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I. INTRODUCTION
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 175,000 individual members and 296 affiliated groups. The AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.
Since 1976, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program (the Program) has been working on behalf of scientists, engineers, and health professionals around the world whose human rights have been violated. The scientific community became aware of these violations during the Cold War when the imprisonment and exile of Soviet colleagues could no longer be ignored. As American and European scientists traveled around the world and communication was facilitated by technological advancements, there was a growing recognition of the professional and moral obligation of scientists to work on behalf of their oppressed colleagues.
One of the Program's principal objectives is the documentation of violations affecting the scientific community. The Program documents instances where scientists, engineers, and health professionals are persecuted for their professional or personal activities, including their activities to ensure respect for human rights.
The Program monitors human rights violations perpetrated against scientists, engineers, and health professionals, and organizes campaigns on their behalf. We encourage scientists, engineers, and scientific and engineering organizations to work for the promotion and protection of the human rights standards enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and international human rights treaties. The Program's work is based on the principle that these rights are preconditions for scientific endeavor and should be defended and encouraged as a matter of scientific freedom and responsibility.[1] Under the UDHR, they include, but are not limited to:
- the right to life, liberty, and security of person (Article 3);
- no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 5);
- freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile (Article 9);
- freedom of movement and residence (Article 13);
- freedom of thought (Article 18);
- the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas (Article 19);
- freedom of association (Article 20);
- the right to work, to free choice of employment (Article 23); and
- the right to education (Article 26).
The Program focuses its casework on three main areas: 1) violations of scientific freedom and the professional rights of scientists, engineers, health professionals, students in any of these fields, scientific organizations, and professional groups representing their interests; 2) violations of the human rights of scientists not directly related to the conduct of science; and 3) participation by scientists in practices which infringe on the human rights of others. Cases also may relate to governmental policies and practices that restrict the ability of scientists to perform their work, misuse science to carry out human rights violations, contravene internationally recognized professional codes of ethics, or target specific groups of scientists or scientific organizations for repression. Cases may involve, but are not limited to, issues of academic freedom, restrictions on the right to travel, and infringements on medical neutrality or other violations of principles of professional ethics. The Program also organizes humanitarian and fact-finding missions to investigate human rights-related issues; prepares documentation for Congress, other US government officials, and international human rights groups; and organizes symposia on human rights-related issues.
In its 22-year history, the Program has documented violations ranging from the revocation of academic degrees and demotions or dismissals, to arrests and arbitrary detentions, disappearances, and extrajudicial executions. We encourage human rights groups and scientific societies to work as a community with shared interests and values. Using scientific methodologies and expertise, the Program encourages and assists groups to use information technologies to monitor and report cases of human rights violations. One such endeavor is the AAAS Human Rights Action Network (AAASHRAN). Initiated in 1993, this electronic mail-based network allows the Program to inform hundreds of scientists around the world about cases of interest to the scientific community or of particular urgency.
AAASHRAN builds on the long-standing tradition of letter writing as an effective means of reminding governments that their transgressions have not gone unnoticed, improving the treatment of individuals whose human rights are being violated, and, in some cases, giving those individuals much-needed hope.
As stated by Turkish political scientist Dr. Haluk Gerger in a presentation during the AAAS annual meeting held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996:
For a brief period of time, in 1979, until the 1980 military coup, an Amnesty International Branch existed in my country. My wife was then a member of the Executive Committee of the Amnesty Branch. She used to bring me addresses of political prisoners in far away countries and would want me to write them letters. I would feel obliged, but still think as to the significance and effect of that sort of solidarity. Then one day I began to receive letters, and only then could I understand that in this brutal world there still are others who care.[2]
In 1996, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program honored Dr. Gerger for his work on behalf of democracy and human rights in Turkey. He attended the AAAS meeting after his release from prison following the completion of a one year and eight month sentence and the payment of a heavy fine. Dr. Gerger has since been re-imprisoned for the peaceful expression of his opinion. He is not scheduled to be released until February 2000. His case is described in detail in Section IV of this report.
AAAS Initiatives on Turkey
The increase in the number of cases concerning human rights violations against Turkish scientists, in particular the government's attack on the confidentiality of medical records from torture treatment centers operated by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, led the Program to undertake an in-depth study of the human rights of scientists in Turkey. This report is based on findings from six AAAS missions to Turkey conducted by the author from 1995 to 1997.
Since the inception of AAASHRAN in 1993, the Program has issued twenty-one alerts on cases concerning human rights violations in Turkey. Almost half of these address the Turkish government's repeated actions against the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), a non-governmental human rights monitoring organization that also operates centers for the treatment of torture survivors.[3] The Foundation's case is described in detail in Section IV of this report. Of the remaining cases, approximately half concern medical professionals who have disappeared, been arbitrarily detained, or prosecuted for allegedly treating or otherwise supporting the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK).[4] The cases of two physicians, Tufan Kose and Seyfettin Kizilkan, are addressed in detail in Section IV of this report. The remaining cases involve social scientists who have spoken out against the Turkish government's treatment of its Kurdish minority. The cases of Haluk Gerger and Ismail Besikci, two prominent social scientists imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their views, are also addressed in Section IV of this report.
These human rights violations coincide with a distinct change in Turkish policy in 1994 to combat PKK activities. These policies resulted in an escalation of violence in southeastern Turkey, which drew the attention of human rights organizations and international monitoring bodies. As these groups directed closer scrutiny towards Turkey's human rights record, news of violations affecting the scientific community became more readily available. In addition, the closure of the Democracy Party (DEP) followed by the arrest and forced exile of the party's parliamentarians and the forced resignation of Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister, brought Turkish human rights to the forefront of international concern.
In the early 1990s, representatives from Turkish NGOs visited Washington, DC, to protest the arrest of DEP parliamentarians and to report to Congress about human rights violations taking place in Southeast Turkey. The New York-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights invited representatives of the HRFT to the US to receive the 1994 Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty, awarded every two years to an outstanding international human rights organization. Program staff thus had the opportunity to meet founding members of the HRFT, whose work directly involves the medical community. Representatives of the HRFT informed Program staff about human rights violations affecting scientists and their work with the Turkish Medical Association (TMA), as well as other Turkish NGOs working towards the promotion and protection of human rights.
AAAS Missions to Turkey
 Members of AAAS mission to Turkey with Representatives of HRFT. Front row from left to right: Charles Clements, Eva Metalios, Elisa Muñoz, Metin Bakkalci. Second row: Yavuz Onen, Mike Amitay, Torsten Lucas. |
During the missions, Program staff investigated the cases of political scientists Haluk Gerger and sociologist Ismail Besikci whose cases appear in Section IV of this report. At the time of the writing of this report, both men were imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their opinions. To gather facts about these cases, staff met with a number of human rights NGOs and government officials. When possible, Program staff met with scientists who either were or had been prisoners of conscience. Staff also met with medical professionals to discuss the plight of their colleagues imprisoned or internally exiled for allegedly providing medical assistance to members of the armed opposition and discussed these issues with the TMA, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Health. The Program's missions were scheduled to coincide with court proceedings against physicians representing the HRFT who were prosecuted for failing to submit confidential patient records to the court. The details of this case are presented in Section IV of this report.
The Program also undertook the initiative to solicit the support of international and US- based scientists and scientific organizations on behalf of the HRFT during its lengthy trial proceedings. The Program's mobilization activities resulted in a joint mission to Turkey with representatives from a number of international medical and human rights organizations, which coincided with the HRFT's trial in July 1996. The mission delegation included the author of this report; Dr. Torsten Lucas, Berlin Medical Association; Dr. Eva Metalios, Doctors of the World; Mike Amitay, then with the Helsinki Commission; and Charles Clements, Physicians for Human Rights. The delegation traveled to Ankara, Adana, and Diyarbakir. The participation and assistance of Mike Amitay, founder of Human Rights Access, and currently the executive director of the Washington Kurdish Institute, provided the delegation a unique opportunity to meet with high-level government officials, including representatives from various ministries, security officials, and members of parliament. The delegation also met representatives from non-governmental organizations, lawyers, and journalists. Testimony also was taken from villagers who had recently been evacuated from their homes, family members of individuals who have disappeared, and physicians who pointed to deteriorating public health conditions resulting from mass migrations caused by the evacuation of villages in the southeast of Turkey.
In addition to investigating human rights violations in general, the delegation met with Dr. Seyfettin Kizilkan, who was accused of belonging to the PKK. His case is highlighted in Section IV of this report. The delegation made official inquiries to government officials about his and other cases and was part of a large international contingent observing the trial against Human Rights Foundation of Turkey physician Tufan Kose in Adana. In a public statement, the delegation expressed surprise at statements made by some officials that deny the existence of torture in Turkey, and went on to say that doctors, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists, and parliamentarians that met the delegation consider torture to be widespread. The statement was submitted to the press and distributed widely in Turkey and the US.
Social Scientists
This report describes how Turkish scientists who attempt to carry out legitimate scientific activities have been severely affected by pervasive and systematic human rights violations in Turkey. The Program found that social scientists who engage in work dealing with Kurdish issues are particularly vulnerable. The Turkish government has charged, prosecuted, and imprisoned scientists for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, and monitoring human rights violations.[5]
Social scientists, like Haluk Gerger and Ismail Besikci, whose cases were investigated by the Program during its missions to Turkey, face prosecution, including imprisonment and heavy fines, for expressing views contrary to state ideology. They have been accused of threatening the unity of the state, insulting the government or military authorities, or inciting racial hatred, all of which are illegal under Turkish law. Political scientists and sociologists have been prosecuted for their work on Kurdish issues or pertaining to the conflict in the southeast of Turkey.
Medical Professionals
 Dr. Jorgen Funder, Danish Medical Association, delivers a statement from the World Medical Association following one of the HRFT trials in Adana. |
The cases of Seyfettin Kizilkan and Tufan Kose who have been prosecuted for conducting their medical work in accordance with international ethical standards are illustrative of the inability of medical professionals to uphold ethical obligations in an atmosphere of political repression.
Pervasive human rights violations in Turkey have had a profound impact on the medical community. Medical professionals are caught in the crossfire between Turkish authorities and the PKK. Physicians in Turkey face prosecution, imprisonment, internal exile, coercion, and intimidation in the course of performing their work. Medical professionals, often the only people qualified to detect and document the systematic use of torture by the Turkish military and police, are particularly at risk of running afoul of their government. Authorities coerce physicians to ignore, misrepresent, and omit evidence of torture in their examination of detainees.[6]
The Turkish government also has attacked the principle of physician-patient confidentiality by insisting that medical professionals inform officials when they have treated PKK guerrillas. During meetings with the delegation, Dr. Kizilkan, previously prosecuted for treating alleged PKK guerrillas, described how he was framed by police because of his beliefs and his stand on democratic principles:
On 5 May 1996 at 11:00 p.m., there was a knock on my door. More than twenty people with walky-talkies entered my house at once... They said a bomb was found on a balcony that overlooks the National Security Organization. One of the policemen told me that they found an explosive... I was then informed that there was a note written to me found in the bag with the bomb. It stated that someone would be picking up the bomb. The note had a PKK stamp on it...The police also allegedly found some "illegal papers." The set-up was thus completed.[7]
In the case against physicians representing torture treatment centers operated by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, the courts have demanded confidential patient records, prosecuting those who refuse to comply with the order. This case is documented in detail in Section IV of this report. Among its demands, the court ordered the Adana center to turn over all of its files, including confidential records from survivors of torture whom it has treated, as well as the names of individuals who collaborate with the center in its work.[8]
Articles in the Turkish Penal Code requiring physicians to inform authorities about their patients and prohibiting assistance, including the provision of medical treatment to guerrillas, conflict with a physician's obligation to assure confidentiality and to provide treatment in a non-discriminatory manner. During a meeting sponsored by the Danish Medical Association, Dr. Tufan Kose, a physician representing the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey described the difficulties faced by medical professionals in Turkey. He said,
it is really hard to be a health service worker in Turkey. When you prepare an objective justice report, when you stand fast against unhealthy circumstances in prisons, when you have a chance to heal starving prisoners without force, when you are in charge of therapy of tortured people, when you are against executions...when you disagree with the civil war and present alternative solutions to the problem, you become the biggest enemy of the state.[9]
International Codes of Medical Ethics
The cases against medical professionals are of particular importance, because physicians are bound by international codes of ethics to provide medical care on an impartial, nondiscriminatory basis to any individual requiring their services. In addition, medical professionals are bound to maintain absolute confidentiality, and they must provide emergency care as a humanitarian duty unless assured that others are willing and able to give such care. These tenets are set forth in international codes, such as:
Declaration of Geneva, World Medical Association, 1948, 1968, 1983:
- The physician must abstain from any religious, national, racial, political, or social discrimination in the performance of their duty;
- A physician shall preserve absolute confidentiality on all he knows about his patient even after the patient has died.
International Code of Medical Ethics, World Medical Association, 1949, 1968, 1983:
- A physician shall respect the rights of patients, of colleagues, and of other health professionals, and shall safeguard patient confidences;
- A physician shall preserve absolute confidentiality on all he knows about his patient even after the patient is dead;
- A physician shall give emergency care as a humanitarian duty unless he is assured that others are willing and able to give such care.
Regulations in Time of Armed Conflict, World Medical Association, 1956, 1957, 1983:
- Medical ethics in time of armed conflict is identical to medical ethics in time of peace, as established by the International Code of Medical Ethics;
- In an emergency, the physician must always give the required care impartially and without consideration to sex, race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, or any similar criteria;
- The fulfillment of medical duties and responsibilities shall in no circumstance be considered an offense. The physician must never be prosecuted for observing professional confidentiality.
Declaration of Tokyo, World Medical Association, 1975:
- A doctor must have complete clinical independence in deciding upon the care of a person for whom he or she is medically responsible. The doctor's fundamental role is to alleviate the distress of his or her fellow men, and no motive, whether personal, collective or political shall prevail against this higher purpose.[10]
Despite these obligations, health professionals who document human rights violations and provide care to torture survivors are repeatedly charged with criminal offenses in an attempt to undermine their work. The use of Turkish legislation to criminalize the ethical practice of medicine clearly places medical professionals at odds with Turkish authorities. Through its investigation into the cases against Dr. Kizilkan and physicians representing the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, AAAS found that the Turkish government does not respect internationally accepted medical ethics when they conflict with the state's agenda.
Academic Freedom
The author also met with academics from Istanbul University, Bosphorus University, and Ankara University, as well as former academicians expelled from the university system after the 1980 military coup, and the Vice President of the Higher Education Council. While the subject of academic freedom in Turkey deserves its own report, the author has included information gathered through these meetings. The structure of higher education in Turkey interferes with academic freedom. The President of Turkey has ultimate control over the university system. His authority is followed by the Higher Education Council, rectors, and deans. Since 1980, the Higher Education Council has been charged with operating the universities. The Council approves the creation of departments and sections within departments. It is made up of 25 members and is responsible for the appointment of deans and faculty. The President of Turkey chooses the director of each University. The 1982 Constitution prohibits the election of deans and rectors. Rectors have the authority to give promotions and assistantships.
Until the passing of a constitutional amendment in July, university professors had not been allowed to become members of political parties. The amendment allows for their participation at the central levels of government, while continuing to ban their participation at local levels. In addition, university professors and students cannot become members of an association without permission from the rector.
After 1980 and the establishment of the Higher Education Council, it appears that even the marginal freedom that existed was taken away, particularly in the social sciences where critics contend that any view dissenting from state ideology is prohibited. Ismail Besikci, who has been imprisoned for the majority of his academic career, is an example of this.
According to the academics with whom Program staff met, scientists are very aware of the consequences when they undertake certain issues: to avoid legal problems, Gareth Winrow, a British visiting professor at Bosphorus University in Istanbul, submitted his book on the Kurdish problem to the Interior Ministry prior to its publication.[11] While the willingness of the Ministry to allow a book on this issue to go forward is encouraging, the general practice of self-censorship seems to be pervasive. Political scientist Fikret Baskaya, who has been imprisoned for his writings, listed the following taboo areas that have arisen as a result of the changing political environment throughout the years: in the 1920s and 30s it was religious reaction; in the 50s, communism; and in the 80s to date it has been separatism. During each period many social scientists avoided the taboo issues, creating harmony among those unwilling to touch these areas, and resulting in the lack of intellectual honesty among scientists since the 1920s.[12]
Even private institutions are subject to the framework of the Higher Education Council. Two of the private universities receive half their funding from private sources of capital and the other half comes from the state.
Also of concern is the lack of official recourse for professors. There is currently no group in Turkey representing the interests of professors who are dismissed or otherwise discriminated against.
Human Rights Activists
By means of these missions Program staff came into contact with a burgeoning movement of individuals and organizations in Turkey who are working on human rights. This extraordinarily brave and dedicated group of individuals knows first-hand the risk that such work entails. Many of the individuals interviewed by the author have been tortured, imprisoned, or have otherwise had their human rights violated. To protect the identity of some of the individuals their names will not be mentioned in this report. However, it is important to recognize those groups who work in public. Often, as has been the case for the HRFT, international recognition provides a measure of protection from arbitrary action taken by the government against these groups or individuals.
Among the groups and individuals with whom the author met and whose association we feel free to publicize are:
The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey
The Program has developed a close working relationship with the HRFT. Established in 1990, the Foundation provides medical and psychological treatment to torture survivors and to their relatives. A staff of physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists, and social service specialists, along with more than 300 volunteers from relevant professions, provide these services.
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 the best sources of human rights information in Turkey and has repeatedly been cited by international human rights organizations, as well as the US Department of State in its reports. These activities have led to its persecution. However, despite repeated governmental attacks, the HRFT is able to document hundreds of cases of human rights violations and offers the only available medical treatment in Turkey exclusively designed for the treatment of torture survivors.
In 1996 and 1997, the Program attended a number of trials launched against the HRFT. Its founding members were brought to trial in connection with publications published by the HRFT, and physicians from its Istanbul and Adana branches were accused of operating illegal medical facilities. The cases brought against the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey are documented in detail in Section IV of this report.
Turkish Medical Association
Physicians working with the Turkish Medical Association (TMA) have gained international recognition for their professionalism and activism on behalf of medical professionals facing human rights violations and their attention to public health problems, including those arising from human rights violations. With fifty-one branches (referred to as chambers by the TMA) as of July 1995, the TMA is well placed to respond to human rights violations affecting medical professionals. In addition to its chambers, the TMA has formed about 20 specialized branches that deal with issues concerning general practice, worker's health, public health, human rights, ethics, and health policy to name only a few. An ethics group was established to develop a code of ethics for Turkish doctors.
The TMA has been deeply involved in the case brought against the physicians representing the HRFT in which physician-patient confidentiality is at issue. In addition, the TMA assists physicians who are prosecuted for treating individuals alleged to be guerrillas, and those who have been exiled internally.[13] The TMA has published extensive reports on the status of physicians' human rights in Turkey.
During interviews with the author, TMA physicians described the government's persecution of medical professionals. A large number of medical professionals are charged and sentenced for treating "guerrillas." Thirty applications from medical professionals registering human rights violations have been made to the TMA.
A 1992 TMA mission to the southeast of Turkey revealed that in addition to facing human rights violations for treating "guerrillas," intimidation and interference in forensic examinations, arrest for treating wounded patients, military occupation of health facilities, and extrajudicial executions were among the human rights violations suffered by medical professionals.[14] The detention period for providing treatment to wounded individuals in the southeast of Turkey can range from days to long-term imprisonment.[15]
In southeast Turkey, physicians and other health professionals have been killed, tortured, imprisoned, internally exiled, and legally sanctioned in the course of conducting their professional duties.[16]
Turkish Human Rights Association
AAAS has worked closely with the Turkish Human Rights Association in its investigation into human rights violations perpetrated against scientists in Turkey and governmental attacks against centers for the treatment of torture survivors. The Turkish Human Rights Association collects testimony and documents human rights violations from its offices throughout the country. It is also widely cited by critics of Turkey's human rights record. It has been the subject of numerous governmental attacks since its founding in 1986.
The Association's executive director, Akin Birdal, who also serves as vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, was gravely wounded when two armed men attacked him in his office on 12 May 1998. Birdal was shot six times in the chest and legs. He is expected to make a full recovery. Although government officials condemned the attack, rights groups blamed the authorities, who have a history of accusing human rights activists of participating in terrorist activities.
Just two months later, Akin Birdal was ordered to appear before a Turkish court where he was sentenced to one year in prison in connection to statements he made on 1 September 1996, World Day of Peace, where he called for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict. He was convicted under Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code for "inciting people explicitly to hostility by recognizing differences based on class, race and ethnic differences."[17] The case is currently on appeal.
Virtually all Association branch offices in the Southeast have been closed. The Association's Diyarbakir branch was closed on 23 May 1997, the Malayata Branch was closed on 4 June 1997, the Izmir Branch was closed on 20 June 1997, and the Konya and Urfa Branches were closed on 24 June 1997. These closings, coupled with death threats made against many of the Association's volunteers forcing them to abandon the Southeast,[18] leaves the area virtually free of any human rights monitoring bodies.
Foundation for Social Jurisprudence Research
The author met with lawyers working with Toplumsal Hukuk Arastirmalari Vakfi (TOHAV) (Foundation for Social Jurisprudence Research). The organization is comprised of volunteer lawyers representing individuals charged under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law banning "separatist" propaganda. The group concentrates on oppression occurring in the Kurdish region, such as torture, disappearance, and cases falling under the State Security Courts, which among other crimes address terrorism and separatism. Their long-term objective is the reform of the Turkish legal system; however, their strategy is to exhaust domestic legal remedies to pursue cases in the European Human Rights Court. TOHAV representatives have faced severe repression, including the mystery killing[19] of a founding member and the arrest of the group's chairperson just two days prior to meeting with the author.
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) Attorney,
Hasip Kaplan
In addition to meeting with groups that document and respond to human rights violations, the author met with attorney Hasip Kaplan during the Program's initial mission to Turkey. Kaplan represented former HADEP parliamentarians arrested in March 1994 following the party's dissolution and subsequent ban. The party's members of parliament were stripped of their parliamentary immunity and imprisoned or forced into exile when their party was declared illegal. They were accused of membership in the PKK.
Social Scientists
To further investigate individual cases concerning persecuted scientists, AAAS staff met with two political scientists whose cases have been monitored by the Program, Haluk Gerger and Fikret Baskaya. When the author met with Gerger, he was serving a twenty-month prison sentence at Haymana Prison for contributing a statement that was read at the funeral of two political prisoners. Gerger is currently serving a second twenty-month sentence. Baskaya was released from prison just days prior to our visit. He has subsequently been charged with "aiding an illegal armed gang" for joining a group of writers and intellectuals who published a pamphlet containing banned speeches that called for full rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority.[20] The prosecutor in the case is calling for a seven-year prison sentence. Baskaya was previously imprisoned for writing an article regarding an incident in which a number of writers were killed when a hotel was set on fire by security officials. The author also requested permission to visit Ismail Besikci, a sociologist imprisoned for his outspoken criticism of the government's treatment of the Kurds; however, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the request.
Gerger and Besikci, whose cases are described further in Section IV, are representative of how limits to freedom of expression and association in Turkey affect social scientists, particularly those seeking to contribute to the Kurdish debate.
Publishers
The author also met publishers, including Ayse Zarakolu and Unsal Ozturk, both of whom have been prosecuted for the publication of several scientific books, including those written by sociologist Ismail Besikci. Most recently, Ms. Zarakolu was convicted for publishing a translation of the Human Rights Watch report, Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey. In 1997, she received Human Rights Watch's Hellman/Hammett grant for writers who have been victims of political persecution.
Organization of this Report
The first section of this report describes the work of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program and the underlying principles on which the Program's work is based. It explains how, in the early 1990s, the growing number of cases of persecuted scientists coming from Turkey led the Program to undertake a number of initiatives, including a series of missions. During the missions, the author attended trials against the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, met government officials, parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs (including human rights NGOs), intellectuals, and journalists. The author met with scientists who either continue to be or were formerly political prisoners and whose cases have been documented by the AAAS Human Rights Action Network (AAASHRAN).[21]
Section II summarizes Turkey's human rights practices. It describes how broadly worded legislation prohibits free and open intellectual discourse on topics considered sensitive to Turkish authorities, such as Kurdish culture, Kurdish political representation, and Turkish policies in the southeast of Turkey, to name only a few. Turkish scholars and researchers have routinely exercised self-censorship on issues recognized as taboo by the academic establishment. In addition, social scientists, journalists and human rights workers who advocate a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem have been arrested; and medical professionals who conduct their work in accordance with their ethical obligations have been prosecuted. These violations not only contravene Turkey's international obligations, but also basic principles of medical ethics.
A brief overview of the historical context in which these violations take place is provided in Section III. It describes how the ideology set forth by the Republic's founder, Mustafa Ataturk, and his response to Kurdish opposition set the stage for Turkey's current practices.
Section IV focuses on four cases investigated by the author that demonstrate how scientists have been adversely affected by Turkey's repressive practices. The Turkish government launched these cases against representatives of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, medical doctor Seyfettin Kizilkan, political scientist Haluk Gerger, and sociologist Ismail Besikci. Each of these cases concerns the violation of fundamental freedoms enumerated in international treaties to which Turkey is a State Party, as well as critical issues at the juncture of science and human rights, such as freedom of expression and association, professional ethics versus state security claims, and medical confidentiality. The scientists whose cases are detailed in this report have faced charges, been brought to trial, and been fined and imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association, monitoring and documenting human rights violations, or merely conducting their work in accordance with professional ethical standards. This is not to suggest that scientists have been directly targeted by Turkish authorities; however, some scientists whose political opinions are contrary to accepted state ideology have faced violations of their internationally recognized human rights while attempting to carry out professional activities.
A concluding section describes Turkey's current endeavors to ease international criticism of its human rights record and offers some suggestions on concrete measures, that if implemented would contribute to the improvement of human rights in Turkey.
[1] A full description of the principles and activities of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program can be obtained from the Program and found on the Program's web site at http://shr.aaas.org. Return to Text
[2] "Dr. Haluk Gerger," Report on Science and Human Rights 17, no. 1, (Spring 1996): 1. Return to Text
[3] See Human Rights Foundation of Turkey under the Turkish Human Rights Activists section of this chapter. Return to Text
[4] The Turkish military has been involved in a fourteen year armed struggle against the PKK. The conflict is described in detail in the "Background" section of this report. Return to Text
[5] These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the European Convention for the Protection of Human and Fundamental Rights. Return to Text
[6] Vincent Iacopino et al., "Physician Complicity in Misrepresentation and Omission of Evidence of Torture in Post-detention Medical Examinations in Turkey," Journal of the American Medical Association 276, no. 5 (1996): 276. Return to Text
[7] Dr. Kizilkan's testimony appears in its entirety in Section IV of this report. Return to Text
[8] Elisa Munoz, "Patient-Physician Confidentiality on Trial in Turkey," Journal of the American Medical Association 267, no. 17 (November 1996): 1375. Return to Text
[9] "Health and Human Rights Forum," Official Journal of the International Society for Health and Human Rights 1, no. 1 (December 1996-January 1997). Return to Text
[10] Amnesty International, Ethical Codes and Declarations Relevant to the Health Professions, Third Revised Edition (Amnesty International, 1994). Return to Text
[11] Gareth Winrow, conversation with the author, Istanbul, Turkey, November 1997. Return to Text
[12] Fikret Baskaya, conversation with the author, Ankara, Turkey, July 1995. Return to Text
[13] The Turkish Medical Association, The Report on the Health Services and Health Personnel's Problems in the Southeast (Ankara, Turkey: The Turkish Medical Association, March 1995). Return to Text
[14] Amnesty International, Southeast Turkey, The Health Professionals in the Emergency Zone (Amnesty International, 19 December 1994). Also see Physicians for Human Rights, Torture in Turkey & Its Unwilling Accomplices (Boston, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, August 1996). Return to Text
[15] Amnesty International, Southeast Turkey. Return to Text
[16] Physicians for Human Rights, Torture in Turkey & Its Unwilling Accomplices. Return to Text
[17] Human Rights Association, Imprisonment Against Peace and Human Rights, Press Release (Human Rights Association, 24 July 1998). Return to Text
[18] Husnu Ondul, conversation with the author, Ankara, Turkey, July 1996. Return to Text
[19] It is widely alleged that mystery killings occur with the complicity of security forces. US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1998). Return to Text
[20] "Turk Prosecutors Charge Fourteen in Banned Speech Case," Reuters, 2 April 1998. Return to Text
[21] AAASHRAN alerts concerning the scientists whose cases appear in Section IV of this report are accessible through the Program's Website at http://shr.aaas.org/aaashran.htm . Return to Text
