State involved in 12 deaths in three months

Bianet 16 April 2010
Press statement of the HRFTHuman Rights Foundation of Turkey on the right to life

Translation done by DTFDemocratic Turkey Forum Article in Turkish

In a press statement of today the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) said that between 1 January and 31 March 2010 five people were shot death by police or gendarmerie and seven people lost their lives in custody or prison. For April 2010 three more deaths have to be added. One is the death of Azadiye Welat reporter Metin Alataş in Adana on 3 April. The perpetrators are unknown. In the case of Mehmet Kılınç, who died from bleeding of his brain allegations were raised that he was torture in İzmir Kırıklar Prison. From Sivas E-type Prison it was reported that Mehmet Can B. committed suicide on 7 April.

Şebnem Korur Fincancı, chair of the HRFT said that the legal rights for the uniformed forces and impunity contributed to the high number of deaths. She asked for legal changes and an increase of public awareness.

The cases

Extra-judicial executions

31 March: Minor Mehmet Nuri Tançoban died as a result of shots by gendarmerie soldiers at the border near Çaldıran (in Van province).

12 March: Kerem Gün, former chair of the youth wing of the DTP in Şırnak province was shot one day after release from detention, allegedly because he did not listen to stop warnings.

4 March: Ali Kemal Albayrak died in Kocaeli, Gebze, when police officers intervened into a fight and fired shots.

18 February: Zeid İsmail from Iraq was shot dead when he tried to cross the border to Turkey.

7 February: Hecer Uslu, driver of a minibus was killed at a control post in Şırnak, Uludere, allegedly because he did not listen to stop warnings. Reportedly the soldiers hindered his medical treatment.

Deaths in Custody

28 March: Erhan Turan allegedly jumped out of a window in Şişli (Istanbul) Police HQ. Witnesses stated that he was pushed.

7 January: Murat Konuş died in detention in İstanbul. The official cause was given as heart attack.

1 January: Necdet Uçkun, who had been detained before the incident in Manisa, Selendi, against the Romans died because of a heart attack.

Deaths in Prison

20 March: Canip Temel from Diyarbakır allegedly committed suicide in Metris Prison. His wife stated that she knew that guardians had beaten him.

20 February: In Uşak Eşme Prison M.K. allegedly hanged himself with his shirt.

18 January: Orhan Bilkiç allegedly committed suicide in Karaman M-Type Prison.

15 January: It was said that Sezer Karnal hanged himself in Bolu F-Type Prison with his shoelaces. The prisoners' solidarity group TAYAD stated that shortly before he was beaten and put into a cell with foamed walls.