PUBLIC AI Index: EUR 44/070/2001 2 October 2001 Further information on UA 81/01 (EUR 44/020/2001, 2 April 2001) and follow-up (EUR 44/069/2001, 20 September 2001) Fear of torture and ill-treatment TURKEY Mehmet Dilsiz (m), (Çizre head of HADEP) Mehmet Dilsiz, head of the Çizre branch of HADEP (People's Democracy Party), a legal pro-Kurdish political party, has been detained by members of the security forces in southeast Turkey and may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment. He was detained during a search of his house in Çizre, Sirnak province, by plain-clothes police officers and soldiers on 2 September. He has reportedly been taken to Sirnak Provincial Gendarmerie Headquarters for questioning. Mehmet Dilsiz has been harassed and threatened by the security forces since he tried to set up a branch of HADEP in Çizre in September 2000. He has been taken into custody several times and warned to give up his party work. On 6 November 2000, when he was about to be appointed the head of HADEP in Çizre, he was arrested by gendarmes, remanded to prison, but released on appeal. The provincial gendarmerie commander later told him face to face that he would kill him if he did not give up his HADEP activities. Two other HADEP representatives, Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz, "disappeared" on 25 January. They were last seen at the Gendarmerie headquarters in Silopi, another district of Sirnak province. Three days later Mehmet Dilsiz reportedly received a phone call saying he would meet the same fate and "be sent to hell". When he asked who was calling, he was told: "I am the Death Angel of Serdar and Ebubekir". Mehmet Dilsiz and seven other members of HADEP in Çizre, were detained in early April 2001 after narcotics were found in his cotton fields. He was detained despite the fact that the gendarmerie had banned him from visiting or cultivating his fields. He alleges that the narcotics were placed there by members of the security forces. He was finally released from prison on 12 June. In another worrying development, a grenade was detonated at the offices of HADEP in Çizre on 20 September 2001. FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals in English or in your own language: - expressing concern for the safety of Mehmet Dilsiz; - urging that he should not be tortured or ill-treated; - reminding the government of its obligations as a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights, which states in Article 3: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." - calling on the authorities immediately release him or to be informed of the charges brought against him; -calling on the authorities to allow him immediate access to lawyers of his own choice, his family, and to any medical assistance he may need; -asking for steps to be taken to alleviate the pressure on the local HADEP organization in Sirnak province; APPEALS TO: Sirnak Gendarmerie Headquarters Jandarma Komutani Sirnak Jandarma Komutanligi Sirnak, Turkey Fax: +90 486 216 6517 Telegrams: Sirnak Jandarma Komutanligi, Sirnak, Turkey Salutation: Dear Commander Governor of Sirnak Mr. Hüseyin Baskale Sirnak Valisi Sirnak Valiligi Sirnak, Turkey Fax: + 90 8456 1188 Telegrams: Sirnak Valiligi, Sirnak, Turkey Salutations: Dear Governor Minister of the Interior Mr Rüstü Kazim Yücelen Ministry of Interior Içisleri Bakanligi 06644 Ankara, Turkey Telegrams: Interior Minister, Ankara, Turkey Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95 Salutation: Dear Minister COPIES TO: State Minister with responsibility for Human Rights Nejat Arseven Office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey Fax: + 90 312 417 04 76 Salutation: Dear Minister and to diplomatic representatives of Turkey accredited to your country. TURKIETS AMBASSAD BOX 24105 104 51 STOCKHOLM FAX 08- 663 55 14 E-post:turkbe@turkemb.se PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 13 November 2001. Source: Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom

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