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Fri, 30. Jun 2006
Two of the 198 Iranian-Kurdish refugees stranded on the Jordan-Iraq border
since January 2005 started a 'permanent' hunger strike on Sunday. The move
was intended to put more pressure on the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to
resettle them all in a third country, according to Khabat Mohammadi, the
refugees' spokesperson.
This came a week after the entire group of refugees - including women and
children - went on a one-day hunger strike on World Refugee Day (20 June) to
draw international attention to their request.
The refugees' latest action will once again highlight the difficulties faced
by UNHCR's office in Amman in providing medical assistance to the group.
According to the agency, the refugees are in an area that is officially
neither on Iraqi nor Jordanian territory.
Additionally, because of a lack of security along the Jordan-Iraq border,
"access by UNHCR and assistance to the refugees has been sporadic and
unreliable", according to a statement released on Monday by UNHCR's office
in Jordan.
UNHCR sources said the agency was negotiating with different entities to
find the most expedient manner to assist the refugees, especially in terms
of providing medical assistance to the two refugees on hunger strike. The
agency continued to insist that "resettlement is not a right" and can only
be possible in a third country if there is a clear need, no alternative
solution in the country of asylum and [is] dependent on an offer from a
country willing to resettle the refugees.
The refugees recently rejected an offer by UNHCR to facilitate their return
to Iran, their country of origin, because they claim to be political
opponents of the government in Tehran. The Jordanian government continues to
deny entry to the refugees for fear of a flood of other potential refugees.
The Iranian-Kurdish refugees arrived at the Karama border crossing between
Jordan and Iraq after fleeing al-Tash refugee camp in Iraq's western Anbar
governorate, following clashes there between insurgents and US forces in
January 2005. They remain on the Iraqi side of the border, an area prone to
harsh weather conditions.
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Why Torture is Systematic
The primary reason is that those who commit torture are protected and they
go unpunished. Of those applying to the foundation, 113 were tortured in the
first 5 months of 2006. Turkey should approve the additional protocol.
Turkey's Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) chairman Yavuz Onen has said that
torture remains to be a systematic fact in Turkey and that "everyone from
any gender, any age, any profession can be tortured with or without being
charged with an offence".
In a speech he made marking the World Solidarity Day for Those Tortured,
Onen said the reason torture was so wide spread and continuous was that
"persons committing torture are protected by authorities in many countries
and left unpunished".
113 Torture applications to TIHV in the first 5 months of 2006
Onen said that even in the applications made to TIHV, it had been determined
that 113 people had been subjected to torture in the first five months of
2006 and disclosed further details on human rights violations documented by
the Foundation.
* A total of 10 thousand 449 people applied to TIHV and were medically
treated between the years 1990-2005 because they were tortured or
mistreated.
* 193 of the 675 people who applied to TIHV in 2005 were tortured while 113
of 165 people who applied in the first five months of 2006 were tortured.
* According to data at the TIHV Documentation Center, 5 people died in
custody in 2005.
* TIHV has determined that at least 7 people died in prison.
"Torture cannot be prevented by law, proper enforcement required"
Onen said that ratification of international conventions or passing some
laws and regulations in the national justice system were not enough to
prevent torture and stressed that the content of conventions and laws had to
be enforced properly. He said legal, judicial, administrative and
educational measures were needed to prevent torture and listed a number of
improvement points that would add to preventative measures.
Prosecutors should act automatically: A complaint should not be expected to
start an investigation into claims of torture and mistreatment. Where there
is sufficient suspicion on this issue, the investigation should start
automatically.
A judicial police force should be formed: A judicial police force should be
formed and work directly under the authority and employ of the Republic
Prosecutor.
The Istanbul Protocol should be enforced: For the physical and mental marks
of torture to be determined, the United Nations approved Istanbul Protocol
procedures should be enforced for victims of torture.
Turkey should ratify the Supplemental Protocol of the Convention to Prevent
Torture: Turkey should ratify and enforce the UN Convention to Prevent
Torture Supplemental Protocol that allows for developing effective control
mechanisms that have a great role in preventing torture.
Legislation allowing no punishment should be amended: All laws, circulars
and regulations that lead to no punishment should be reviewed and changed in
entirety and coherently.
The TMY should be withdrawn: The Anti-Terror Law should be withdrawn.
Education and Monitoring: In order for the legal improvements to be
enforced, the enforcers should be given the necessary education and
training, effective monitoring should be established.
Mechanisms of No Punishment
Onen, identifying the failure of punishing torturers as a major problem in
torture becoming a systematic concept, listed "mechanisms" that led to
failure of punishing the culprits.
Investigation Process: The habit of carrying out preparatory investigations
related to torture allegations by the police force continued. During the
investigation the police force most times does not carry out the necessary
procedures, does not collect evidence. Prosecutors generally do not pay
attention to the torture claims or the evidence in the file, during
proceedings and other than this, want written applications.
Courts: During the trials when courts come across a torture claim or
discovery, they are ignorant of the incident. They do not feel the need to
make a criminal complaint to the prosecutor related to torture. This
situation means the torturers go unpunished.
Legal aid to police officials suspected of torture: Legal assistance
provided to security officials charged with the offence of torture plays the
role of encouraging no punishment. This aid has even been expanded in the
TMY draft to include attorneys that the officers themselves will select. The
draft also brings to officers involved in the fight against terrorism, the
guarantee of being tried on bail.
ECHR fines cannot be collected: Justice Minister Cemil Cicek recently
replied to a written motion saying that the Treasury was not able to collect
compensation that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentences
required for torture and mistreatment crimes and had to pay 750 thousand
YTL. This means that the torturers are not being punished.
Long duration trials: Trials that are extended over a long time are another
reason for torture offenders not being punished with judicial officials not
fulfilling their responsibilities in enforcing and interpreting the
legislation.
Amnesty of records to add to no punishment: The "Law related to the Amnesty
of Some Disciplinary Sentences of Civil Employees and Other Public Service
Employees" passed by Parliament on June 22 will contribute to torture being
unpunished. With this adjustment, all penalties bar "discharge from
profession" due to torture relating to police officers have been pardoned.
The small number of security personnel that have been punished will be
pardoned with this adjustment.
Medical Reports: Medical reports to determine and document torture can still
be defective, insufficient or wrong. This is another concept of going
unpunished. To prove torture claims, mental diagnosis is as important as
physical diagnosis. Medical personnel preparing reports are not sufficiently
trained or equipped to determine the physical and mental marks of torture.
Medical personnel are attached to ministries: The fact that medical personnel authorised to examine persons before and after detention or during their delivery to prison work either under the Ministry of Interior or Justice is a great obstacle in their ability to function without any
pressure in an objective and scientific way.
Council of Forensic Medicine is not independent: The Council of Forensic Medicine is not autonomous or independent which plays a role in harming its
reliability. Where torture suspects are state officials, it becomes difficult to document the crime. Medical personnel that need to document findings of torture can face as much pressure from the authorities as they do from the police force and can be threatened. This leads to torture
findings not being documented and indirectly for the offenders to go
unpunished.
by Tolga Korkut