ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
27
164. On 27 or 28 December 1993 he was interrogated and accused of
assisting a certain Rıza Altun to make contact with the PKK, which
organisation the latter then joined. The applicant denied the allegation. He
was told that Abdülhakim Güven had made the allegation. He had met
Mr Güven as a prisoners' representative when interviewing clients. He was
purportedly confronted with Mr Güven during the interrogation but, as he
was blindfolded, he did not know if it was truly him. He refused to sign any
confrontation report or statement, as he was not allowed to know their
contents.
165. During the first days of detention he was severely beaten, his hair
was pulled and he was threatened with various kinds of torture. He was
stripped naked and hosed down with cold water. He was deprived of sleep
by blaring military and Arab music.
166. Tahir Elçi was hosed too. He heard the screams of Meral Daniş
Beştaş and Hüsniye Ölmez under torture. He had not met these people prior
to his detention. He and Tahir Elçi whispered their names to each other.
167. On the day of his release, 10 December 1993, he was taken with
others to see a doctor who asked if any of them had any visible wounds.
Only one person, possibly Arif Altinkalem, had a bruise which the doctor
recorded. Any injuries to the applicant had cleared up.
168. Mr Çem told the Public Prosecutor and the Investigating Judge
about the ill-treatment to which he had allegedly been subjected. He
repudiated the statements he had purportedly given. Neither recorded the
torture allegations.
169. He was indicted before the State Security Court for having
connections with the PKK. He was falsely accused of such activities as
transporting heroin for the PKK and taking money from Mr Güven to assist
the financially ailing newspaper, “Özgür Halk”, in İstanbul. Mr Güven
subsequently withdrew the latter allegation. The proceedings were still
pending.
170. During his detention Mr Çem was detained in a corridor with 10 to
15 other people; 3 or 4 people would share one blanket. Once a day he
received a quarter of a stale loaf of bread and was taken to the toilet first
thing in the morning. In case of urgency, people would be taken to the toilet.
No washing facilities were provided.
171. Mr Çem saw two of his interrogators when his blindfold slipped
whilst he was being hosed down with cold water. He saw them later when
he was taken to the Prosecutor's office, but the escorting officer stifled any
protest. He told the Prosecutor that he could identify at least two of his
torturers, but it was not taken up.
172. When he was released by the court, he and other lawyers were
addressed by a regiment commander called Eşref Hatipoğlu, and warned to
be careful as they would be followed.