AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

AAAS Science and Human Rights Program has been monitoring the trials against the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey since they began on 10 May 1996. The trials are the result of a campaign launched by Turkish government officials to stop the Foundation's documentation of human rights violations and their provision of medical treatment to victims of police torture and abuse. The latest trials against Foundation representatives took place on 1 and 8 November in Istanbul and Adana respectively. On 1 November, the Istanbul Beyo lu Penal Court of Peace No. 3 acquitted Dr. ukran Akin, a medical doctor and director of the HRFT's Istanbul treatment center, of the charge of operating a private hospital. The fourth hearing against the Foundation's Adana representatives Tufan Köse, a medical doctor, and Mustafa Çinkiliç, a lawyer, who are being prosecuted on charges of "operating an unlicensed health center," and "negligence in denouncing a crime" continues. The next trial will take place on 17 January 1997.

The trial against Dr. Akin represents the latest in a series of legal attacks targeting the HRFT's efforts to document human rights violations and provide medical treatment for victims of police torture and abuse. During her trial, Dr. Akin's lawyers pointed out that the trials against the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey's executives and staff were in contravention of international conventions to which Turkey is a state party. They also stressed the political nature of the trials and the interference with the judiciary process that is evident from a letter written by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 29 January 1996, which initiated the investigations against the Foundation.

The Court's acquittal was based on the grounds that "the legal elements of the prosecution were non-existent." The prosecution had demanded 3 to 15 days in prison and a fine of approximately US$2,000.

The fourth trial against the Foundation's Adana Center representatives took place on 8 November. As in previous trials, which took place on 10 May, 6 July, and 13 September, no decision was handed down.

A new judge, the third to preside over this case, stated that he did not feel prepared to make a final decision on the case. Lawyer's representing the Foundation complained of the difficulty in presenting the case to three different judges. In two previous trials, the Court demanded medical records from the Foundation s Adana treatment center for torture survivors, including confidential records from victims of torture and the names of individuals who have collaborated with the center. The Foundation has refused the Court s order citing doctor-patient confidentiality as one of its arguments. In their defense, Lawyer's presented a 13 June 1996 ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court protecting the records of psychological therapists from prosecutors and plaintiffs' lawyers. This protection was extended to psychologist, psychiatrist, and social worker records. They also presented statements from international medical professionals about the operating procedures of other torture treatment centers around the world, and the importance of establishing a relationship of trust between care providers and patients. In the 13 September trial, the Foundation submitted a summary of its patient files to comply with the Court s request without violating doctor-patient confidentiality. Yet the Court maintained its position that the Foundation has not complied with its demands.

The Adana court's demands that the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey turn over its medical files represent a serious breach of internationally accepted standards of medical ethics, which protect the patient-care giver relationship. The confidentiality of this relationship is codified in the World Medical Association's 1948 Geneva Declaration, which states:

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

The Turkish Medical Association is a member of the World Medical Association.

In addition, the continuing prosecution of HRFT representatives for their documentation of incidents of torture violates international human rights standards, including the right to free speech. Under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (which Turkey ratified in 1948):

• Everyone has the right to freedom of expression (Article 10).

(Sources of information for this case include AAAS staff attending Foundation trials, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters requesting that the Turkish government:

• Drop all requests for the Foundation's medical files on the grounds that they fall under the protection of doctor-patient confidentiality; and
• Drop all charges against the Foundation and its representatives.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

President Necmettin Erbacan
Office of the President
Cumhur Baskanligi
06100 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 468 502


Adalet Bakanligi
Minister of Justice
06559 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 417 3954

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
1714 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036


Ambassador Marc Grossman
Embassy of the United States of America
Ataturk Blvd.
PSC 93, Box 5000
Ankara, Turkey
APO AE 09823
Fax: 011 90 312 467 0019

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