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news
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Bomb
in Iraqi Kurdistan kills boy, 4, wounds two others: police
Bahceli: Barzani's Statement Is Unacceptable How Kurdistan's first suicide bomber changed his mind Interrogations link Al Qaeda to Iraq Two hundred Iraqi Kurdish immigrants land in southern Italy Turkey, Iraqi Kurdish Tensions High Jalal Talabani Interview with Asharq Al-Awsat Iraqi Kurd Fighters Seen More Organized Iranian troops deployed on Iraqi border: Kurds Saddam's son says Iran not al-Qaeda behind Kurdistan Islamist group KDP Slams Berlin Embassy Seizure as "Terrorism" Barham Salih: The Radical group Ansar al-Islam Plans Attacks Talabani Wants US Date for Post-Saddam Poll U.S. Monitors Kurdish Extremists raq orders banks to be opened in Kurdistan Saddam will not stop me being a Kurd
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Amnesty
International to EU: Turkey still uses torture
September
18, 2002 The EU is expected to decide in December whether to open negotiations with Turkey over the country's joining the union - talks that have been long delayed because Turkey has not met EU demands for democratic and economic reforms, including a ban on torture. Amnesty said in a report to EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen that torture was ``widespread'' and persistently used by police forces in most of Turkey's 13 provinces. Amnesty representatives found evidence of torture while visiting Turkey from January to June. They listed 28 cases involving 60 alleged victims. The alleged victims included suspects accused of pro-Kurdish, militant Islamist or leftist activities, and suspects - many of them children - accused of burglary and theft, the group said. Amnesty said people taken in for questioning routinely are blindfolded and can face a barrage of torture methods, including electric shocks, hanging by the arms and severe beatings. ``Women and girls taken into custody are reportedly regularly sexually abused and threatened with rape,'' the report said. Turkish officials said they did not have immediate comment on the report. Dick Oosting, the director of Amnesty International's EU office, asked the EU's head office to ``urge Turkey to immediately end incommunicado detention,'' during which tortures allegedly are carried out. ``The EU must thoroughly assess the practical impact of any legal reforms on the human rights situation,'' Oosting said. ``Compliance on paper is not enough ... This report shows that in Turkey, the reforms are clearly not sufficient.'' Turkey hopes that the EU will announce a date for the start of membership negotiations during the union's Dec. 12-13 summit in Denmark. Turkey acceded to long-standing EU demands last month when parliament abolished the death penalty in peacetime, granted rights to minority Kurds and took steps to ease press restrictions. It also began reforming its penal code to guarantee freedom of expression and to protect against torture, but Amnesty claims those efforts were ``an inefficient step to effectively combat torture.'' The EU will present its annual progress reports on all 13 candidate countries Oct. 9. Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel said continued delays by the EU will have serious political ramifications in Turkey, where elections are scheduled for Nov. 3.
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