[gation organised by CEDRI to attend the trials…]

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gation organised by CEDRI to attend the trials of the people, councillors, and mayor of Fatsa.

759 people are charged with membership of Dev Yol ('Revolutionary Way' - one of the biggest leftwing organisations in Turkey), with collecting money • for it, and with plotting to overthrow the state' All of the charges relate to the period before the coup in 1980.

All of the defendants have been in prison for about three years, and some of them are still aged only about 18 - which means that at the time of their ince the military coup oi September 12 1980 Turkey ha: been governed by military unta. anything up to fifty political trials gong old bie comed before he colup in a le tige variety of organisations: the Turkish Peace Association, the trade union DISK, the Communist Party, Dev Yol, Yeni Celtek In all cases they are mass sualta tid numberses advary and n cases ave penalties have been asked tor.

Since 1980 there have been over 1000 executions in Turkey - almost one for every day that General Evren has been in power.

Fatsa As the purpose of our visit was to witness the Fatsa trial and prepare a report on it, we went to the northern town of Amasya where it is being held. Amasya is a beautiful old town south of the Black Sea, with a large prison and an even larger army camp outside the town.

We were assured that we would have 'complete freedom' of movement and be able to visit the trial and the prison. But this was not our experience.

When we arrived at the army camp we were told that we could not enter. We should come back the following day.

We heard that another trial was being held there, that of the people of Havsa.

When we returned, we were told variations of the same story, and that the Havsa trial would resume later. It did not: the many very poor relatives there who had made the long and expensive journey from their home town, to witness the trial, were very despondent indeed.

Dev Yol Since it seemed unlikely that there would be any trial whilst we remained in Amasya, we returned to Ankara to witness the trial of people accused of membership of Dev Yol. After some complications we finally managed to attend this trial.

It takes place in a military camp in Ankara, at a converted sports hall. Outside, in a dusty courtyard, were armed soldiers, who continually harassed the few relatives who were present and tried hard to stop our delegation talking to them.

Inside the building 205 men, all young, in civilian clothes but with shaven heads, were sitting on benches, surrounded by soldiers.

Sitting on the front row were 13 young women prisoners, also wearing civilian clothes. All the accused were surrounded by a steel fence.

At the back, in a sort of grandstand, were perhaps a hundred families, also closely guarded. Apart from us the press benches were empty. The lawyers' benches, totally separate from the prisoners, contained just two people.

On a huge dais at the front sat seven military officers, all wearing uniform and higt-collared cloaks. One of them was apparently the prosecutor.

The guard was changed every twenty minutes. A very intimidating parade of soldiers would march in and stand double guard, then the previous guard would march out. Any defendant wishing to go the toilet has to be accompanied by a soldier.

As the prosecutor read out his charge, the defendant concerned was ordered to the dock to give his response. (The women were not called while we were there). In all cases they denied the charges. Most stated that they had been tortured: all of them said that the statements were obtained under duress.

It is quite clear that rone of the defendants ever had free access to lawyers, and that they had been tortured. We met people who told us the most horrifying accounts of being dragged from their homes at night in mid-winter without proper clothes on. We heard of a wide variety of vile methods of torture in use. These included cold water, keeping prisoners awake for long periods under questioning, electric shock, and hitting prisoners with sandbags. The threat to harm relatives was ever-present and frequently used.

Since the coup all democratic rights have disappeared in Turkey. The so-called trade union which exists is run by the government, and all non-approved trade unions are banned, as are non-approved political parties.

The Council of Europe has been asked to investigate the breaches of human rights in Turkey by Holland, France, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The first hearing is due to take place soon.

Turkey is a member of NATO and supplied by NATO with the most modern weapons, which are used to repress its own people, and particularly the Kurds in Turkey.

The government of a country that has prisons bursting at the seams, daily executions, total control of all media outiets, and racism enshrined in its constitution (making any sort of Kurdish identity illegal) ought to stand condemned. Thousands of Turkish people in exile can attest to its brutality.

Our short visit convinced us that there is brutality, repression, and a complete lack ot justIce in Turkey under the iron heel of the military junta of President Evren.

CEDRI is the Comite pour la Defense des F Immigres, Missionsstr Postfach, CH-4002, Switzerland. European efugies et the judges. zsse 35, Basel,

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Socialist Organiser no. 147 September 22 1983 Page 4

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MÜLKUN TEMELA ADALET