Brussels, 28/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Turkish Permanent Delegation to the European Union has reacted to many comments provoked by the tough intervention of Turkish security forces in the country's prisons. In a press statement, it recalls that adjusting detention conditions in prisons to bring them into accordance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and other international norms is part of the conditions for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Citing a statement dated 21 December, the press release stresses that Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who will take on the EU Council presidency during the first half of 2001, implicitly confirmed the necessity of such reform in prisons. Ms Lindh had said: "The necessity of the alignment of prisons and prison conditions in Turkey with the current international norms is very important both for Sweden and the EU". The Turkish delegation also recalls that, before launching an assault on prisons, the Turkish government tried to find a peaceful solution to put an end to the hunger strikes in various prisons by prisoners opposing the transfer of prisoners to new penitentiaries. Efforts of mediation were conducted by the Human Rights Inquiry Commission of the Turkish Parliament, various organisations of Turkish civil society and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (see EUROPE of 22 December, p.4), but these attempts resulted in failure.
After four days of intervention, the security forces took control of all prisons, including in Bayrampasa (Istanbul) where the authorities had not managed to penetrate for ten years, and the transfer of prisoners could begin. The assault caused 31 victims: most of the prisoners set themselves on fire while others and members of the security forces were killed during clashes. The fact that the prisoners possessed weapons and mobile phones proves the "weakness of the state", stressed Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan, who welcomed the operation which, in his view, has "washed away the shame of the State".
Many prisoners were released pursuant to application of the law of amnesty voted on 8 December by the Turkish Parliament, allowing prisons to release half of the 72,000 detainees. It provides for the sentences of all prisoners to be reduced by ten years and suspended, except for those condemned for separatism, rape and money laundering. It also suspends sentences of up to 12 years for the offence of expression in the media or during speeches at meetings.
Turkish Justice Minister Hikmet Sami kTurk, moreover, affirmed that Turkey had called on Belgium to take measures against the leaders of the extreme-left DHKP-C organisation, considered by Ankara as instigating hunger strikes in prisons. A Belgian task force, composed of parliamentarians, doctors and lawyers, was in Turkey on Wednesday and plans to stay until Sunday in order to visit the old and the new detention centres and to gather information on the conditions of detention and the unfolding of the assault in the past few days.