From: amnesty@amnesty.oil.ca
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 08:53:52 -0500
Message-Id: <199911191353.IAA17301@amnesty.oil.ca>
To: amnesty-L@oil.ca
Subject: TURKEY: Kurdish girls raped and sexually abused in police custody
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
AI INDEX: EUR 44/01/99
19 November 1999
"A police officer asked me to 'take off my trousers and socks.' I again
was scared and obeyed. I was standing. A police officer in uniform asked
me to 'bend.' Afterwards he inserted something into my anus. It was
something long and serrated. At that moment a bleeding started. I was
totally bent. They were beating me with their sticks, saying 'stand
straight."After the anal rape the police officers reportedly told her
"Even if you go to a doctor, you cannot prove anything."
Nineteen-year-old Fatma Deniz PolattaÕ

Turkey

Kurdish girls raped and sexually abused in police custody

New evidence has emerged in the case of two Kurdish girls who were raped
and sexually abused in police custody over several days earlier this
year, demonstrating a continuing cycle of violence against young people
in Turkish police stations, Amnesty International warned today.

Around midnight on 5 March 1999, a 16-year-old girl, N.C.S.*, a high
school student was arrested in Iskenderun in the province of Hatay.
Fatma Deniz PolattaÕ, aged 19, was arrested on 8 March. Both were
brought to the Anti-Terror Branch of Police Headquarters in Iskenderun
where they were detained and tortured for seven and five days
respectively.

In detention, the two girls were blindfolded, prevented from sleeping,
going to the toilet, denied water and food, and forced to listen to loud
music and drink spoiled milk. The police made them strip and stay naked,
and told them to stand in exhausting positions for long periods of time.
The girls were routinely insulted and threats were made against their
parents.

N.C.S. was exposed to verbal and sexual harassment, continually beaten
on her genitals, buttocks, breast, head, back and legs, forced to sit on
a wet floor for a long time and roll naked in water, suspended from the
arms and exposed to pressurized cold water.

A formal complaint was lodged against the police officers and
subsequently in November an investigation was been opened. The two girls
have been sentenced to long prison terms after being charged with
membership of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and taking part in a
violent demonstration against the arrest of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The two girls claim that their convictions are based on statements
extracted under torture, yet they remain in prison pending the decision
of the Appeal Court.

While in detention, the girls underwent several medical examinations,
including virginity tests, by different doctors. None of the doctors
reported signs of violence. A later report by the Turkish Medical
Association describes medical symptoms which match the girls'
testimonies of sexual torture. The Turkish Medical Association has
stated that enforced gynaecological examinations are used simply to
violate a woman’s dignity and that they can be traumatic.

"Police officers are responsible for protecting people, not subjecting
them to torture. The Turkish Government must take serious measures to
ensure that children especially are not left at the mercy of security
forces and that those responsible for torture in custody are brought to
justice." Amnesty International said.

The organization is also urging Turkey to continue its law reform to
bring Turkish law fully in line with international standards, in
particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Turkey
ratified in 1995

* N.C.S. is used instead of the victim's full name as she is under the
age of 18.

ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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