03.09.2010 Daily Human Rights Report
(09/006) Operations and clashes in South-east…
Two HPG militants were killed in the clash between Turkish Armed Forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) armed wing People’s Defence Forces (HPG)in Tendürek Mountain in the vicinity of Diyadin District of Ağrı Province on 2 September 2010 (tsk.tr, 2 September).
(09/007) Excessive use of force by law enforcement officers…
Umut Kazancı and Emrah Kazancı were beaten by the police officers with the buts of their rifles on the grounds that they did not give way to the armoured police vehicle inYüksekova District of Hakkâri Province on 2 September 2010. The authorities of the Yüksekova Security Directorate arrived to the scene with the reaction of the people in the vicinity and promised to launch an investigation (Gündem, 2 September).
(09/008) General search warrant in Diyarbakır Province…
Law-enforcement officers were authorised with a general search warrant that covers house, workshop, vehicle and body search in the province and its districts for 11 days from 2 September 2010 in connection with the referendum on 12 September 2010 (ANF, 2 September).
(09/009) Tried former deputy…
İstanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 13 went on hearing the case against the Democratic Society Party’s (DTP) Diyarbakır former deputy Aysel Tuğluk in connection with five different articles of her which were published in Yeniden Özgür Gündem and Özgür Politika Newspapers in 2003 and 2004 on charges of “making propaganda of an illegal organisation” under Article 7/2 of Fighting with Terrorism Law on 2 September 2010. The court adjudicated to bring Aysel Tuğluk to the next hearing by force on the grounds that Ankara Heavy Penal Court No. 12 could not get her legal argument and adjourned the hearing to 30 November 2010 (t24.com.tr, 2 September).
(09/010) Tried journalists…
The trial against the executives of the Kurdish Günlük Newspaper, Filiz Koçali and Ramazan Pekgöz, is about to reach its final stage. The journalists are tried on the grounds that an interview with Murat Karayılan, head of the Steering Council of the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK), the umbrella organizations that includes the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The case was continued at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 13 on Thursday (2 September). Lawyer Özcan Kılıç presented the defence for Koçali and Pekgöz, who did not attend the hearing. He said that the interview published in the newspaper has to be accounted for as part of the public's right to access information on different ideas.
The case prosecutor had previously presented his final plead and demanded the punishment of the defendants according to “making propaganda of an illegal organisation” under Article 7/2 of Fighting with Terrorism Law. Prosecutor Hüseyin Ayar reiterated the same request in Thursday's hearing. Pekgöz and Koçali are facing imprisonment of up to 7.5 years.
Defence lawyer Kılıç referred to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees the right to hold and express opinions including the people's right to be informed. Kılıç requested the acquittal of his clients. Günlük Newspaper owner Ziya Çiçekçi is tried in the scope of the same case. President Judge Ömer Diken postponed the trial to 23 November. In the issues dated 7, 8 and 9 August 2009, the Kurdish Günlük Newspaper had published the interview in three different sections entitled "We did what Hasan Cemal wanted", "I completely agree with Yaşar Kemal" and "If the state would take one step we would take two". On the basis of the interview the public chief prosecutor's office pressed charges of "spreading PKK propaganda" (bianet.org, 2 September).
