E/CN.4/1999/61/Add.1
page 3
Introduction
1.
Following a request by the Special Rapporteur, the Government of Turkey
invited him, in 1997, to visit the country within the framework of his
mandate. The objective of the visit, which took place from 9 to
19 November 1998, was to enable the Special Rapporteur to collect first-hand
information from a wide range of contacts in order better to assess the
situation of torture in Turkey.
2.
During his visit the Special Rapporteur held meetings in Ankara
from 9 to 12 November with the following authorities: the Minister of the
Interior, Mr. Kutlu Aktas; the Minister of Justice, Mr. Hasan Denizkurdu; the
Minister of Health, Mr. Halil I. Ozsoy; the Minister of State in Charge of
Human Rights, Mr. Hikmet Sami Türk; the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the
Interior; the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the
Director-General for Multilateral Political Affairs; the Acting
Director-General for Security of the Ministry of the Interior; the
Director-General of Prisons and Detention Houses of the Ministry of Justice;
the Chief of Staff of the Jandarma; the General Director of Security of
Ankara; the Higher Council of Judges and Prosecutors; the Chairperson of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly Human Rights Inquiry Commission; the General
Prosecutor of the Ankara State Security Court; and the General Prosecutor of
Ankara.
3.
From 13 to 16 November the Special Rapporteur travelled to Diyarbakir,
where he met the Governor of the Emergency Region, the General Prosecutor of
Diyarbakir State Security Court and the Prosecutor of Diyarbakir. On 17 and
18 November the Special Rapporteur was in Istanbul, where he met the General
Prosecutor of the Istanbul State Security Court, the General Prosecutor of
Istanbul, the Director of Security of Istanbul, the President of the Forensic
Medical Agency and the Director of the Forensic Medical Institute of Istanbul
University.
4.
The Special Rapporteur also visited the places of detention at the
Anti-Terror Branch of the Security Directorate in Ankara; the Command Unit of
the Jandarma in Çinar, outside Diyarbakir; the Narcotics Department of the
Istanbul Directorate of Security and the Beyo—lu Central Police station in
Istanbul. In order to interview remand prisoners on their treatment in police
custody, the Special Rapporteur visited the Central Prison of Ankara, the
E-type prison of Diyarbakir and the Sa—malcilar Prison (BayrampaÕa) of
Istanbul, and also met the authorities in charge.
5.
In Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir the Special Rapporteur met persons
who themselves or whose relatives had allegedly been torture victims.
6.
He received verbal and/or written information from non-governmental
organizations working at the national level, including the following: the
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), the Human Rights Association (IHD),
the Contemporary Lawyers' Association (CHD), the Turkish Medical Association
(TTB) and the Turkish Forensic Association (FA).
7.
He also received verbal and/or written information from non-governmental
organizations working at the local level, including the following: in Ankara,