TURKISH JUSTICE MINISTER ISSUES UNPRECEDENTED

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000532 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OSCE PHUM PREL TU PGOV SUBJECT: TURKISH JUSTICE MINISTER ISSUES UNPRECEDENTED APOLOGY FOR TORTURE ¶1. (U) Summary and comment: Turkish Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin publicly apologized October 15 for the death of a detainee caused by the disproportionate use of force. Human rights contacts welcomed the unprecedented step by a public official and hope the statement will lead to concrete improvements in an area where Turkey has made great strides in the past decade but has backslid recently. Sahin's recognition was an important acknowledgement that much work still needs to be done to modernize Turkey's justice system and is just the sort of plea needed to spur action at a time when Turkey needs to jump-start a stalled reform process. Given the positive domestic reaction, the odds seem improved that the GOT will follow through with its words by taking significant actions to reduce the cases of torture in the future. End Summary and Comment. Detainee Allegedly Killed by Disproportionate Use of Force -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) On September 28, Istanbul police in Istinye detained Engin Ceber, Ozgur Karakaya, Aysu Baykal, and Cihan Gun for disturbing the peace by distributing copies of the leftist weekly "Yuruyus" (March). The men were distributing the paper in protest of the 2007 police shooting and subsequent paralysis of Ferhat Gercek, another activist who was distributing the same paper at the time of the shooting. Police initially detained the four suspects at Istanbul's Istinye Police Station and later transferred them to Istanbul's Metris Prison. That week, the defendants' attorney filed a criminal complaint against Istinye Police Station officers alleging they had beaten the defendants. On October 6, Ceber was transferred from the Metris Prison to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries he allegedly sustained during the police beatings. Ceber died of a brain hemorrhage on October 11. Justice Ministry inspectors confirmed Ceber was tortured and suspended 19 prison personnel for their suspected involvement in the abuse. Justice Minister Apologizes -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On October 13, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin privately apologized to the family of Engin Ceber. Speaking to reporters later, Sahin said, "I called Ceber's father and commiserated. He has just one expectation - that those responsible should be judged immediately and penalized with the most severe punishments." Sahin said he had assigned two officers to investigate the incident and that, "If this is proven, those responsible will be sentenced to life imprisonment." Emphasizing the importance of education for penal officers in eliminating the problem, Sahin said the government will increase the training of penal officers to prevent torture in the future. "I do not think that a new legal framework is necessary, but the staff is suffering from a lack of education," he said. Human Rights Groups Welcome GOT Acknowledgement of Torture -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Human rights organizations and government offices have documented a rise in cases of torture during the past two years. According to an October 2008 report by the Prime Ministry's Human Rights Commission, the level of torture and mistreatment in the first half of 2008 surpassed that in the first half of 2007. The Presidency found that 178 people reported cruel treatment and 26 reported torture in the first six months of 2008, compared to 79 reports of mistreatment and 17 reports of torture during the first half of 2007. The Human Rights Foundation in Turkey reports 29 detainee deaths this year, including the death of Ceber. HRF Izmir Chairman Coskun Usterci told us he attributes the rise to amendment to the Law of the Powers and Duties of the Police that does not clearly delineate appropriate situations to use lethal force. Usterci also noted that the HRF has documented a disturbing trend where police try to avoid legal responsibility for beatings by taking detainees to rural fields, beating them, and then during booking claim the suspects had resisted arrest. Such a tactic is one way police are circumventing the increased EU scrutiny on police methods, according to Usterci. ¶5. (SBU) HR contacts told us MOJ Sahin's recognition of torture sent an important message at a time Turkey has been backsliding on the issue. According to Amnesty International Izmir Chair Tanel Kilic, "this is a first in Turkish political history that the justice minister directly apologized in the name of the State and his government." The Human Rights Agenda Association's Izmir Chair Orcun Ulusoy told us he hopes the unprecedented action would lead to concrete action by state officials to prevent such "systematic violence - from the police station to the prison" in the future. ¶6. (U) This is a joint ConGen Istanbul-Embassy Ankara cable. WIENER