Turkey's Interference With Torture

Thu Nov 28 19:43:48 GMT 1996

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.cic.net>
Subject: Turkey's Interference With Torture Treatment Centers

From: stk at schism.antenna.nl (stk at schism.antenna.nl)

Subject: TURKEY--INTERFERENCE WITH TORTURE TREATMENT CENTERS
Date:    Thu, 21 Nov 1996 09:25:48 -0500
From:    EMUNOZ <emunoz at AAAS.ORG>
Reply-To:AAAS Human Rights Action Network <AAASHRAN at GWUVM.GWU.EDU>
To:      Multiple recipients of list AAASHRAN <AAASHRAN at GWUVM.GWU.EDU>

20 November 1996

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTION NETWORK (AAASHRAN)

UPDATE
Turkey -- Turkish Government Continues Efforts to Interfere with
Work of Torture Treatment Centers

CASE NUMBER:  TU9432.ONEN
(Previous alerts issued on 9 January  1995, 16 February 1996, 26
April 1996, 14 May 1996, and 30 September 1996.)

ISSUES:  Right to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality; right
to freedom of expression

FACTS OF THE CASE:  AAAS Science and Human Rights Program has
been monitoring the trials against the Human Rights Foundation of
Turkey since they began on 10 May 1996.  The trials are the
result of a campaign launched by Turkish government officials to
stop the Foundation's documentation of human rights violations
and their provision of medical treatment to victims of police
torture and abuse.  The latest trials against Foundation
representatives took place on 1 and 8 November in Istanbul and
Adana respectively.  On 1 November, the Istanbul Beyoglu Penal
Court of Peace No. 3 acquitted Dr. Sukran Akin, a medical doctor
and director of the HRFT's Istanbul treatment center, of  the
charge of operating a private hospital.  The fourth hearing
against the Foundation's Adana representatives Tufan Kose, a
medical doctor, and Mustafa Cinkilic, a lawyer, who are being
prosecuted on charges of "operating an unlicensed health center,"
and "negligence in denouncing a crime" continues.  The next
trial will take place on 17 January 1997.

The trial against Dr. Akin represents the latest in a series of
legal attacks targeting the HRFT's efforts  to document human
rights violations and provide medical treatment  for victims of
police torture and abuse.  During her trial, Dr. Akin's lawyers
pointed out that the trials against the Human Rights Foundation
of Turkey's executives and staff were in contravention of
international conventions to which Turkey is a state party.  They
also stressed the political nature of the trials and the
interference with the judiciary process that is evident from a
letter written by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 29 January
1996, which initiated the investigations against the Foundation.

The Court's acquittal was based on the grounds that "the legal
elements of the prosecution were non-existent."  The prosecution
had demanded 3 to 15 days in prison and a fine of approximately
US$2,000.

The fourth trial against the Foundation's Adana Center
representatives took place on 8 November.  As in previous trials,
which took place on 10 May, 6 July, and 13 September, no decision
was handed down.

A new judge, the third to preside over this case, stated that he
did not feel prepared to make a final decision on the case.
Lawyer's representing the Foundation complained of the difficulty
in presenting the case to three different judges.  In two
previous trials, the Court demanded medical records from the
Foundation s Adana treatment center for torture survivors,
including confidential records from victims of torture and the
names of individuals who have collaborated with the center.  The
Foundation has refused the Court s order citing doctor-patient
confidentiality as one of its arguments.  In their defense,
Lawyer's presented a 13 June 1996 ruling handed down by the
United States Supreme Court protecting the records of
psychological therapists from prosecutors and plaintiffs'
lawyers.  This protection was extended to psychologist,
psychiatrist, and social worker records. They also presented
statements from international medical professionals about the
operating procedures of other torture treatment centers around
the world, and the importance of establishing a relationship of
trust between care providers and patients.  In the 13 September
trial, the Foundation submitted a summary of its patient files to
comply with the Court s request without violating doctor-patient
confidentiality.  Yet the Court maintained its position that the
Foundation has not complied with its demands.

The Adana court's demands that the Human Rights Foundation of
Turkey turn over its medical files represent a serious breach of
internationally accepted standards of medical ethics, which
protect the patient-care giver relationship.  The confidentiality
of this relationship is codified in the World Medical
Association's 1948 Geneva Declaration, which states:

    I [The Physician] shall respect the secrets which are
confided in me.

The Turkish Medical Association is a member of the World Medical
Association.

In addition, the continuing prosecution of HRFT representatives
for their documentation of incidents of torture violates
international human rights standards, including the right to free
speech.  Under the European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (which Turkey ratified in
1948):

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression (Article 10).

(Sources of information for this case include AAAS staff
attending Foundation trials, the Lawyers Committee for Human
Rights, and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:  Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or
airmail letters requesting that the Turkish government:

o    Drop all requests for the Foundation's medical files on the
     grounds that they fall under the protection of
     doctor-patient  confidentiality; and
o    Drop all charges against the Foundation and its
     representatives.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Head of State
President Necmettin Erbacan
Office of the President
Cumhur Baskanligi
06100 Ankara, Turkey
Fax:  011 90 312 468 5026

Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakanligi
06559 Ankara, Turkey
Fax:  011 90 312 417 3954

Copies to:
Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
1714 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Ambassador Marc Grossman
Embassy of the United States of America
Ataturk Blvd.
PSC 93, Box 5000
Ankara, Turkey
APO AE 09823
Fax:  011 90 312 467 0019

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