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EXTERNAL                               AI Index: EUR 44/82/96
                                       7 June 1996
 
EXTRA 86/96    Fear of torture/Torture/Extrajudicial execution 
 
TURKEY     Azat Beyter, Sabri Beyter and 16 other male member of his
           family
           Hafiz Ciftci, Cafer Ciftci and 17 other male members of
           his family
           Tahir Bal
           Huseyin Bal
     
           Sedika Beyter (f), aged 80
           Abdulhaluk Beyter 
 
According to press reports and other sources some 50 Kurdish
villagers from Bay village near Hakkari in the southeast of Turkey
were detained during a recent operation by the security forces. The
detainees are being held at the Hakkari Brigade Command Headquarters
where it is feared they are being interrogated under torture.
 
Reportedly, three special team members dressed as PKK (Kurdish
Workers Party) militants came to Bay village on 30 May 1996 and
demanded bread from the villagers. Abdulhaluk Beyter and Azat
Beyter, who had given bread, were detained. On 31 May the security
forces raided the village and detained 12 more people. By 1 June
nobody was allowed to enter or leave the village. 
 
On 3 June another raid was carried out against the village and
according to villagers' testimony villagers were interrogated in
groups in stables. Sabri Beyter, had his mouth filled with excrement
and was threatened with having to swallow it if he did not talk.
During the search in the house of Halil Beyter, 80-year-old Sedika
Beyter was dragged out of bed and beaten.  She died two hours later. 
Her assailants alleged that she was hiding weapons. Cafer Ciftci was
beaten with rifle butts fracturing his leg.  Abdulhaluk Beyter, who
was released on 4 June, is said to be unable to walk due to torture.
 
Bay village reportedly persistently refused to join the village
guard system and the operation was launched to either make them join
or evacuate their village.
 
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 
Government forces are fighting armed members of the PKK over some
of the most rugged terrain in the country. PKK members frequently
visit villages to collect food and other supplies, which are given
willingly or unwillingly. The village guard system is used as a
method of maintaining government control over territory. Villagers
are offered a salary in exchange for bearing arms against the PKK.
When the system was established in the mid-1980s, village guards
were supposed just to defend their own village. Now, village guards
are deployed as a paramilitary force to participate in operations
against other villages, carry out identification checks on roads,
and perform other duties.
 
In theory, membership of the village guard corps is voluntary, but
in practice villagers are caught between two fires. Many are
reluctant to serve as village guards for fear of being killed by the
PKK. However, those who refuse to join are subject to reprisals by
the security forces, or village guards from neighbouring villages,
who accuse them of actively or passively supporting the PKK.
Security operations in villages are usually carried out by gendarmes
(soldiers carrying out police duties in rural areas), members of
Special Operations Teams (heavily armed units trained for close
combat and operating under the control of the Interior Ministry),
or village guards, or all three acting together. 
 
Normally no judicial authority (such as a judge or prosecutor) is
present at such security operations. The inhabitants of the village
are assembled in the village square, and those selected for
interrogation are taken away to a police station, gendarmerie post
or other place of detention, or are interrogated in the village
itself. Unprotected by the most basic safeguards against torture,
such villagers are frequently exposed to the most brutal treatment
- sometimes resulting in terrible injuries or even death.
 
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in English or your
own language: 
 
- expressing concern for the safety of the 50 villagers from Bay
village near Hakkari, including 18 members of the Beyter family, 19
members of the Ciftci family, Tahir Bal and Huseyin Bal, detained
between 31 May and 3 June and since held at the Hakkari Brigade
Command Headquarters; 
 
- seeking assurances that they are not being subjected to torture
or any other form of ill-treatment; 
 
- expressing particular concern at reports that 80-year-old Sedika
Beyter was beaten to death during the security operation against Bay
village and that Sabri Beyter had excrement forced into his mouth
during interrogation by the security forces in the village; 
 
- urging that an immediate and thorough investigation be carried out
into these allegations and those responsible found responsible be
brought to justice; 
 
- requesting to be informed of its findings.
 
APPEALS TO:
 
Hakkari Gendarmerie Brigade Commander:
 
[Salutation: Dear Commander]
Hakkari Jandarma Tugay Komutani
Tugay Komutanligi
Hakkari, Turkey
Telegrams:     Tugay Komutani, Hakkari, Turkey
 
Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie:
 
General Teoman Koman
[Salutation: Dear General]
Jandarma Kuvvetleri Komutanligi
Bakanliklar
Ankara, Turkey
Telegrams:     Jandarma Genel Komutani, Ankara, Turkey
Faxes:         +90 312 418 0476
 
Chief of the Turkish General Staff:
 
General Ismail Hakki Karadayi
[Salutation: Dear General]
Bakanliklar
Ankara, Turkey
Telegrams:     General Karadayi, Bakanliklar, Ankara, Turkey
Faxes:         +90 312 418 1795
 
PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:  His Excellency Mr Ozdem
Sanberk, Embassy of Turkey, 43 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PA
 
AND, IF POSSIBLE, TO THE FOLLOWING:
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
 
Mr Emre Gonensay               
Ministry of Foreign Affairs   
Disisleri Bakanligi
06100 Ankara, Turkey
Fax:           +90 312 419 1547
 
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Please do not send appeals after
20 July 1996.
 
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ If you have any queries about this Urgent Action or about +
+ the UA scheme in general, please contact:                 +
+   Ray Mitchell                                            +
+   Amnesty International UK Section                        +
+   99 - 119 Rosebery Avenue                                +
+   London EC1R 4RE      email: rmitchellai@gn.apc.org      +
+-----------------------------------------------------------+