Amnesty International Concerned of Deaths

On 5 November Turkish police forces conducted a raid on Kucukarmutlu, whichhas been the centre of hunger strikes against the new "F-Type" prisonsystem. As a result of the operation four protesters -- Arzu Guler, BulentDurgac, Baris Kas and Sultan Yildiz -- died and at least 14 others werewounded. The four bodies were removed by police officers from a house whichhad been burnt down in the course of the raid. The house was one of twowhere hunger strikes continued; Arzu Guler was participating in the hungerstrikes while the other three were supporters. Official sources state thatthe protesters set themselves on fire and died either from the resultingburns or from carbon monoxide poisoning. During the past few months thedeath fasters in Kucukarmutlu had repeatedly threatened to set themselveson fire should the security forces intervene.

The police operation reportedly started at 3 pm and lasted for 30 minutes:approximately 1,000 police officers forced their way into the neighbourhoodwith armoured vehicles, breaking down barricades constructed by theprotesters. Ali Haydar Bozkurt, one of the hunger strikers, set himself onfire and was shot and wounded by police officers when he walked towardsthem from the barricades.

Eyewitnesses, interviewed by a delegation of human rights defenders,reported that the police repeatedly fired their weapons both at specifictargets and at random as they moved towards the death fast house. They alsoreported the use of gas bombs by the police. The eyewitnesses alleged thatthere was no armed resistance from the protesters and some newspapers havequoted witnesses saying that police fired into the house of the hungerstrikers.

After the operation ended, a contested number of people were arrested andsome wounded protesters were driven away in ambulances. Police have notconfirmed the number of arrests, deaths or injuries. Furthermore, lawyersare reportedly not allowed to observe the ongoing autopsies.

Amnesty International is calling for a prompt, independent and impartialinvestigation into the deaths and injuries. In particular the organizationis seeking information from the Turkish authorities on the justificationfor an armed operation of this scale at this particular moment and whetherthe security forces complied with the UN Basic Principles on the Use ofForce and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. These Principles recommendthat law enforcement officials "shall as far as possible apply non-violentmeans before resorting to the use of force and firearms. ... Whenever thelawful use of force and firearms in unavoidable, law enforcement officialsshall exercise restrain in such use and act in proportion to theseriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved;minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life; ..."

Amnesty International also calls upon the authorities to inform relativesabout any detentions and to ensure that none of the detainees is torturedor ill-treated.

Background

A hunger strike against the new prison system has been continuing insideand outside prisons for more than a year. The shanty town neighbourhood ofKucukarmutlu in Istanbul was the main place in which supporters of thepolitical prisoners started a hunger strike and where a number of hungerstriking prisoners continued their hunger strike having been released fromprison on medical grounds. More than 40 people (prisoners, releasedprisoners and supporters) have already died during the hunger strike.

On 15 September 2001 police had intervened with teargas and water cannonsin Kucukarmutlu in order to disperse supporters of the hunger strikes. On 5November, the day of the second big intervention, the Turkish dailynewspaper Sabah published pictures of the barricaded neighbourhood callingit an area "liberated" by the armed opposition group DHKP-C and criticizingthe inactivity of the government.

Prisoners have usually been housed in large dormitories that hold 60 andsometimes more prisoners, but the Turkish authorities have started to buildnew wings to existing prisons and also 11 F-Type prisons in whichdormitories are replaced by smaller cells. From the start of this process,there have been major protests and clashes in prisons. From October 2000,more than 1,000 political prisoners participated in a hunger strike inprotest against the F-Type prisons.

On 19 December 2000 the security forces conducted an operation in 20prisons during which 30 prisoners and two soldiers died. Hundreds of malepolitical prisoners were transferred using excessive force to three F-Typeprisons. As of July 2001, six F-Type prisons were already in use, and fivemore were being constructed. They have single and three-person cells withadjacent yards for three prisoners at the most.