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July 27,
2001
Human Rights First
Calls on Turkish Government to
Support, Not Punish
Prominent Parliament Member
former Human Rights Commission Chairwoman Piskinsut Led
Investigations
of Torture in Turkish Police
Stations
In a letter to the Turkish
Ministry of Justice (see attached), Human Rights First today
expressed its deep concern at attempts to prosecute Democratic Left Party (DSP)
Deputy Sema Tutar Piskinsut.
Piskinsut was Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission
that conducted interviews from 1998 through 2000 with alleged victims of torture
by the Turkish police. The
Commission uncovered vast evidence of torture, and stunned Parliament by
bringing seized torture instruments onto the legislative floor to support its
nine-volume report.
Acting
Chief Prosecutor Bekir Selcuk recently charged that Piskinsut, as Chair of the
Commission, aided criminals and withheld information from authorities by
refusing to reveal identities and current locations of inmates and detainees
interviewed by the Commission under agreements of confidentiality. On this basis
Selcuk demanded that Piskinsut’s parliamentary immunity be lifted so that she
may be prosecuted.
Citing UN agreements that protect both human rights investigations and the security of detainees, Human Rights First called on the Ministry of Justice to make clear to judges and prosecutors that their obligation is to investigate and punish torturers, not those who expose it. Said Robert O. Varenik, Director of Human Rights First’s Policing Program, “The devotion of scarce resources to prosecuting those like Ms. Piskinsut, rather than directly addressing the well-being of detainees, sends precisely the wrong signal about the Justice Ministry’s intentions.” The letter added that “Ms. Piskinsut and the Commission members’ courage and determination to fight against serious human rights violations were appreciated in Turkey and around the world.”
Turkish Letter to
Minister of Justice