New Pro Kurdish Party: Party for Rights and Freedom 
Following 3 years of preparation, the Party for Rights and Freedom was founded in Ankara on 11.02.2002. The party intends to resolve the country’s fundamental issues which the existing parties and government cannot solve. The party wishes to create a Turkey which has a democracy and constitution complying to EU standards, which is modern and just and which guarantees rights and freedoms. The injustices concerning incomes are to be stopped. Public consensus would be sought for on the issues multi-culturalism and multi-lingualism.
The Kurdish question, Turkey’s central and most fundamental question, should be approached as a public project within a pluralist, participatory and democratic Turkey. The existing conflict represented a threat to civil peace which was leading to severe abuses to rights and freedoms. In this way the party has included in its party manifesto the resolution of the Kurdish question as a central issue in the renewed development of democracy within Turkey. 
The party has given particular value to a new culture of policy and political party activity. Accordingly, the party leadership is limited to 3 periods in office. The party sees itself as a participatory, pluralistic, collective and democratic people’s party and wants to operate as transparently as possible.
Included in the party leadership are: Ibrahim Güclü, Fehmi Demir, Necdet Gündem, Resit Deli, Bayram Bozyel, Fettah Karagöz, Arif Sevinc, Kasim Ergün, Kurbani Demir, Mehmet Celal Baykara, Mehmet Sakir Isot, Necati Bayram, Nurettin Basut and Ramazan Kahramaner. (Source: Statement on Party Foundation, 14.02.02)

TIHV Issues 2001 Human Rights Annual Report 
The Human Rights Annual report for 2001, issued by the Documentation Center of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV), was presented at a press conference in Ankara by TIHV head Yavuz Önen. Önen stated that 2001 had been the most repressive year yet, despite there having been loud calls from within the debate on EU entry, for democracy from various groups and classes of society as well as for progress at a political level. 
Önen said that political, social and cultural rights of citizens and groups had been severely violated through measures taken to protect national unity, national security and the secular and democratic republic. The major problem in 2001 was the contradiction between human rights and policies to protect the regime.
Önen pointed out that opposition parties in Turkey were subjected to persistent and severe repression. The HADEP Party had been subjected by far to the most repression such as arrests and detention. Such repression, aimed to silence critics of the regime, has also been directed at civilian and democratic organizations such as associations, foundations, professional associations and trade unions. Amongst the targets for police and state prosecutors in 2001 were the trade union KESK, the medical association Türk Tabipler Birligi, the Lawyers Association in Istanbul, the trade union Yargi-Sen, the Turkish Human Rights Association IHD and the Turkish Human Rights Foundation TIHV. Turkish legislation had been amended to enable action to be taken against these groups.
In the past year many events had either been banned or prevented through massive police intervention.
Önen also reported that there continued to be a danger to both life and limb. Although the number of murders by unknown persons had marginally reduced in 2001, there had still been many such murders as well as disappearances, unlawful executions, deaths in custody, forced resettlements and village clearances. Children had again been the victims of arbitrary repression by the security forces.
The protests concerning the F-type prisons are daily on the foundation’s agenda. To date 87 people have lost their lives. The justice minister has rejected every proposal. From 400 prisoners who have had their sentences suspended because of ill-health, 341 turned to the TIHV because of their health problems.
On the situations in the state of emergency provinces, Önen said that their economies and democracy were in a bad state. No improvements whatsoever could be observed. Village dwellers wanting to return to their homes had been subjected to arbitrary violence from the gendarmerie and village marshals. The marshals continue to occupy estates. The 3 main villages built by the government have been handed over to village marshals and gendarmerie. There are still around 4 million people without a roof over their head who are living in inhumane conditions.
Önen said that incidents of torture had not declined despite legislative changes, training programmes and official notices to counter such. A total of 1,229 people had approached the TIHV for treatment in 2001. Those officials responsible for torture continue to receive protection from the judiciary. 
Changes to paragraphs 159 and 312 of the Turkish penal code do not fulfill the expectations of the public. On the contrary, they lay the grounds for further restrictions on basic freedoms. 
According to TIHV records for 2001, there were 24 murders by unknown persons, 33 people were unlawfully executed, and thousands had been subjected to violence. A total of 456 cases were brought before the state security courts concerning speeches made or articles written. A total of 3,468 political party leaders and members had been arrested, 3,245 of those being from HADEP. Fifty-five HADEP offices had been raided by the police and 1.059 people had made complaints to the EU Court of Human Rights. (Source: Yedinci Gündem, 15.02.02)

Strasbourg Finds Turkey Guilty of Death through Torture 
The European Court for Human Rights has found Turkey guilty of the violent death of a young Kurd from Bitlis. The Strasbourg judges considered it proven that the 23 year old Kurd, Abdulselam Orak, was tortured to death by Turkish security forces in 1993. Orak was arrested on 11.06.1993 by security forces in an operation against suspected PKK members. On 20.6.1993 Orak was taken to hospital in Bitlis with severe injuries and subsequently transferred to a hospital in Diyarbakir. Doctors reported that he was unconscious and that he was covered in injuries. He died in hospital on 23.6.1993 without  coming around from the coma. The court ordered Turkey to pay 72,500€ in compensation to Orak’s relatives. 
The EU Enlargement Commissioner, Günter Verheugen, has made entry negotiations with Ankara dependent on further political reforms. Verheugen said in Ankara that the recent legislative amendments represented “an improvement in Turkish terms”. However, he did call for further measures to be taken such as the abolition of the death penalty and reforms concerning the education system. This includes permitting the Kurdish language in schools and further education institutions. (Sources: afp, Press Statement from the EUCHR, 14.02.02)  The EUCHR press statement can be found on our web site. Further judgments from the court can be found under http://freemailng0803.web.de/jump.htm?goto=http://www.echr.coe.int
/http://www.echr.coe.int
 

Countdown for Amnesty International’s Reopening in Turkey
The minister of state responsible for human rights, Nejat Arseven, has let it be known that parliament have authorized a mandate for the reopening of the AI offices. The mandate has now been submitted to Presi-dent Ahmet Necdet Sezer for signing. The statutory processes will then have been completed and the human rights organizations can again take up their work after a 20 year pause. 
Claims that MHP leader and deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli had refused to vote for the mandate were denied by Arseven. (Source: Turkish Daily News, 13.02.02)
 

RTÜK Closes Kurdish TV 
The regional TV station Gün TV, which broadcasted Kurdish language music videos, has been closed down for 1 year by RTÜK (Turkish Radio and TV Control Board) despite the constitutional reform package from October 2001 which now permits Kurdish language broadcasts. According to RTÜK, Gün TV had breached existing laws. An RTÜK spokesperson said that the songs were not just romantic love songs but were also strongly ideological. Gün TV also reported on HADEP events. Police had already searched the studios of Gün Radio in November, stopping the broadcasts and seizing equipment. (Source: reuters, 12.02.02)
 

Turkey Arrests 59 HADEP Members for Campaign on Education 
Following the arrests by security forces in several cities of more than 200 members of HADEP youth or-ganizations, HADEP have now revealed that 59 party members have also been arrested for their support of the campaign for Kurdish language education.
They are at risk of heavy penalties for supporting a PKK controlled campaign. (Source: afp, 11.02.02) 
 

The U.N. Carries Out Census in Northern Iraq 
UN are to carry out a comprehensive and detailed census in northern Iraq. They estimate the population to be at 3.5 million and through the census wish to acquire exact information on recent demographic changes such as forced resettlements and deportations during the Gulf War. Information will also be ac-quired on living standards, types of housing and numbers of handicapped people.
The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) hope to get information that will ensure the effective implementa-tion of the “Food for Oil” scheme. Kurds in northern Iraq are entitled to 13% of Iraqi income from oil sales.
Iraq carried out a census in 1997 but excluded the northern provinces of Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaimaniya. The population was estimated to be 22.4 million excluding these enclaves. Census taking is an awkward issue in Iraq. The Kurds have accused the regime of manipulating the figures from censuses in 1977 and 1987, particularly in the controversial regions of Kirkuk, Khanakin und Sinjar so as to alter the actual eth-nic makeup there. (Source: Iraq Press, 05.02.02)
 

Mass Grave Found in Northern Iraq 
Six bodies have been found in a mass grave on the outskirts of the town of Sulaimaniya. According to the TV station KurdSat, initial evidence indicates that the 6 young men, dressed in traditional Kurdish clothing, were executed in 1983. There were bullet wounds to their bodies.
The Kurdish administration revealed that this was the fourth mass grave found within the grounds of the Sardaw military camp, set up by the Iraqi army in 1982.
Bakhtiar Amin, head of the Washington based Internationalen Alliance for Justice (IAJ), told BBC Online, that these mass graves were further proof that Saddam Hussein and his regime had committed genocide and crimes against humanity.
The IAJ is an alliance of more than 260 NGO’s from 120 countries. They demand that the UN set up an expert commission which can assemble evidence of offences against humanity in Iraq.
UN Special Envoy, Andreas Mavrommatis, is apparently due to travel to Iraq. Amin has called on him to visit the mass graves and to investigate the fate of the disappeared. According to eye witness reports and other documentation, following the Kurdish uprising during the Gulf War, Iraqi soldiers allegedly deported 182,000 mainly young men to the desert in the south and buried them there alive. 
(Sources: BBC, 11.02.02)
 

The Speaker of the House of Commons Receives the Speaker of Kurdistan’s Parliament 
On an official invitation from the Speaker of the Scottish Parliament, Lord David Steel, Dr. Roj Noor Sha-wais, Speaker in Kurdistan’s Parliament, arrived in Scotland on 06.02.2002. Dr. Shawais spoke with high-ranking Scottish parliamentary officials and was also received by the Mayor of Glasgow. They expressed their desire of closer cooperation between the 2 parliaments.
Dr. Shawais was later received by the Speaker of the British House of Commons. The current situation in Kurdistan and the region was discussed. There were also talks on normalization in Kurdistan and the Washington peace agreement. The Speaker of the House of Commons gave assurances of continued support for UN Resolution 986 and for continued international protection. (Source: KurdishMedia.com, 12.02.02)
 

Four Prisoners Die from Maltreatment and Illness 
According to party sources 4 prisoners in Abu Ghraib’s prison have died from maltreatment and disease. Khaled Rahman Saeed (b. 1953) from Kirkuk suffered from a stomach ulcer. Kameran Qader Abdullah (b. 1974) from Qaradagh in Sulaimaniya had a stroke. Mohammed Abdullah Jebrail (b. 1969) from Kirkuk had serious injuries to his spinal column. Mohammed Ahmed Rasoul (b. 1962) from Kirkuk suffered a heart attack. They had been in prison since 1987. Their bodies were taken by officials from Abu Ghraib and buried in 2 graves at the Al Alban cemetery. (Source: Statement from the Human Rights Center of the Iraqi Communist Party, 06.02.02)
 

Iran Refuses to Close Borders to Kurdish Regions 
Iran have refused an Iraqi recommendation to close its borders to the Kurdish regions also in the event of a military strike from Saddam. This was revealed in a meeting between Talabani and Iranian representa-tives. Talabani had accepted an official inivitation from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Informed sources claim the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Naji Hadithy, had made this demand. Iranian delegates gave Talabani assurances of support in the event of a military strike. (Source: KurdishMedia.com, 11.02.02 from Al-Mutamar) 
 

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