Nate:
Here is an article by the Associated Press in the New York Times (online
edition) on Tuesday December 19th.
-Josh
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:13 p.m. ET
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Relatives of leftist prisoners transferred from
wards to cells after deadly clashes with government troops said Saturday
that inmates were being beaten and denied medical treatment.
Some inmates are beaten twice a day with truncheons during roll call, and
many have not received treatment for bullet wounds and other injuries,
relatives said after visiting the prisons.
The Justice Ministry denied the mistreatment but said it opened an
investigation into the claims.
Over the past 10 days, more than 1,000 prisoners, mostly from militant
leftist groups, have been transferred from large, dormitory-style wards to
new prisons with small cells. Hundreds of inmates had staged a 2-month-long
hunger strike to protest the transfers to cells, which they said would make
them more vulnerable to abuse.
Troops stormed prisons nationwide to break up the strike, resulting in four
days of clashes. Two soldiers were killed and 29 inmates died, many from
setting themselves on fire.
Huseyin Diri said his brother, imprisoned near the northwestern Turkish city
of Izmit, told of being beaten every morning for refusing to sing the
national anthem.
``When he refused, or if he didn't stand up when the guard walked in, they
started beating him,'' Diri said. He said his brother's face was covered
with bruises and that he had to be carried into a visiting room.
Yusuf Saglam said his 32-year-old son, on trial for being a member of an
armed leftist group, couldn't use an arm because of a bullet wound sustained
during the clashes.
``He couldn't show me the wound because he couldn't take off his shirt,'' he
said. His son said he was refused treatment.
New York-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said they were
sending delegations to Turkey to investigate the claims.
``There are people with broken arms and legs or burns who are not being
treated,'' said Ismail Boyraz of Turkey's Human Rights Association.
The Justice Ministry insisted that all those injured were treated, and any
visible wounds were sustained during the clashes, not in prison. ``No
prisoner had witnessed torture or ill-treatment,'' the ministry said in a
statement Saturday, according to the Anatolia news agency.
Human rights groups have long claimed that prisoners in Turkey suffer
torture, with leftists and Kurds singled out for abuse. Jonathan Sugden of
Human Rights Watch said his group was ``very concerned by the reports of
ill-treatment.''
``It seems that prisoners were right in fearing isolation,'' he said.
Meanwhile, nearly 90 inmates still staging a hunger strike reportedly were
in serious condition.
Here is an article by the Associated Press in the New York Times (online
edition) on Tuesday December 19th.
-Josh
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:13 p.m. ET
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Relatives of leftist prisoners transferred from
wards to cells after deadly clashes with government troops said Saturday
that inmates were being beaten and denied medical treatment.
Some inmates are beaten twice a day with truncheons during roll call, and
many have not received treatment for bullet wounds and other injuries,
relatives said after visiting the prisons.
The Justice Ministry denied the mistreatment but said it opened an
investigation into the claims.
Over the past 10 days, more than 1,000 prisoners, mostly from militant
leftist groups, have been transferred from large, dormitory-style wards to
new prisons with small cells. Hundreds of inmates had staged a 2-month-long
hunger strike to protest the transfers to cells, which they said would make
them more vulnerable to abuse.
Troops stormed prisons nationwide to break up the strike, resulting in four
days of clashes. Two soldiers were killed and 29 inmates died, many from
setting themselves on fire.
Huseyin Diri said his brother, imprisoned near the northwestern Turkish city
of Izmit, told of being beaten every morning for refusing to sing the
national anthem.
``When he refused, or if he didn't stand up when the guard walked in, they
started beating him,'' Diri said. He said his brother's face was covered
with bruises and that he had to be carried into a visiting room.
Yusuf Saglam said his 32-year-old son, on trial for being a member of an
armed leftist group, couldn't use an arm because of a bullet wound sustained
during the clashes.
``He couldn't show me the wound because he couldn't take off his shirt,'' he
said. His son said he was refused treatment.
New York-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said they were
sending delegations to Turkey to investigate the claims.
``There are people with broken arms and legs or burns who are not being
treated,'' said Ismail Boyraz of Turkey's Human Rights Association.
The Justice Ministry insisted that all those injured were treated, and any
visible wounds were sustained during the clashes, not in prison. ``No
prisoner had witnessed torture or ill-treatment,'' the ministry said in a
statement Saturday, according to the Anatolia news agency.
Human rights groups have long claimed that prisoners in Turkey suffer
torture, with leftists and Kurds singled out for abuse. Jonathan Sugden of
Human Rights Watch said his group was ``very concerned by the reports of
ill-treatment.''
``It seems that prisoners were right in fearing isolation,'' he said.
Meanwhile, nearly 90 inmates still staging a hunger strike reportedly were
in serious condition.