to coerce the Kurds into submission, then the prospects for peace and stability in the country will not be good and in such a situation the attractiveness to the EU of having a conflict-ridden Turkey as a full member is likely to diminish. Peter Hulqviston, a Swedish lawmaker who was present at the trial, was quoted in the media as stating: “The European Union is watching the trial and will prepare a report next month on the state of democracy and its development in Turkey. The outcome of the trial in Diyarbakir will be treated very seriously in that report. So, I hope Turkey will very well think about the matter.”
Members of the UK delegation who observed the opening of the trial proceedings are now calling on the British Government to exert pressure on Turkey to acquit the Kurdish politicians and human rights defenders, to end the criminalisation of Kurdish political activity and finally to begin a comprehensive conflict resolution process involving all relevant Kurdish political representatives.
Peace and reconciliation are the only way forward and as soon as Turkey realises this the better for the country and its people, Turks and Kurds alike.
8 November 2010
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
If you can’t beat them – imprison them
By Hugo Charlton
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Massive protests outside the courthouse in support of the 151 defendants.
Of course it was not the first time I had been to Diyarbakir, in fact I was there in March this year, but the atmosphere seemed more strained this time. Perhaps the enthusiasm of the Newroz celebration, when nearly half a million Kurds celebrate spring together, and the Mayor was cheered by the crowd alongside the guerrillas who had come down from the mountains as a gesture of peace, distracted me from the underlying tensions. I had been told how the arrests had started shortly after the success of the BDP in the local elections the previous spring, and how leading human rights lawyer Mr Erbey was imprisoned just before Christmas. Another Mayor had been arrested the day we arrived and the Diyarbakir Bar Association had told me how they lived in constant fear of being arrested just for doing their job. Nonetheless conditions seemed so much better than a few years ago I did not really appreciate the significance of what I was being told.
There is nothing like a criminal prosecution to concentrate the mind., even if it is self-evidently political. 151 people were on trial, most of whom were in custody, and eight of them were lawyers whose only crime was to represent their clients. I couldn’t think how the logistics would work. Would they be brought in batches of ten or twelve? I didn’t know. But they don’t do things by halves these Turks when it comes to oppressing an ethnic minority. They had built a special courtroom the size of an average Curry’s, in what had been the inner garden of the old Court building. Unlike some, I found the courtroom itself not too intimidating, I suppose because I am used to all the authoritarian nonsense which accompanies English court hearings. The presence of all the accused, thirty soldiers, over 200 lawyers and 90 observers rather bizarrely reminded me of discussing the Standard Orders committee report in Plenary at one of our more successful Party conferences.
As a former Chairman of the Green Party of England and Wales I found the trial of the BDP members and assorted Human Rights lawyers extraordinary. It is as if the Labour Party had encouraged the arrest of Boris Johnson, and senior Tories because they beat Ken Livingstone in the London Elections, and locked up Michael Mansfield too for being a Leftie. As a Lawyer I found the charges stretched the bounds of legality, not to say common sense, beyond breaking point. Whilst it is true things have improved considerably in the region over the years, and it is preferable that the law, rather than the military, is being used as a tool of oppression, it is an unfortunately retrograde step in an otherwise relatively positive direction that has recently been taken by Turkey. No doubt the court process will grind on slowly, but then again England is no exemplar in the speediness of process either, but to continue to imprison those on trial, who are clearly not a threat to the public, is a naked abuse of the worst sort.
The only question is whether it is the ‘deep state’, that unaccountable cabal of military and security personnel who used to control Turkey, who are up to their old tricks of Kurd-bashing, or whether the not so new Prime Minister Mr Erdogen, is taking up where the old military has left off. His party, the AKP, was optimistic for success in the 2009 elections. Eastern Turkey being less developed and more traditional, is much more Islamic than western secular Turkey and Erdogan hoped to do well. After all a good Muslim is a Muslim first and a Kurd second. To no ones surprise except Erdogen’s, the reverse turned out to be true, and the AKP were profoundly trounced by the BDP. Hence the arrests before next year’s elections, a simple decapitation strategy against the opposition.
In fact I suspect there are those in the military who, like the UK establishment and the Irish Catholics, have realised there is a stalemate which must be resolved if the region is to be stabilised. It would be a shame if Erdogan’s determination to consolidate his power were to rock the boat at a time when Eastern Turkey is perfectly placed to reap the benefits of its strategic location at the crossroads of a trade and energy network which is the envy of those in the world of geopolitics who know which way the cookies are crumbling.
Hugo Charlton is an experienced criminal barrister who combines an everyday practice in the courts of London with some high level cases such as that which questioned the legality of the invasion of Iraq, considered by the House of Lords in the case of R v Jones and Milling, and famously the justification for the refusal to pay the Poll Tax. Having been law officer of the Green Party for seven years, and subsequently Party Chairman during two national elections, he brings a broader political perspective to the operation of the law in society today. He has been active in the promotion of civil liberties, human rights, and the empowerment of women in particular, and conducted talks and training on a variety of legal and social topics.
Inadmissible evidence: Turkey and the BDP trials
By Jeremy Corbyn
Diyarbakir is an ancient city in Eastern Turkey with well-preserved walls from its foundation and an astonishing Ottoman period bazaar. The vast majority of the population are Kurdish speaking as are people throughout the region, and yet the one language that is never seen in public statements and until recently was almost not spoken on the streets is Kurdish.
The region has seen enormous conflict over the past 25 years with thousands killed in the conflict between the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party) and there have been many efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to this fundamentally political issue.
The Kurdish people were initially granted international recognition after the treaty of Versailles in 1918 and this recognition ceased with the establishment of the modern borders between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey in 1922.
The Kurdish movement in each of the countries has persistently sought recognition of language and identity.
In the case of Turkey the Kemalist tradition is strongly for a unified, unilingual state and persistent discrimination against and rejection of Kurdish culture has led to decades of conflict and anger by Kurdish people.
Many fled into exile or moved into other parts of Turkey, away from the South East and others felt they had no alternative but to fight back.
In 1984 the PKK started an arms struggle which has gone on for nearly 30 years.
The Kurdish community as a whole have always sought a political and not a military solution. Indeed, their demands are for recognition and autonomy within Turkey.
Currently the PKK is on unilateral ceasefire. Despite huge legal obstacles the Kurdish parties have shown tremendous levels of support in the South and East of the country and in Istanbul and in 2009 had spectacular electoral success by winning a considerable number of national parliamentary seats and a very large number of mayoralties including Diyarbakir.
Persistent political harassment of the BDP party and prosecution of its representatives culminated in a roundup of 1,500 members last year.
Included in the roundup of prosecutions was Osman Baydemir, for promoting the Kurdish language in official publications.
The prosecution are seeking a prison sentence of over 170 years in his case. Last Monday the indictment process against the first 151 defenders opened in Diyarbakir.
To prepare for this event the Turkish government built a vast new courthouse in the open space between existing court buildings in the city.
I was one of a number of international observers from European countries, including MPs from Sweden and Germany, and legal and human rights delegations from many other countries.
The authorities put 1,500 police on duty around the court building and army snipers on the roofs of all of the surrounding buildings and an enormous security operation to separate lawyers from journalists, from families, from international observers.
Despite being registered observers it took me and another MP (Hywel Williams) two-and-a-half hours to get into the court building itself.
Inside, it is a bizarre spectacle. The building, that could be an aircraft hanger, with a corral in the central part containing the defendants who are surrounded by armed soldiers and, on each side, the 250 lawyers who have attached themselves to the case out of solidarity sit in expectation. At the back, a couple of hundred family and international observers look on.
The three judges sit on a raised dais in the distance at the front.
On the opening day of the indictments the prosecution deposited a 7,500 page dossier of charges against the 151 defendants amounting to several million words.
The chief judge required each defendant to identify themselves which they all did in Kurdish. Then the lawyers, all 250 of them, identified themselves one at a time.
After this seemingly interminable process the first lawyers for the defendants requested that their clients speak in Kurdish, that the whole document not be read out and that the clients all be granted bail.
During this whole process the soldiers routinely changed their guard rota and so at 20 minute intervals (roughly) a group of soldiers would march around the court room walking between the lawyers, the defendants and the judges before being replaced by a new group of soldiers.
The opening day witnessed some ferocious and highly articulate speeches stating that this was a "show trial" against the Kurdish people, that there were "no victims" and that the evidence was all based on hearsay.
The cases against the defendants were essentially that they were undermining the unity of the Turkish state and that they had links to the PKK.
The evidence appeared to be based on extensive phone tapping and liberal use of hearsay reports.
The atmosphere in the courts was a strange mixture of tension, because of the severity of the sentences being sought by the prosecution and joy as families were able to see their loves ones (albeit in the dock) in some cases for the first time in many months.
The atmosphere was further enlivened by Turkish air force planes flying overhead on low level sorties and in the distance one could hear the booming loud speaker of a solidarity rally calling for the abandonment of the trial and the release of the detainees.
Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe, in January will assume its presidency, and it is also an applicant to join the European Union.
Lawyer after lawyer pointed out that the norms of the European Convention of Human Rights are being breached in this trial as well as the norms of collection of evidence and that, in reality, it was the public who were being put on trial by the Turkish state.
Later in the day, the judge ruled peremptorily against the bail application and the following morning opened the proceedings after, once again, going through the tedium of identifying the proceedings. He also ruled that the entire 7,500 page indictment will be read out and that he would not accept any evidence presented other than in Turkish.
This indictment process will take at least a month and the trial will begin sometimes next year and could go on for years.
Meanwhile, there are well over 1,000 other BDP members in prison awaiting their own indictment and trial. Thousands of live have been lost in this search for identity of the Kurdish people and as with any other civil conflict in the world, there has to be a political solution based on dialogue.
Keeping Ocalan, the PKK leader in prison on an island in the Marmara Sea and imprisoning the leaders of the legal BDP party will not bring about peace and justice, but it will be a signal to young and very angry Kurdish people that there is no political road open to them.
Article first published in The Morning Star, 22 October 2010
Jeremy Corbyn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North since 1983. He is considered one of the most left wing members of the Labour Party and is in the Socialist Campaign Group. He has a weekly column in The Morning Star. A long-time supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), he is one of its three Vice-Chairs. Before his election to Parliament, he was an elected councillor in the London Borough of Haringey (1974–83). He is on the London Regional Select Committee.
Turkey on trial
By Ali Has
The Turkish state’s continuing campaign to suppress the Kurdish people’s legitimate demands for greater fundamental rights took a new and dangerous course with the opening of the mass trial in Diyarbakir on 18th October.
The KCK trial of 151 legally elected politicians, mayors, party activists, members of civil society organisations and lawyers, says a lot about what Turkey is really like today. As a member of the UK delegation who went to observe the trial I do not have any hesitation in stating that probably the most important aspect of the proceedings was that it indicated a dangerous and cunning change of tactic used by the Turkish state in how it treats the Kurds.
Paradoxically as the Kurdish movement has demonstrated its ability to mobilise more sections of civil society in the campaign to win their rights and achieve greater success in legal politics over recent years, the State has ramped up the repression and is now turning the judicial system into a tool for harassment and intimidation. The KCK trial is a key example of this development, previous to which we had witnessed thousands of Kurdish children being victimised, imprisoned for lengthy periods and labelled as “terrorists” for the mere “crime” of throwing stones.
To understand the intentions behind the State’s determination to prosecute these trials one need look no further than the status of the defendants: politicians, political activists, members of civil society organisations and lawyers, all of whom have done nothing more than to engage in legitimate pro-Kurdish opposition politics and peaceful political campaigning. Indeed, the sheer size of the written indictment (amounting to 7,500 pages of accusations), the way in which the evidence was obtained without due regard to the safeguards to prevent the fabrication of evidence and the very substance of the evidence itself makes it crystal clear that these trials are entirely politically motivated and without any legal basis.
Although the number of defendants now on trial stands at 151, there were in fact in excess of 1,700 people arrested as a result of the operations against the KCK that were launched in April 2009. More significant than the number of the people arrested, however, was the fact that none of the premises searched during the operations discovered even the slightest resemblance of any weaponry or suspicious item that could be construed as useful for waging violence. Whilst this provides concrete evidence of the will of the Kurdish people to achieve a peaceful solution through legitimate political activities it also thoroughly exposes the lack of any legal basis for the accusations.
To this end, as a lawyer observing the trials, what I found particularly concerning was the continuous insinuations that were being asserted throughout the case. The fact that the only one question asked of the defendants upon their detention by way of interrogation was “...are you a member of the KCK?” and no other investigation conducted points simply in the direction of an presumption of guilt before conviction, because no other questioning or investigation was deemed necessary. Again the gathering of the so-called evidence was conducted in such a manner and in scant regard to any safeguards against fabrication that the only conclusion can be a presumption of guilt. This golden tread is then continued in the exaggerations and manipulative manner in which the public prosecutor made use of non-existent evidence. To give just one example: environmental awareness activists campaigning against the Ilisu Dam, which will destroy hundreds of years of Kurdish cultural heritage, was interpreted in the indictment as attempts to preserve a route used by PKK guerrilla fighters.
Parallel to these assumptions was the biased nature of the prosecution itself. A fundamental rule of prosecuting on behalf of the public is that impartiality must be preserved. No regard was given to the preservation of useful evidence for the defence in this case. Similarly, attempts to give a semblance of impartiality are completely set aside by the use of contorted logic to insinuate that completely legitimate and lawful acts and political activities actually indicate membership of an armed group.
If there is one lesson from these trials, it is that Turkey has embarked on a new stage in its oppression of the Kurds. It would seem that the times of brutality and torture in custody have been replaced by unjustifiable lengthily periods of pre-trial detention to end in hefty double figure jail terms. The times of extra-judicial killings have been replaced by accusations of membership of an armed group, the “terrorist” label with an extraordinary exaggeration of evidence attracting lengthily periods in custody.
With Turkey’s stated support for increased democratisation through the accession process of its membership to the European Union one would have hoped to be able to use the words “fair” and “trial” in the same breath, but there is absolutely nothing fair in the conduct of these trials. These trials in fact bare all the hallmarks of political oppression and these is no legality about them.
Essentially, there are two clear messages being sent to the Kurdish people by these trials; don’t go up to the mountains or we will declare you as “terrorists” and terrorise you in partnership with our international allies, but also don’t engage in legitimate and peaceful politics or we will accuse you of being members of an armed group and prosecute you in Special State Courts; we will hold you in pre-trial detention for years if need be and when finally prosecute you we will deny you the use of your mother-tongue to advance your defence and if you do not speak “Turkish” we will assume you are exercising your right to silence.
Ultimately, it is Turkey which is on trial here, a trial which will show whether it really is willing to see democratisation and a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish question.
Ali Has is a practicing lawyer in London and Spokesperson for the British Peace Council (Turkey).
How the KCK Trial affects Kurdish women and children and their future
By Margaret Owen
This is not the first trial of key Kurdish politicians, lawyers and community leaders that I have observed in Turkey, but this particular one, of 151 Kurds on charges of terrorism and “violating the unity of the State”, that is taking place now in Diyabakir, stands out from all the others as a sheer “piece of theatre”, a “circus”. It will become infamous in Turkish history for so manipulating the justice system and distorting its process, for such total disregard of human rights, and ignoring the requirements, under international and European law, for a “fair trial”, that it should go down in the history books as an example of extreme state tyranny and oppression.
The crackdown on Kurdish parliamentarians, mayors, lawyers, and human rights defenders came exactly one month after the DTP (pro Kurdish political party) had gained huge victories in the S.E local elections. I was privileged to monitor these and participate in the joyful celebrations in the region. Exactly one month later, in April, 2009, the arrests and detentions occurred, the AKP, taken by surprise by the election results, organised this “coup”, thus destroying Kurdish efforts at promoting local democracy and social peace.
This is a “political” trial and not a “legal” one, and it disgraces the AKP, proving, beyond all doubt, that its real objective is to destroy all lawful and democratic activities of the Kurdish people, deny them representation through parliament and through their community organisation; these, including youth and women’s associations, have been striving for so long to find peaceful solutions to the long conflict, based on dialogue, and eschewing violence, and who have committed no criminal acts.
As one of the lawyer members of the independent UK observation team that observed the first week of the trial, I had occasion to talk to many relatives of those held in custody for the last 18 months. While it is right to focus on the sufferings of the detainees, kept in inhumane conditions for 18 months, and until 3 months ago, not even being informed of the grounds for the charges against them, these sudden arrests and detentions are harshly affecting the lives and futures of family members, especially the women and children. It was intensely moving to see these relatives, crowded into the huge specially built courtroom, waving desperately to the suspects, guarded by some sixty armed prison police, in the centre of the court (like cattle at a country fair), whose fate is unknown and who could languish in gaol for years, if the wrong decision is made on November 12th, when the first part of the trial is concluded.
The wife of Muharrem Erbey, the distinguished lawyer who heads the IHD (Human Rights Commission) and also happens to be Leyla Zana’s lawyer, described how, at 4.30 am last December, she was woken by a violent knocking and shouting. When she opened the door she was almost blinded by the police cameras blazing into her face. Rudely pushed aside, the posse of police moved in to search and confiscate documents, files, books, and computers. She tried to phone her lawyer sister but they tore the phone from her and threw it on the ground, and forbade Muharrem from calling his lawyer. Instead, they ordered him to come with them first to the IHD office and then to his own law office, in both premises they raided and took away files and laptops. Before taking him to prison, they insisted he be examined in the hospital, (common practice) so as to clear them of any subsequent accusations of physical abuse. Remarkably, their nine and four-year old sons slept through the commotion but they have been deeply affected by what happened that night. The older boy is so traumatised by seeing his father behind bars that he no longer wishes to visit him there. He complains of being bullied at school; sleeps badly and is chronically anxious.
Ozlem Anli is the wife of the lawyer Firat Anli who was also arrested and detained in December. Fifteen police (one of whom was a woman) raided their home in the middle of the night and conducted a four hour search, seizing documents, and notebooks. The children, a 13th months toddler and their seven-year old daughter, were woken and witnessed the search. “My daddy is a lawyer, so why does he need a lawyer to get him out?” His small daughter calls the prison the “dungeon”, and visits him once a week. Although so young, she is already rapidly becoming politicised, (as will so many Kurdish children due to this latest assault on their community). She resents having to attend the “Turkish” school, and rather than admit to her friends that her father is in prison, she pretends that he has “gone away” for work reasons.
Later in the day I talked to other wives of detainees and heard similar accounts of the psychological damage these brutal and long-drawn out detentions are inflicting on their children, and of the dire economic problems of trying to survive without the main breadwinner. Women lawyers spoke of the impossibility of getting bail on compassionate family grounds. In detention, for nearly two years, is a married couple, parents of very young children. The bail application for the mother, on the grounds that she was needed to care for them was rejected. In another case bail was refused for a middle-aged man who was the sole carer of a wife in the terminal stages of cancer. “Detention before trial is part of the punishment, even though the defendant has had no chance to prove his innocence” they explained. We heard of a suspect who is charged with association with terrorist organisations on the grounds that a report to the PKK was found on the hard drive of his laptop. But he was able to produce the receipt for this notebook which is dated three months after the day that the police say they found this information!
Turkey’s political manipulation of the justice system – including denying the right of suspects to defend themselves in their mother-tongue, and the unethical manner of gathering evidence of so-called “crimes” is already ensuring that Kurdish youth becomes ever more conscious of its cultural identity and influenced to see the Turkish government as a hostile force to be resisted, since efforts to use diplomacy and dialogue have not succeeded. The AKP should take note and ensure the immediate release of the defendants, and the closure of this case.
Margaret Owen is a barrister, Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy () and a member of the Bar Human Rights Committee. She is our campaign’s adviser on Kurdish women and children’s human rights in the context of the Kurdish question in Turkey and she is an expert in the Turkish legal system.
Observations on identity and democracy
By Serife Semsedini
“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” - Martin Luther King Jr
Between 17th and 21st October 2010 I travelled to Diyarbakir as part of a delegation to observe the trial of the so-called members of the KCK.
This for me was my second visit to Diyarbakir, having attended between 26 March 2009 and 2nd April 2009 as an observer during the local elections. Last year, less then a month after the DTP’s success at the local elections, an investigation lead by the Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor was launched. This investigation resulted in the arrest of prominent politicians, world-known human rights activists and lawyers, members of the DTP as well as members of the public. By December 2009 the DTP was banned leading to the formation of the BDP.
I attended the historical trial of the 151 individuals accused of membership of the KCK - the political and social infrastructure affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The trial was held at the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court 6. The Gendarme, police and special teams had surrounded the area, closely observing those interested in the trial. A human wall of police officers divided those present into groups of journalists, family members, locals and international delegates. On the roof of each building surrounding the Court, snipers observed the crowd. The presence of the heavily armed Security Forces’ did not disturb the locals and the supporters who had gathered to protest against the government’s injustice and in support of those standing trial. Members of the BDP and supporters chanted slogans outside the Municipality Building, while a large number of youngsters were dancing and singing in their mother tongue-Kurdish. I was told that a number of supporters had vowed to stay outside the Court until the trial was over. A tent was built outside the Municipality Building to offer shelter for those who wanted to spend the night there. There was enormous solidarity amongst the crowd, it felt as if everyone knew each other. There was no fear in their faces; there was concern, but more than that there was pride, hope and optimism.
The State had to build a new court-room for this case, and I remember Ms Meral Danis Bestas, one of the defence lawyers, saying: ‘as we now have this massive court-room especially built for Kurds, the State will also have to build a new prison’.
Throughout the meetings I attended with lawyers and prominent BDP members and during interviews with family members of those standing trial, I understood that this whole case was in fact a conspiracy instigated by the Turkish State. I understood that the main reason for this case was for the State to: a) link the Kurdish issue with terrorism; b) criminalise the Kurds; and c) show to the world that the Turkish Government has a number of people standing trial on terrorism charges.
This case is an attack on people whose identity has been denied for many years, it is an attack on justice and on the concept of a democratic modern society. Having heard the evidence from different source, having attended the trial and listened to the case prepared by the Public Prosecutor, I could not help but realise that this case is a total sham; it is a case where the ruling party (AKP) knowing that it was losing the strength and trust of its supporters, was trying hard to show people that it still has power and control. This was echoed by the number of police officers, gendarmes and special teams inside the court-room as well as outside the Court. At certain stages the number of armed security officers inside the court-room outnumbered the number of defendants.
For the last few years Kurdish people have become stronger and in unison have raised their voice demanding to be heard and accepted. Their demand for basic human rights has to be heard and acknowledged. The fact that the Judge at the trial intentionally misinterpreted the defendant’s demands under Article 6 of the ECHR, clearly showed that Turkey is far from being a democratic country. The trial demonstrates that in Turkey, justice does not work for Kurdish people. I remember a quote by an unknown author which states: ‘ Democracy is a Government where you can say what you think in a language you speak, even if you don’t think’. Turkey still has an enormous amount of work to do to demonstrate that it is ready to join the EU. If nothing this trial has confirmed and will confirm Turkey’s position on this issue.
31 October 2010
Serife Semsedini is Albanian originally from Kosovo and has been living in the UK for the last 20 years. For the last 10 years she has worked with asylum seekers and provided help and assistance to migrants and refugees from all over the world. She currently works for Trott and Gentry Solicitors, as a human rights advisor.
Impressions and reflections on the trial
By Hywel Williams
I approached the first day of the trail of 151 Kurdish elected politicians and activists with an open mind. I too had read press reports that the Turkish state had changed its ways. True, I came with memories of cases bought in the past against Welsh language activists, the most corrosive of public trust in the law being those bought on charges of conspiracy. However I was prepared to commend and applaud a move to fairness and proper process. In this I fear I was over optimistic.
Where might I start? What about the chaotic scenes outside the courthouse, where the public and the relatives of the accused had to push and jostle their way through to the public gallery? What about the intimidating phalanx of gendarmes surrounding the defendants inside the courthouse? What about the judges and the prosecutors jointly occupying the stage above the defendants, their lawyers and the public? What about the clock above the court entrance, stopped in true Orwellian fashion at 13 minutes past one, thirteen past thirteen?
For me as a Welsh speaker though, most significant was the denial of the use of the Kurdish language.
The courthouse is new. So, here had been an opportunity to install the paraphernalia of simultaneous translation at a modest cost as the court was being built. The new Criminal Justice Centre in Caernarfon, built by central government is just so equipped. But I could see nothing of the sort. The state’s intention to exclude the possibility of the fair use of Kurdish could not be plainer.
Indeed I understand that the defendants are denied the use of the Kurdish language on the grounds that they also speak Turkish. This principle was a sore embarrassment to the British state in respect of defendants’ use of Welsh long before they bought in the Welsh Courts Act in 1942, and with it the first limited right for Welsh people to use their own language in their own defence.
The law has developed over seven decades in Wales to the point where anyone may choose to use Welsh without having to prove their incapacity in the ‘other’ language, or having to show that they would be disadvantaged by being forced to use the ‘other’ language. This seems to me to be fundamental to ensuring fair play in any case where bilingualism is the common linguistic pattern outside the court.
Providing the facility to use Kurdish without hindrance would therefore be a sign that the court accepted what is blindingly obvious to anyone who has been in Diyarbakir for five minutes, the fact that outside the court people use both Turkish and Kurdish. And its denial seems to me to be symbolic of a state that is itself in denial as to the true nature of its population. Denial of reality is scarcely a basis for the fair application of justice, let alone of good governance.
As to other reflections, I am a politician, not a lawyer. I can report though that, other than as regards the language issue, as far as I could see the court seemed respectful of the defendants. The crowds outside were enthusiastic in their support but were disciplined. The police were restrained. But as a politician I am also mindful of the political nature of the charges and the electoral convenience of the timing of the case for the ruling party.
From the defendants I gained the impression of courage and confidence. Obviously, as some had spent up to seventeen months in prison awaiting trial, they were pleased to be in court at last, and also glad to see and hear their many friends, relatives and supporters.
But also something more fundamental is going on. On trial it seems to me is the very right to be Kurdish. As one defendant put it, the public prosecutor is prosecuting the public! And on that issue the defendants are unyielding, and rightly so to my mind.
There is a historic shift occurring across Western Europe, from Wales to Catalonia, from Scotland to Flanders. The very idea of one large uniform state, united as one undifferentiated people, under one flag, speaking one language, under one central government is in retreat.
Perhaps it is not in full retreat as yet. But people are refusing to bow to the old imposed certainties. This is what I felt from the defendants, a confidence in the rightness of their cause, a refusal to apologise for being what they are and of using their own language.
There is a Welsh saying ‘Trech gwlad nac arglwydd’ – the people are stronger than the state. We have yet to see if that saying applies to the case in Diyarbakir. But if it does it will signal the triumph of hope and justice over pessimism and oppression and, most importantly for Turkish and Kurdish people alike, the promise at last of peace.
Hywel Williams is MP for Arfon. Hywel was born in Pwllheli in 1953 and was educated in Ysgol Glan y Mor in Pwllheli. He went on to study Psychology at the University of Wales, Cardiff and then trained at the University of Wales, Bangor before becoming a mental health social worker. Before his election in June 2001, Hywel worked as a lecturer, a consultant and published author in social work, policy and care. His main political interests are social policy, health, culture, work and pensions, language and the arts.
APPENDICES
Original appeal for international monitors to observe the trial
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PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN
151 senior Kurdish politicians and lawyers on trial on 18 October in Diyarbakir
Appeal for international monitors to observe the trial
As western politicians, including David Cameron, laud Turkey for its supposed democratic credentials, countless Kurds languish in Turkish prisons for non-violent political offenses. In the last year and a half, between 840 and 1,700 Kurdish political activists have been thrown in jail on 'terror' charges. Most of those targeted are from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the leftist and pro-Kurdish political party that controls nearly 100 municipalities and has an influential group in parliament.
Notably, the arrest operations began on April 14, 2009 -- two weeks after the BDP routed the ruling party in critical local elections, and one day after the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) declared a unilateral ceasefire in order to give peaceful politics a chance to resolve the conflict. The detainees include 8 elected mayors from the BDP, former members of parliament, and some of the most talented and experienced leaders of the BDP and its youth and women's branches. Turkey claims they're all part of the Democratic Communities of Kurdistan/Turkey Assembly (KCK/TM), described as the urban branch of the PKK.
151 of the most senior people targeted in the so-called 'KCK operation' are scheduled to go on trial in Diyarbakir on October 18. A strong international presence at the trial can help ensure that this long series of injustices doesn't end in the unjust imprisonment of innocent people who are being persecuted for their courageous efforts on behalf of democracy and human rights. In this spirit, Peace in Kurdistan plans to send a delegation of observers to Diyarbakir between 17-21 October.
In addition to the popular mayor of Diyarbakir, Mr. Osman Baydemir, among those scheduled to go on trial for 'membership of a terror organization' on October 18 is Mr. Muharrem Erbey, the imprisoned vice chairman of Turkey's largest human rights group, the Human Rights Association (IHD). The evidence against him presented in the indictment includes his participation in a commission established by other leading lawyers and legal scholars to study Turkey's constitution and develop proposals for democratic constitutional reform; his human rights work with the London-based NGOs and legal organisations; and numerous interviews he’s given to international media outlets.
In the indictment, the prosecutor writes the following about a January 2009 interview Mr. Erbey gave to Voice of America, in which he discussed the problem of impunity for torture and police brutality in Turkey: “It’s understood [from the interview] that Muharrem Erbey has aimed to put our country in a difficult position in international platforms by asserting that the state ignores the supposed maltreatment of Kurdish people carried out by police and soldiers in eastern provinces.” Not only is it clear that Mr. Erbey is being targeted for his courageous work as a human rights defender; the prosecution is also trampling on the rights of internationals to hear critical viewpoints on the situation in southeastern Turkey.
American freelance journalist Jake Hess, who was recently deported as part of the KCK operation after reporting critically on human rights abuses against Kurds in Turkey, was asked extensively about his contacts with human rights organisations in London during his interrogation. 'Anti-terror' police in Diyarbakir informed him that they know these organisations and their staff 'well' and that they 'have sisters in London' -- meaning spies who monitor the activities of British citizens and legal organisations based in the UK.
These examples openly show that the Turkish government is trying to crush the solidarity links between Kurds and their international supporters. The fact that legal groups are being monitored suggests that our modest work to support the Kurds and broaden the public's understanding of human rights in Turkey is having an impact.
The outrageous criminalisation of our solidarity efforts demands a vigorous international response. As Peace in Kurdistan, we're proud of our efforts to stand with Kurds in their fight against the Turkish-EU-US campaign to crush their movement for democracy and human rights, and our support is now as necessary as it's ever been as some of the most senior people targeted in the arrest operations go on trial October 18.
As noted above, we plan to organise a delegation to observe the trial in Diyarbakir from 17-21 October. In addition to monitoring the trial, participants will have a chance to meet with human rights organizations in Diyarbakir and learn about current conditions on the ground first hand. Please contact us if you would like further details.
There's a real threat that these scandalous arrests will conclude with equally scandalous prison sentences. A strong international monitoring group at the trial can play an important role in preventing this alarmingly possible outcome.
FURTHER READING
HRW statement on arrest of Muharrem Erbey:
English Pen statement on Muharrem Erbey:
Amnesty International briefing on human rights in Turkey, including Muharrem Erbey's case: en/library/asset/EUR44/004/.../eur440042010en.pdf
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network statement on Muharrem Erbey:
My reporting on the Kurds landed me in a Turkish prison, Jake Hess, The Independent, 31/8/10
Peace in Kurdistan Appeal letter to PM Erdogan (attached)
24 December 2009: yet another day in Kurdish calendar of misery and betrayal
Expelled from Turkey last summer American journalist Jake Hess wrote this article at the invitation of Firat News Agency
19 October 2009
Muharrem Erbey, chairman of the Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), spent the final minutes of his workday on December 23, 2009 writing a New Year’s message to İHD’s supporters around the world. He was anxious to send out the letter that day, lest it lie unread in European inboxes during the holiday period stretching from Christmas to January 02.
Mr. Erbey’s message briefly discussed recent developments in Turkey’s human rights situation and concluded on a defiant note:
Our organization was bombed in 1993. We didn't give up. 22 of our members have been killed. We haven't given up. Our organization has been shut down and its archive confiscated scores of time. We haven't given up. Roughly 1,000 investigations and hundreds of lawsuits have been opened against our branch chairmen. We haven't given up. We've been threatened. We haven't given up, and we aren't going to.
While the rest of Diyarbakır slept, oblivious to the devastating shock and sadness set to descend on the city on that unforgettable day, Mr. Erbey, his wife, and two young children were awoken by a police raid in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2009. As if to call his bluff, ‘anti-terror’ police detained Mr. Erbey some twelve hours after he had penned his fateful words.
I immediately knew something was wrong when, later that morning, I saw a stream of people walking in and out of Diyarbakır İHD’s office, boxes in hand. İHD staff members who were observing outside explained to me that ‘anti-terror’ police were searching the office, confiscating the organization’s archives, and interrogating Mr. Erbey. Shocked, I tried to glimpse the action by peeking through the windows, but the police had drawn the blinds.
IN THE YEAR 2009, TWO NEW DAYS were added to the gloomy Kurdish calendar of misery and betrayal. April 14 and December 24, the dates when the KCK arrest operations respectively began and reached their peak, now take their place alongside March 16, the anniversary of the Halbja massacre, and February 15, the day Abdullah Öcalan was arrested in Kenya and handed over to Turkey.
Indeed, following the December 26, 2009 imprisonment of Muharrem Erbey, Hatip Dicle, eight BDP mayors and several other Kurdish activists, billboards appeared in Diyarbakır bearing the slogan: Dün Helepçe, bugün kelepçe --yesterday Halabja, today handcuffs. This was a reference to how those detained in the Christmas Eve operation had been handcuffed and then photographed as they waited in line to enter the Diyarbakır courthouse, generating intense feelings of anger and humiliation among Kurds.
But this wasn’t just a play on words. Even the most cynical, repression-weary Kurds acknowledge how arbitrary, indiscriminate, and cruel the KCK arrests have been -- comparable in this way to a chemical weapon, those responsible for the billboards seemed to suggest.
The first wave of arrests focused mostly on BDP (then DTP) activists who weren’t terribly well-known outside the party but had played an important organizational role, including in the party’s triumph in the 29 March 2009 local elections. Subsequent operations steadily climbed up the political hierarchy, encompassing former mayors and elected city council members; it almost seemed like the Turkish government was proceeding slowly to see how much it could get away with. Finally, amid complete international silence, the arrests peaked on December 24, 2009 with the arrest of elected mayors, Hatip Dicle, and Muharrem Erbey.
Analysts often interpret the arrests as ‘revenge’ for the BDP’s electoral victory against the AKP, but this is only part of the story. The more long-term goal of the operations has been to eradicate the new class of Kurdish political leaders and the movement they have dramatically expanded since the year 1999, when pro-Kurdish parties first came to power in southeastern municipalities, and Turkey was recognized as a candidate for EU membership. In subsequent years the Turkish political system gradually became more open following the de-escalation of fighting between the PKK and Turkish army and the initiation of legal reforms as part of the country’s EU membership bid.
As Professor Nichole Watts has pointed out, Kurdish activists have skillfully exploited this new political atmosphere to entrench the Kurdish political movement in stable institutional realms, and this in turn has opened up new opportunities for long-term organizing. The BDP and its activists are at the helm of a powerful, dynamic, mass-based fight for democracy with organized roots across the country, and the KCK arrest operations are aimed at crushing the individuals and institutional infrastructure behind this popular mobilization.
Alongside local BDP activists, many members of the BDP’s youth and women’s wings have been targeted since 14 April 2009. Among them is Azize Yağız, an extraordinary 24 year old Kurdish women’s rights activist with the Democratic Free Women’s Movement (DÖKH). In June, she told me in an interview that hundreds of DÖKH activists had been arrested and detained under the KCK operations, including some of their most talented and experienced members. Ms. Yağız was recently imprisoned on ‘terror’ charges for the fourth time in her short life.
The Democratic Society Congress (DTK) - an umbrella organization that brings representatives of civil society and various ethnic and religious communities together with the BDP in order to develop common positions and strategies - has also been heavily targeted for persecution. Participation in various DTK projects is being used as evidence against several of the most senior people who have been arrested in the KCK operations, including Muharrem Erbey and Leyla Güven, the elected mayor of Viranşehir.
The arrests haven‘t been confined to the BDP; the operation has been used as a pretext to clamp down on all varieties of Kurdish leaders and dissidents. An important example is Hamdiye Çiftçi, a young Kurdish journalist from Hakkari. I met her when I brought a human rights fact-finding delegation to that city in October 2009; she hurriedly, almost nervously, took footage of our delegation as we met with a local BDP activist, who has since been imprisoned. The reason she was anxious, she later told me, was that evening was setting in and she didn’t want to walk home in the dark, since she had been subjected to death threats, stalking, and other forms of repression for her brave reporting on state violence against Kurds. Ms. Çiftçi was thrown in prison on ‘terror’ charges in June 2010, no doubt as a punishment for her brave journalism, including her coverage of police using excessive and disproportionate force against young demonstrators.
In addition to Muharrem Erbey, several İHD activists have been locked up, including Ms. Vetha Aydın of the organization’s Siirt branch, and Roza Erdede, a Diyarbakır İHD board member.
If it weren’t obvious already, the 7,587 page indictment dealing with the most senior suspects targeted in the KCK operations leaves no doubt that these people are being persecuted for peaceful political activities. As Emin Aktar, chairman of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, has pointed out, no one is being accused of using weapons or bombs, only of organizing civil protests; peoples’ participation in funeral services for fallen PKK guerrillas is also repeatedly presented as criminal. Mr. Erbey’s offenses include participation in a commission of legal experts established under DTK auspices to study Turkey’s constitution and make proposals for its amendment.
The ‘evidence’ presented in the indictment consists overwhelmingly of tapped telephone conversations, private conversations recorded through remote listening technology, and statements made by secret witnesses. All of this has put Kurdish society under unbelievable stress; people feel like they’re being constantly watched and that anyone could be arrested at any minute for any reason. For that reason many Kurds have simply stopped using cell phones. If such prominent individuals as Muharrem Erbey, Hatip Dicle, and the elected mayors can be arrested and imprisoned on the flimsiest of evidence, how can anyone else feel safe from similar treatment?
I SPENT CHRISTMAS 2009 WAITING for news outside the Diyarbakır courthouse. As Mr. Erbey, Mr. Dicle, and the other detainees went before the judge, a sizeable crowd gathered in anticipation of the verdict. Everyone was saying that they’d be released, that there was no way they could be arrested.
Now, nine months later, the 151 most senior suspects in the KCK file are on trial in Diyarbakır, several for the first time since 14 April 2009, and a crowd has again assembled outside the courthouse. Lawyers involved in the case are once more expecting most of the detainees to be released. And, true to Mr. Erbey’s New Year’s letter, the imprisoned activists haven’t given up. In a situation when many would be contrite, they’re instead insisting on delivering their defenses in Kurdish, carrying out civil disobedience in the very heart of state power.
What will happen with the trial is anyone’s guess, but this much is clear: democracy in Turkey ultimately depends on a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. The PKK has announced its preparedness to disarm under UN supervision as part of an overall political settlement within Turkey‘s existing borders. They’ve recently declared yet another ceasefire with the goal of reaching a lasting agreement, but Turkish military and arrest operations against the Kurdish movement have only continued.
This is the core reality of the situation, and no amount of referendums, ‘openings’, or speeches can obscure this fact. The KCK trial in Diyarbakır represents an opportunity for the Turkish state to build positive momentum toward a conflict resolution process. If the suspects are released, it will create enormous relief and goodwill in the Kurdish areas. If, on the other hand, they’re sentenced to prison, the message conveyed by the arrests will be underlined: the political road to a solution is closed, so think of alternatives.
Jake Hess / News Desk
jakerhess@
ANF NEWS AGENCY
Turkey’s reputation on the line – Prospect Magazine
Margaret Owen — 26th October 2010
[pic]
Turkey on the brink? Outside the courtroom in Diyabakir
Security is intense. There is full-screen CCTV so that everything and everyone inside the court is under scrutiny. Truly intimidating are the serried ranks of prison police surrounding all four sides of the centre of the room, with some prison police actually sitting among the accused, as if to give the message that these men and women could perform acts of violence any time if not closely watched.
We are in Turkey, where the principle of the presumption of innocence till proven guilty does not hold—and certainly not in this court built specially for the occasion: to try allegations of terrorism. Yet before us we recognise former MPs, lawyers, heads of civil society organisations, and democratically elected mayors. Some of them could face life in prison if found guilty. The trial kicked off on Monday 18th October and is due to wrap up mid November. I am part of a delegation of observers with political and legal knowledge who are in Turkey to monitor the trial and report back to the British government.
The 151 people on trial are accused of having links to the armed rebel group, the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), who have been calling for more Kurdish autonomy. Of the 151 named in the indictment, which runs to over 7,000 pages, 111 of them have been in prison for over 18 months, but their lawyers were only able to learn about what exactly these men and women were being charged with three months ago—far too little time for them to prepare a proper defence.
The judge rejected the request by the lawyers that the suspects should be allowed to speak in their mother tongue, Kurdish. He determined that Turkey, in this case, was not bound by Article 6 of the European Court of Human Rights, which sets down as one of the components of a “fair trial” the right of a defendant to use his mother tongue.
The manner in which the so-called evidence has been gathered gives cause for grave concern about whether the Kurds of Turkey have any access to real justice. It is based on unlawful (i.e. without a judge’s warrant) bugging and wire-tapping; intercept evidence gathered some two years before the arrests were made. In addition the indictment uses as “evidence” routine political propaganda and secret evidence by way of anonymous witnesses. Some conversations recorded are ludicrously interpreted by the prosecution as being coded language referring to acts of violence. For example, we learnt that suspects were interrogated about what they really meant when they said they were going to buy tomatoes, bread or melons. Several lawyers are among the detained, lawyers who, simply because they were doing their job defending their clients, have found themselves in prison.
Outside the court the crowds of people continue all day to protest the proceedings, call for the release of the 151, and the abandonment of the trial. The foreign delegations, particularly the Italian group, are vocal and visible all day, holding up banners, and making speeches.
But views vary widely on whether the government will change its policy. One elderly lawyer who told us he has suffered imprisonment and torture predicts that this trial could drag on for many years. He is pessimistic about the future. The government is set on this course of using the justice system to destroy Kurdish political activity, he says, and it will never be influenced by the censure of the EU or individual European governments.
Kurdish politician and human rights lawyer, Osman Baydemir, thinks differently. He urges us to do all we can to ensure that our governments and the media get their facts right, and listen to the voice of Kurdish politicians and human rights activists. Too often foreign commentators sit comfortably hundreds of miles away in Ankara and Istanbul and make no attempt to get the true story. In the present political climate, one fears that even the lawyers presently engaged in this trial could find themselves arrested and detained simply because they are defending the accused.
Turkey is at a crisis point. This trial is a make or break event. Turkey’s government still has the chance to step in, close the prosecution, release the suspects and restore its reputation. If it does not, how can Turkey possibly hope to join the EU? Above all else, this trial demonstrates just how far from compliance with international and European standards of justice Turkey truly is.
Margaret Owen is a human rights lawyer
DEMOCRATIC POLITICS AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY DEFENCE
Extracts from the summary of the defence
- full copies available from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Starting from the date of April, 14th 2009, in the operations performed within this scope, DTP Vice Presidents, DTP Party Assembly Members, Mayors from DTP, DTP Provincial Councils, Presidents, DTP Municipal Council Members, DTP Local Government Commission members, DTP Women-Youth Council Members, Co-leaders and members of Democratic Society Congress, written and visual media representatives, President, administrator and members of Human Rights Association, lawyers, unionists, academicians and hundreds of people working for non-governmental organizations were taken under custody, 106 of them were arrested for lame excuses and actions were brought against 151 of them.
Just after the Local Elections held on March 29th, a new era has started for Kurdish in Turkey. This process is the start of the coup against the democratic Kurdish politics. Together with this coup, military operations have been intensified. DTP was closed and political bans were imposed on a significant number of people. Kurdish children were arrested and punished unconscientiously. Women were abused and raped. Lynch attempts and repressions on Kurdish people in many places, inhuman treatments against funerals of guerillas died in conflicts, repressions and abuses of rights in prisons, and many similar treatments resemble the 12 September coup d état.
The indictment begins with trying to explain-prove that PKK was established as a “terrorist organization”. According to this indictment the two hundred-year struggle of Kurdish people, all of their democratic organizations, non-governmental activities and all of their political works especially of the last 3 years were stigmatized as “separatism” and tried to be condemned as “terrorist actions”. This approach cannot be related to any universal law principles and justice.
DTP, DTK, BDP and tens of non-governmental organizations were considered together and as part of “KCK”, thus their originality and difference was ignored, they were made unrecognizable, so that an artificial organization scheme was developed. The truth has been manipulated.
When it comes to the Kurdish problem, the cause and effect relationship is neglected. If there was no Kurdish problem, then there would be no PKK-KCK, no DTP-BDP-DTK, no struggle throughout 200 years with efforts of hundreds of institutions and ten thousands of people. If these did not exist and if this struggle was not carried out, the “Kurdish problem” will not become a current issue and will not be discussed.
The profile of those prosecuted:
1- A significant part of those prosecuted in this prosecution were arrested mostly on accusation to be “PKK members” and “in relation to PKK” during 1980s and 90s and were kept in prison for very long times like 24-20-15 and 10 years. As of the beginning of the 2000s, after they were released, they participated in social, cultural, academic and political works and activities.
2- Presence of people who have participated in legal works of Democratic Free Women Movement (DÖKH), leaded in the volition of women and development of democracy and the free women identity formed by these works is another original point of this case.
3- The Founders, co-presidents, council members, (former parliamentarians) administrators and employees of Democratic Society Congress, which we perceive as the fundamental philosophical and institutional expression of our works for democratic society and democratic politics, constitute a significant part of those prosecuted in this prosecution.
4- Co- vice presidents of DTP, which was closed many times and despite great oppressions and difficulties insists on democratic politics and as an expression of this insistence re-established, institutionalized again and again, and which is the last party of the tradition; MYK and PM members, head office accountancy, election commissions, central Commission employees and provincial-district presidents-administrators and members also constitutes a significant number of those prosecuted.
5- Members of Local Administrations Commission, which played a fundamental role in the creation of our democratic liberal municipality model and practices,
6- Former and current mayors of DTP and BDP, who were elected by the vast majority of our society, despite all oppressions applied by the government and the party in power, AKP,
7- Elected Provincial Council presidents and members,
8- Municipal Council members, deputy mayors, heads of departments in the system of municipality and employees of the municipalities,
9- President, administrator and members of Human Rights Association,
10- Lawyers,
11- Academicians,
12- Presidents, administrators and members of non-governmental organizations, 6
13- Members and employees of unions,
14- Administrators of Local TV channels and employees of local newspapers,
15- Administrators and employees of local, cultural and environmentalist associations, 16- Members and employees of neighborhood, town, district and provincial councils.
An unrestrained psychological war is applied not only against those who are arrested, but also against those who are not arrested. During all these eight years, AKP and the communities around it tried to be organized in the region. They terrorized everyone and every organization they considered as obstacles for their settlement and expansion. However, this repressive attempts alien to the reality of the society remained inconclusive since it did not meet the demands of the people. The elections in March 29th once again demonstrated the inconclusiveness of these efforts. This situation alarmed the government and it became the start of the operations.
Even though it has been 30 years after the coup d état of September 12th, operations and oppressive applications of the state oligarchy carried out by AKP express the same essence and purpose, although the style and method are different.
The year 2007 is the darkest period of the recent history of Turkey. It is the year during which many dirty relations-alliances, conspiracies and intrigues that are not unveiled yet were put into practice.
The operations were decided during the meeting of Erdoğan Büyükanıt in Dolmabahçe. In the meeting of Erdoğan and Bush on 5 November USA’s support was also provided for these operations. The people, who had been working in the field of democratic politics for tens of years, and whose address and identity are known, were started to be followed, monitored and subjected to an intensive tagging process. Afterwards, the operation was executed based on the secret witnesses ordered with the conspiracy of the public prosecutor and the police and based on the groundless statements of these witnesses. Shortly before April 14th, it was reflected in the media that a committee of MIT and Ministry of Internal Affairs coming from Ankara participated in some meetings with several soldiers and private prosecutors held in Diyarbakır Officer’s Club and the date of the operation was fixed during this meeting. The “KCK” operations decided during Erdoğan-Büyükanıt meeting were executed according to the plans made by MİT, security forces, soldiers and private prosecutors in Diyarbakır. Fettullah supporters organized within the government, the security forces, MIT, jurisdiction, press-media played active role throughout all these processes.
People who are tried in this file have some common points, all of the people in the file are KURDS and they criticize the practises of the government and the state. They do not accept the Official Ideology and its impositions. The file that is tried at court has been deliberately made MUCH SOPHISTICATED (385 folders). Telephone records /e-mail texts/ audio surveillance / ordinary information and conversations in computers and hard disks have been placed in the file without being sorted out and without making a connection with the accusations. Legal activities were made illegal and information and documents that are related to all have been included in the file. Some of the telephone conversations were used for 3-5 times in various parts of the file. With the title of “Analysis”, subjective evaluations were made for 10-15 lines about a short conversation. Many telephone tapping, e-mail monitoring decisions are against the law and procedure. DTP Local Governments Office, although it is a party office for working, was wiretapped in violation of legal procedures and was introduced as a “cell house”. The deicision for wiretapping here is against the procedures. Likewise, X WITNESSES and SECRET WITNESSES were assigned in violation of the law. Their prevarications and misleading information were tried to be made the basis of EVIDENCE.
As of April 14, 2009 a witch hunt was started against Kurdish people. After the General elections in 2007, AKP has got 47% of the votes and the Prime Minister, with reference to the local elections of 2009, said that he wants Diyarbakır, Tunceli and Izmir; however, the election results were on the contrary. Upon this, AKP started with the process of discharge and the people who worked for local elections and the people who talk to and are acquainted with these people and the people who are actively involved in local governments, political, social, cultural, union and human rights areas have been detected and investigated.
The indictment has four main parts.
a)- History of PKK/KONGRA-GEL organisation and the structure of KCK/TM
b)- The system of KCK/TM
c)- Actions of KCK/TM Structuring
d)- Position of the suspects in KCK/TM structure
Hundreds of wiretap-pursuit decision included in the file are not related to the organisation in question. Wiretap-pursuit is made for over two years, they are collected in a pool and then this data achieved through technical wiretap are specially processed to come up with evidences. To complement it, a few secret eye-witnesses whose reality is in question are being applied to. Therefore; the operation and the infrastructure of the lawsuit is completed. June 14 operation is conducted on these grounds.
The indictment took so much time to be prepared after the operation because of the aforementioned reasons, since first people in question were arrested then evidences were attempted to be collected. The prosecution had attempted for 15-16 months to find evidence against people declared to be criminals in April 14th and subjected to public lynch and finally the picture was saved with a few fake secret eye-witnesses. The indictment prepared as such is full of contradictions, material mistakes and superficial accounts looking like a draft indictment full of abstract accusations. The aim was to reveal and decipher a new organisation. However, the revealed and discovered organisation was nothing but Democratic People’s Party. Studies of DTP and non-governmental organisations- their employees are defined as “KCK/TM”. It was ignored to mention where, when and by whom this defined organisation was established.
Almost all opposition activities in Turkey are attributed to KCK/TM. However, it was not mentioned who KCK/TM includes. In other words, the prosecution could not even on paper establish the accused organisation.
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