Diyarbakır Prison
Encyclopedia
Diyarbakır Prison is a prison located in Diyarbakır
, southeastern Turkey
. It was built in 1980 as an E-type prison by the Ministry of Justice
. After the September 12, 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the facility was transferred to military administration and became a Martial Law Military Prison . Control of the prison was returned to the Ministry of Justice on May 8, 1988.
The capacity of Diyarbakir E-type Prison is 744. However, the prison is sometimes overcrowded. When the Human Rights Commission in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
(GNAT) visited the prison in October 1996 it had a cpacity of 650 and was accommodating 942 prisoners. Diyarbakır D-type prison, which is provided for political prisoners can hold 688 persons.
What has been called “the period of barbarity” (tr: vahşet dönemi) or “the hell of Diyarbakır” (tr: Diyarbakır cehennemi), refers to the early and mid-1980s (in particular the years between 1981-1984) where the prisoners in the newly built Diyarbakır Military Prison No. 5 were exposed to horrific acts of systematic torture. According to The Times
, it is among the "ten most notorious jails in the world." Between 1981 and 1984, 34 prisoners lost their lives.
In August, 2009, plans were announced to convert the facility into a school. The idea was criticized by Kurdish activists who wanted the prison to become a museum. In September 2010 the prison was turned into a human rights museum.
Among Diyarbakir's better-known inmates are Democratic Society Party
(DTP) leader Ahmet Turk
; former DTP deputies Nurettin Yılmaz, Celal Paydaş, and Mustafa Çakmak; former mayor Mehdi Zana
; Kurdish writer and intellectual Orhan Miroğlu
; and Kurdish poet Yılmaz Odabaşı. Bedii Tan, the father of Kurdish writer Altan Tan lost his life in this prison as a result of torture.
and mock execution, electric shocks (specifically electrodes attached to genitals), burning with cigarettes, extraction of nails and healthy teeth, sexual humiliation and assault, rectal examinations, forcing prisoners to beat/sexually humiliate/rape or urinate on each other, rape or threat of rape of prisoners, or relatives of prisoners in their presence by prison guards, violent forcing of truncheon rectally, baths in prison sewers (referred to as "the disco" by the guards)."
Mehdi Zana
, the former major of Diyarbakır, who spent eleven years in the prison, explains:
"When a new prisoner arrived at the prison, Captain Esat met him at the entrance and then turned to a guard and said, ‘Prepare him a bath; then take him to the dormitory.’ This was a ritual. So almost twenty guards accompanied the prisoner. He received a good welcoming thrashing, and then he was dragged, unconscious, to the ‘bath,’ a bathtub full of shit in which they left him for a few hours." Businessman Selim Dindar said: "Before our detention we thought that torture was applied during interrogation and that the wards in prison were comfortable. But in Diyarbakır Prison we longed for the torture chambers of interrogation."
Among the large numbers of testimonies regarding that time only few have come from female prisoners staying in a separate ward. Nuran Çamlı Maraşlı is an example for it: "We were 75 women in a ward for 25 prisoners. As women we are not equal to men, but in Diyarbekir dungeon we were equal relating to torture, isolation, military drill etc. For years we did in prison what soldiers do in their barracks." Many books have been written on Diyarbakır Prison. Testimonies have also been published on the Internet and in the media. After the changes to the 1982 Constitution of Turkey in September 2010 hundreds of people who claim they were tortured at Diyarbakır Prison in the wake of the 1980 military coup have filed a series of criminal complaints at the local prosecutor’s office to open a case against their abusers.
Following the military intervention of 1980 the number of people who died during interrogation or in prison increased As a result of the unsanitary conditions and torture in prisons, 299 people died while incarcerated. Fourteen died during hunger strikes, 16 were shot to death because they were supposedly trying to escape from prison and 43 people committed suicide. On 18 May 1982, four young prisoners, Mahmut Zengin, Eşref Anyık, Ferhat Kurtay and Necmi Öner, rolled up in newspapers and sprayed with paint and holding hands, burned themselves alive in protest and have since become important figures in Kurdish collective memory and in the martyrdom
discourse of the PKK. Like any other militant organization in Turkey the PKK calls all members who lose their lives in armed combat, but also in prison a martyr.
Not all prisoners who died in Diyarbakır Prison between 1981 and 1984 belonged to the PKK. Bedii Tan was an employee of a company that had been blackmailed by the PKK. Necmettin Büyükkaya, born in 1943 had started his political career in the Turkish Workers' Party (TİP). In 1969 he became the leader of the Revolutionary Eastern Culture Centres (tr: Devrimci Doğu Kültür Ocakları, DDKO). Later he joined the KDP
in Turkey (T-KDP). Remzi Aytürk was affiliated to Rizgarî (Kurdish
for Liberation) also known as Kurdistan Liberation Party (kr: Partiya Rizgariya Kurdistanê). Yılmaz Demir was on trial for membership of "Freedom Road" (tr: Özgürlük Yolu) later known as Socialist Party of Kurdistan. PSK (kr: Partiya Sosyaliste Kurdistana) not to be confused with the Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan
, (kr: Partiya Şoreşa Kürdistan (PŞK) or even the PKK. İsmail Kıran (surname sometimes spelled Karak) and Orhan Keskin were alleged members of Devrimci Yol
(Revolutionary Path).
The prisoners that died in Diyarbakır Prison between 1981 and 1984 are:
According to the Secretary of the Diyarbakır Medical Association, Dr. Necdet İpekyüz, the followings happened:
The Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, stating that the prisoners were beaten to death, applied to the Prime Ministry and Ministries of Justice and Interior, demanding that 29 soldiers and 38 police officers be prosecuted. Upon this, Diyarbakır Provincial administrative Board decided on the prosecution of the security officers. Diyarbakır Public Prosecution Office, in January 1997, launched a trial against 65 people, 35 of whom are police officers and 30 soldiers.
The number of defendants increased to 72 defendants, but did not conclude until 2006. After the case had been transferred to Diyarbakır Criminal Court No. 2 a verdict was reached in the 59th hearing in February 2006. The Court sentenced 62 defendants first to 18 years' imprisonment for responsibility into more than one death. On various reasons the sentences were reduced to six years' imprisonment and for good conduct to five years and three months' imprisonment. The other defendants were acquitted or dropped because of the statute of limitation.
The verdict was quashed by the Court of Cassation ruling that the defendants had to be given the opportunity to plead an changed charges and had to be heard again. On 30 September 2009 Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 3 went on hearing the case again.
passed its verdict in the case of Perisan and Others v. Turkey (application no. 12336/03) The incident is describes as:
The Court ruled:
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
, southeastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It was built in 1980 as an E-type prison by the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Turkey)
The Ministry of Justice is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for justice affairs in Turkey....
. After the September 12, 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the facility was transferred to military administration and became a Martial Law Military Prison . Control of the prison was returned to the Ministry of Justice on May 8, 1988.
The capacity of Diyarbakir E-type Prison is 744. However, the prison is sometimes overcrowded. When the Human Rights Commission in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey , usually referred to simply as the Meclis , is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence...
(GNAT) visited the prison in October 1996 it had a cpacity of 650 and was accommodating 942 prisoners. Diyarbakır D-type prison, which is provided for political prisoners can hold 688 persons.
What has been called “the period of barbarity” (tr: vahşet dönemi) or “the hell of Diyarbakır” (tr: Diyarbakır cehennemi), refers to the early and mid-1980s (in particular the years between 1981-1984) where the prisoners in the newly built Diyarbakır Military Prison No. 5 were exposed to horrific acts of systematic torture. According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, it is among the "ten most notorious jails in the world." Between 1981 and 1984, 34 prisoners lost their lives.
In August, 2009, plans were announced to convert the facility into a school. The idea was criticized by Kurdish activists who wanted the prison to become a museum. In September 2010 the prison was turned into a human rights museum.
History
In the 19th century, Diyarbakır prison was known throughout the Ottoman Empire as the home of harsh and feared sentences given to political prisoners or members of the enslaved Balkan region who dared to speak out against their rulers.The early 1980's
After the military coup of 12 September 1980 the generals abolished parliament, suspended the Constitution and banned all political parties and trade unions, and most other organizations. Tens of thousands of men and women were taken into custody. More than 30,000 were jailed in the first four months after the coup. During the following years, Amnesty International received thousands of allegations of torture including reports of over 100 deaths as a result of torture. Diyarbakır Prison became one of the most lasting symbols of the coup due to the reports of hundreds of prisoners being subjected to torture and execution.Among Diyarbakir's better-known inmates are Democratic Society Party
Democratic Society Party
The Democratic Society Party was a Kurdish Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social democratic, and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was considered to be the successor of the Democratic People's Party...
(DTP) leader Ahmet Turk
Ahmet Türk
Ahmet Türk is a Kurdish politician in Turkey. He was the chairman of the former pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party in Turkey and was a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. On December 11, 2009, the Constitutional Court of Turkey voted to ban the DTP, accusing it of connection with PKK...
; former DTP deputies Nurettin Yılmaz, Celal Paydaş, and Mustafa Çakmak; former mayor Mehdi Zana
Mehdi Zana
Mehdi Zana is a former Kurdish politician from Turkey.-Biography:Zana started to work as a tailor in Silvan after he graduated from elementary school. In 1963 he became a member of Workers Party of Turkey . Two years later he became the head of the party's Silvan branch.In 1978 he was elected as...
; Kurdish writer and intellectual Orhan Miroğlu
Orhan Miroğlu
Orhan Miroğlu is a Turkish politician of Kurdish descent and a columnist for the Taraf daily newspaper. He is banned from politics for 5 years following the closure of the Democratic Society Party.-References:...
; and Kurdish poet Yılmaz Odabaşı. Bedii Tan, the father of Kurdish writer Altan Tan lost his life in this prison as a result of torture.
Tortures
Among the most common practices were: severe and systematic beating, pulling of hair, being stripped naked, being blindfolded and hosed, solitary confinement, guards’ insults, constant and relentless surveillance and intimidation, death threats, the obligation to salute Captain Esat Oktay Yıldıran’s dog, a German shepherd called "Jo", which was trained to bite the private parts of naked prisoners, sleep, sensory, water and food deprivation for extensive periods, falaka (beating of the soles of feet), "Palestinian hangings" (hanging by the arms), stress positions or forcing prisoners to stand for long durations, excessive exercise in extreme temperatures, stretching, squeezing or crushing of limbs and genitals, piling of naked prisoners on top of each other, asphyxiaAsphyxia
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
and mock execution, electric shocks (specifically electrodes attached to genitals), burning with cigarettes, extraction of nails and healthy teeth, sexual humiliation and assault, rectal examinations, forcing prisoners to beat/sexually humiliate/rape or urinate on each other, rape or threat of rape of prisoners, or relatives of prisoners in their presence by prison guards, violent forcing of truncheon rectally, baths in prison sewers (referred to as "the disco" by the guards)."
Mehdi Zana
Mehdi Zana
Mehdi Zana is a former Kurdish politician from Turkey.-Biography:Zana started to work as a tailor in Silvan after he graduated from elementary school. In 1963 he became a member of Workers Party of Turkey . Two years later he became the head of the party's Silvan branch.In 1978 he was elected as...
, the former major of Diyarbakır, who spent eleven years in the prison, explains:
"When a new prisoner arrived at the prison, Captain Esat met him at the entrance and then turned to a guard and said, ‘Prepare him a bath; then take him to the dormitory.’ This was a ritual. So almost twenty guards accompanied the prisoner. He received a good welcoming thrashing, and then he was dragged, unconscious, to the ‘bath,’ a bathtub full of shit in which they left him for a few hours." Businessman Selim Dindar said: "Before our detention we thought that torture was applied during interrogation and that the wards in prison were comfortable. But in Diyarbakır Prison we longed for the torture chambers of interrogation."
Among the large numbers of testimonies regarding that time only few have come from female prisoners staying in a separate ward. Nuran Çamlı Maraşlı is an example for it: "We were 75 women in a ward for 25 prisoners. As women we are not equal to men, but in Diyarbekir dungeon we were equal relating to torture, isolation, military drill etc. For years we did in prison what soldiers do in their barracks." Many books have been written on Diyarbakır Prison. Testimonies have also been published on the Internet and in the media. After the changes to the 1982 Constitution of Turkey in September 2010 hundreds of people who claim they were tortured at Diyarbakır Prison in the wake of the 1980 military coup have filed a series of criminal complaints at the local prosecutor’s office to open a case against their abusers.
Deaths in Diyarbakır Prison
- See also Deaths in Custody
Following the military intervention of 1980 the number of people who died during interrogation or in prison increased As a result of the unsanitary conditions and torture in prisons, 299 people died while incarcerated. Fourteen died during hunger strikes, 16 were shot to death because they were supposedly trying to escape from prison and 43 people committed suicide. On 18 May 1982, four young prisoners, Mahmut Zengin, Eşref Anyık, Ferhat Kurtay and Necmi Öner, rolled up in newspapers and sprayed with paint and holding hands, burned themselves alive in protest and have since become important figures in Kurdish collective memory and in the martyrdom
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
discourse of the PKK. Like any other militant organization in Turkey the PKK calls all members who lose their lives in armed combat, but also in prison a martyr.
Not all prisoners who died in Diyarbakır Prison between 1981 and 1984 belonged to the PKK. Bedii Tan was an employee of a company that had been blackmailed by the PKK. Necmettin Büyükkaya, born in 1943 had started his political career in the Turkish Workers' Party (TİP). In 1969 he became the leader of the Revolutionary Eastern Culture Centres (tr: Devrimci Doğu Kültür Ocakları, DDKO). Later he joined the KDP
KDP
KDP may refer to:*Kurdistan Democratic Party of South Kurdistan*Kurdistan Democratic Party of East Kurdistan*Korea Democratic Party*Khmer Democratic Party*Communist Party of Germany *Kappa Delta Pi...
in Turkey (T-KDP). Remzi Aytürk was affiliated to Rizgarî (Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
for Liberation) also known as Kurdistan Liberation Party (kr: Partiya Rizgariya Kurdistanê). Yılmaz Demir was on trial for membership of "Freedom Road" (tr: Özgürlük Yolu) later known as Socialist Party of Kurdistan. PSK (kr: Partiya Sosyaliste Kurdistana) not to be confused with the Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan
Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan
Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan, known as Kürdistan Devrim Partisi in Turkish and Partiya Şoreşa Kürdistan in Kurdish is an illegal political party active in Turkey...
, (kr: Partiya Şoreşa Kürdistan (PŞK) or even the PKK. İsmail Kıran (surname sometimes spelled Karak) and Orhan Keskin were alleged members of Devrimci Yol
Devrimci Yol
Devrimci Yol was a movement rather than a tightly structured organization, with many supporters in trade unions and other professional institutions. Its ideology was based on Marxism-Leninism but rejected both the Soviet and the Chinese model. Devrimci Yol entered the political scene in Turkey on...
(Revolutionary Path).
The prisoners that died in Diyarbakır Prison between 1981 and 1984 are:
-
Name Surname Date of death Cause of death Ali Erek 1981-04-20 hunger strike Abdurrahman Çeçen 1981-04-27 tortured Ali Sarıbal 1981-11-13 tortured İbiş Ural 1981-12-27 tortured Cemal Kılıç 1982-02-23 tortured Önder Demirok 1982-03-08 tortured Mazlum Doğan 1982-03-21 suicide in protest at torture Kenan Çiftçi 1982-04-21 tortured Mahmut Zengin 1982-05-17 set himself on fire Eşref Anyık 1982-05-17 set himself on fire Ferhat Kutay 1982-05-17 set himself on fire Necmi Öner 1982-05-17 set himself on fire Mehmet Ali Eraslan 1982-06-09 beaten to death Bedii Tan 1982-07-14 beaten to death Aziz Özbay 1982-08-23 tortured Kemal Pir 1982-09-07 hunger strike M.Hayri Durmuş 1982-09-12 hunger strike Akif Yılmaz 1982-09-15 hunger strike Ali Çiçek 1982-09-17 hunger strike Seyithan Sak 1982-11-21 beaten to death Aziz Büyükertaç 1982-12-22 tortured Ramazan Yayan 1983-01-13 beaten to death Mehmet Emin Akpınar 1983-01-25 beaten to death Medet Özbadem 1983-05-20 beaten to death İsmet Kıran 1983-11-01 tortured Necmettin Büyükkaya 1984-01-23 beaten to death Remzi Aytürk 1984-01-28 suicide Cemal Arat 1984-03-02 hunger strike Orhan Keskin 1984-03-05 hunger strike Halil Ibrahim Baturalp 1984-04-27 beaten to death Mehmet Kalkan 1987-06-14 died during interrogation Yılmaz Demir 1984-01-00 suicide Hüseyin Yüce 1984-05-00 beaten to death
The incident in 1996
On 24 September 1996 special team members, gendarmes and prison warders stormed Diyarbakır Prison killing 10 inmates and wounding 46 prisoners The prisoners Erhan Hakan Perişan, Cemal Çam, Hakkı Tekin, Ahmet Çelik, Edip Derikçe, Mehmet Nimet Çakmak, Rıdvan Bulut, Mehmet Kadri Gümüş, Kadri Demir and Mehmet Aslan were killed. There are conflicting reports as to what really happened on that day in Diyarbakir Prison. The press accounts have produced scenarios that accord with the government's version of events. Some say that there was an uprising in the prison. Others note that the inmates wanted to visit the women's section of the jail. The delegation concluded "that the authorities in the government had prior knowledge of this incident and in fact some of them took part in its implementation."According to the Secretary of the Diyarbakır Medical Association, Dr. Necdet İpekyüz, the followings happened:
- "Of the 33 victims, 10 were dead. Ten injured ones were treated in Diyarbakır State Hospital and 13 injured inmates were transferred to Gaziantep State Hospital. All killings were the result of head injuries. On the day of the incident, two prison guards visited the hospital at about 10 am. They had very light bruises. The doctors on duty did not know why these guards were sent to the hospital for such minor things. Just before the attack on the inmates, the hospital staff received a call from the district attorney's office. The staff was told to be ready for an emergency to receive a large group of injured inmates."
The investigation into the incident
The incident was investigated by different groups and the public prosecutor. The Parliamentary Human Rights Commission stressed that “30 soldiers and 38 police officers, who exceeded the limits of their authority, had caused deaths.” An investigation was launched against the prisoners who were attacked, beaten and wounded in Diyarbakır Prison. In the investigation launched against 23 prisoners, who were wounded in the attack, upon the instruction by Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor İbrahim Akbaş, the prisoners were accused of “damaging the state property and mutiny.” In the investigation against the soldiers and police officers on duty the prosecution office gave a decision of non-prosecution under the Law on Prosecution of Civil Servants. The prosecution office alleged that “the soldiers and police officers tried not to inflict suffering on the prisoners.”The Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, stating that the prisoners were beaten to death, applied to the Prime Ministry and Ministries of Justice and Interior, demanding that 29 soldiers and 38 police officers be prosecuted. Upon this, Diyarbakır Provincial administrative Board decided on the prosecution of the security officers. Diyarbakır Public Prosecution Office, in January 1997, launched a trial against 65 people, 35 of whom are police officers and 30 soldiers.
The number of defendants increased to 72 defendants, but did not conclude until 2006. After the case had been transferred to Diyarbakır Criminal Court No. 2 a verdict was reached in the 59th hearing in February 2006. The Court sentenced 62 defendants first to 18 years' imprisonment for responsibility into more than one death. On various reasons the sentences were reduced to six years' imprisonment and for good conduct to five years and three months' imprisonment. The other defendants were acquitted or dropped because of the statute of limitation.
The verdict was quashed by the Court of Cassation ruling that the defendants had to be given the opportunity to plead an changed charges and had to be heard again. On 30 September 2009 Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 3 went on hearing the case again.
The verdict of the European Court of Human Rights
On 20 May 2010 the European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
passed its verdict in the case of Perisan and Others v. Turkey (application no. 12336/03) The incident is describes as:
- The applicants and the Government presented differing accounts of the events. According to the applicants, following scuffles between two prisoners and the chief warder during a long wait by a group of prisoners to enter the visiting room, police officers and gendarmes armed with truncheons and batons had beaten the offending prisoners and their fellow inmates, in some cases to death. According to the Government a riot had taken place that morning and prisoners armed with a variety of metal objects (taps, radiator pipes, lead piping, etc.) had attacked the warders.
- The operation left 33 prisoners injured and 27 gendarmes with minor injuries. In December 1996, criminal proceedings were started against various members of the prison staff and against 65 gendarmes and police officers.
The Court ruled:
- The Government’s contention that the force used had been in response to an attack by prisoners armed with dangerous implements (taps, radiator pipes, lead piping, etc.) was undermined by the fact that the injuries sustained by the gendarmes had been localised and minor. It further considered that the force used against the prisoners, which had led to the deaths of eight of them, had not been “absolutely necessary” within the meaning of Article 2. There had therefore been a breach of that Article in respect of the prisoners who died.
Testimonies
- The documentary "Prison No 5: 1980-84" prepared by Director Çayan Demirel contains about 100 minutes of enacted scenes and testimonies of witnesses. According to the Golden Apricot the film was awarded as Best Documentary (46th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, 2009), Best Documentary (Association of Film Critics, 2009) Best Documentary (21th Ankara Film Festival, 2010). Parts of it (in Turkish and Kurdish language) can be found at Youtube (33 minutes). A shorter version (11 Minutes) is also available at Youtube. Both films can be watched with English subtitles.
- Orhan Miroğlu Torturers Will be Called to Account 28 September 2010
- Mehdi Zana Defence in Court, Kurdish and Turkish, this testimony was written against the verdict of Diyarbakır Military Court of 20 October 1983
- Yaşayanlar anlatıyor Collection of articles in Turkish
- Hamit Baldemir DİYAR BAKIR 5 NOLU ZİNDANINDA BİR DÖNEM 1984 OCAK DİRENİŞİ, 4 January 2011