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"Pathologists blast govt account of prison crackdown deaths" Agence France Press An official pathologists' report has blasted holes through the Turkish government's account of how 30 inmates died during a paramilitary crackdownon hunger striking prisoners last December, centre-left newspaper Radikal said on Monday. Six of the prisoners, all women, were killed in an Istanbul jail by police using excessive quantities of tear and nerve gas, according to a report written in February by forensic pathologists, Radikal said. At the time the government said five of the women had set fire to themselves and the sixth had been suffocated by the smoke. They were among 12 inmates officially reported to have died in Bayrampasa prison, on the European side of Istanbul, during the four-day crackdown launched on December 19. But the pathologists' report demolishes the government account, saying "police used numerous tear and nerve gas grenades in an enclosed space measuring 30 square metres (yards), which apparently caused a fire and subjected the inhabitants of (women's) dormitory C1 to a very high threshold of chemicals and smoke". Autopsies on the victims revealed traces of organic solvents including tolulene, xylene and methanol on their skin and clothing, the report said. Prisoners did not fire on security forces, as the government had claimed in justification of its heavy-handed assault, the report said, adding that the shots had been fired from outside the jail. Security forces stormed 20 prisons on December 19 in a bid to end a hunger strike begun in October by mainly left-wing inmates protesting at the introduction of new, high security jails. Some 30 prisoners and two paramilitary policemen died in the assault. The prison strike has placed Turkey's bleak human rights record in the international spotlight at a time when the country needs to make far-reaching democratic reforms in order to promote its bid for European Union membership. The December crackdown did not halt the protest, by over 400 inmates and sympathisers, which claimed its 26th victim on Friday. The Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) said 22-year-old Zehra Kulaksiz, whose uncle was in jail, died on the 223rd day of her hunger strike. She died in an Istanbul house where her 19-year-old sister Canan starved to death in April on her 137th day without food. The strike is in protest at new "F-type" prisons consisting of cells holding a maximum of three people, in contrast to existing jails composed of large dormitories designed for up to 60 people. Prisoners and human rights groups say confinement in small units would alienate inmates from fellow prisoners and leave them more vulnerable to torture by prison officials. Despite the mounting death toll and international pressure, the government has refused to back down on the introduction of the new prisons. Ankara maintains the packed dormitories are the main factor behind frequent riots and hostage-taking incidents in its unruly jails. Since the December crackdown over 1,000 inmates have been transferred to F-type prisons despite a government pledge that the new jails would not become operational until a social consensus has been reached on their introduction. Ankara recently adopted a series of laws to improve jail conditions but the moves have been brushed aside by rights activists and civic groups as insufficient. Eyewitness Account see 'We were burnt alive' "Rights Groups appeal for truth" Ankara Four influential Turkish human rights groups urged the government Wednesday to give full, exact details on a deadly paramilitary crackdown against hunger-striking prisoners and to launch an investigation into anyone found at fault. The appeal was made in a joint statement by the Turkish Human Rights Association, the Turkish Union of Medical Doctors, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation and the Association of Contemporary lawyers. The statement came in the wake of official pathologists' reports, widely published in the national press, that contradicted a government account of the December raids on scores of prisons accross the country, in which 30 inmates and two soldiers were killed. We demand that the truth be revealed to the public, investigations be immediately launched against those responsible and that no one be granted judicial immunity, the statement said. The rights groups also called on Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk to order investigations at once or to resign if he cannot or is unwilling to do so. The controversial dawn jail raids were launched in a bid to end a hunger strike begun in October by mainly left-wing inmates protesting at the introduction of new, high security jails. But the four-day operation failed to halt the protest, which is still ongoing and has claimed 26 lives so far. According to the forensic pathologists' report, six of the inmates were killed in an Istanbul jail by police using excessive quantities of tear and nerve gas. This contradicts government claims that five of the women set fire to themselves and that a sixth was suffocated by smoke. Prisoners did not fire at security forces, as the government had claimed in justification of its heavy-handed assault, the report said. In a statement Tuesday, the justice and interior ministries criticized the publication of the report in the press as meddling in an ongoing judicial process. The prisoners' hunger strike is in protest at new F-type prisons, which consist of cells holding a maximum of three people, in contrast to existing jails with large dormitories for up to 60 people. Prisoners and human rights activists claim that confinement in smaller units would alienate inmates from fellow prisoners and leave them more vulnerable to ill-treatment and torture by prison officials. Despite the mounting death toll from the protests and international pressure, the government has refused to back down on the introduction of the new prisons on the grounds that the packed dormitories are the main factor behind frequent riots and hostage-taking incidents in its unruly jails. Ankara recently adopted a series of laws to improve jail conditions but the moves have been brushed aside by rights activists and civic groups as insufficient. |