Press Release

September 25, 1996

Telephone: (202) 483-6444

Turks Attack Kurdish Prisoners; More Than A Dozen Are Killed

A statement issued, today, by the President of the Human Rights Association of Diyarbakir, Mahmut Sakar, notes that ominous developments are taking place in Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish city in the Turkish controlled Kurdistan. "13 Kurdish prisoners have died as a result of attacks by the Turkish security forces in the city's prison." A Reuter report filed from Diyarbakir, today, notes that a hospital official confirmed the death of eleven individuals. Many of the dead had suffered injuries to their heads.

The statement of the Human Rights Association of Diyarbakir notes that eight of the killed were identified as: "Edip Donekci, Nihat Cakmak, Ekrem Perisan, Ridvan Bulut, Hakki Tekin, Ahmet Celik, Mehmet S. Gumus. and Cemal Cam."

Listed in critical condition were twelve other prisoners who were taken to the hospital for treatments: "Ramazan Nazber, Mehmet Aslan, Yasin Alevcan, Ramazan Korkar, Mehmet Batuge, Mehmet E. Izra, Iskan Osal, Kenan Acar, Abdullah Eflatun Hakki Bozkus, Bedri Bozkus and Emin Mizrak."

The statement goes on to add that in the last ten days, the dead (and often mutilated) bodies of "... nine (9) people have been found in the city streets. These individuals were reported missing in our office. The invariable story of their loved ones was that the plain clothes Turkish police officers came to the house, arrested these individuals and later claimed that they knew nothing of them. "

Official Ankara has made some "contradictory" remarks about the origins of the Diyarbakir prison carnage says, Mr. Sakar. "One version of the events is that some Kurdish prisoners were harassing a group of inmates who were informers. The prison officials in Diyarbakir, says the official statement, asked the Justice Department for the transfer of these individuals. Apparently, as this transfer was taking place, this deadly altercation took place."

"The missing link in this argument is that the transfers are not automatically granted. In the past, these same requests were often denied because of lack of funds. One can not help but ask the question why this request was accepted so quickly and why so much force was used to put down the altercation."

"We feel that this is nothing but part of a larger policy to instill fear in the population. We call on the friends of human family to condemn this brutality and send observers to the region to investigate this deadly attack on the defenseless prisoners."

These mass killings illustrate the deterioration of the human rights situation in Turkey. This was also noted, on September 19, 1996, by the European Parliament's decision to block "hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to Ankara for reneging on promises to improve its human rights record." We ask that you to condemn this particular act of brutality and the overall Turkish aggression toward the Kurds.