AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

In the afternoon of 7 September 2001, Turkish police raided the Diyarbakir offices of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), confiscating confidential HRFT staff files, including information on doctors and patients from the torture treatment center that HRFT operates. There is a great risk that doctors and patients at the center are now at risk for harassment, arrest, and torture.

The HRFT was opened in 1990. Since 1991, it has provided treatment and rehabilitation to torture survivors and their families. The NGO now has five torture treatment centers. Independent sources such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the U.N. special rapporteur on torture have confirmed the widespread practice of torture in Turkey. In 2000, the Human Rights Commission of the Turkish Parliament issued its own reports that confirmed earlier findings and concluded that torture is a persistent problem in Turkey. Since 1996, the HRFT torture treatments have been the subject of repeated attacks from the Turkish government. The Turkish police have been known to raid torture treatment centers to find the names of patients, who they then harass and intimidate from seeking further treatment.

As well as operating centers for the treatment and rehabilitation of torture survivors, the HRFT monitors human rights violations in Turkey. It is recognized internationally as one of few reliable sources of human rights information in the country. In 1998, the Council of Europe awarded its European Human Rights Prize to HRFT in recognition of its "outstanding contribution to the protection of human rights in Turkey."

In 1996 and 1997, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program attended a number of trials launched against the HRFT. Its founding members were brought to trial in connection with publications of the HRFT, and physicians from its Istanbul and Adana branches were accused of operating illegal medical facilities.

The Turkish government's interference with the work of the HFRT is in violation to several human rights standards, which are detailed below. In addition, infringements on doctor-patient confidentiality violate the World Medical Association's 1948 Geneva Declaration, which states:

I [the physician] shall respect the secrets which are confided in me.

(Sources of information for this case include: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

• Article 13: Each State Party shall ensure that any individual who alleges he has been subjected to torture in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to, and to have his case promptly and impartially examined by, its competent authorities. Steps shall be taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given.
• Article 14: Each State Party shall ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 7: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 17(1): No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his [or her] privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his [or her] honour and reputation.
• Article 21: The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 05: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his [or her] honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks
• Article 20(1): Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, faxes, airmail letters or emails:

• Expressing concern that the police have confiscated confidential medical records from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey;
• Urging that the government respect international standards of doctor-patient confidentiality; and
• Asking the government to ensure that staff, doctors, and patients of the HRFT are protected from intimidation, harassment, attacks, arrests, or torture.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Mr Rustu Kazim Yucelen
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of Interior
Icisleri Bakanigi
06644 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 418 17 95
Salutation: Dear Minister

Mr Atilla Cinar
Diyarbakir Emniyet Muduru
Diyarbakir Emniyet Mudurlugu
Diyarbakir, Turkey
Salutation: Dear Chief of Police

Prof Hikmet Sami Turk
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Adalet Bakanligi
06659 Ankara, Turkey
Faxes: 011 90 312 417 3954 / 418 5667
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES SENT TO:

E. Safter Gaydali
State Minister with Responsibility for Human Rights
Office of the Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 417 04 76
Salutation: Dear Minister

Ambassador Baki Ilkin
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
1714 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 612 6744

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6796; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals re to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

To verify the contents of this alert and/or the electronic signature, please download the signed file for this alert along with the Program's PGP Public Key.

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