Further information on UA 337/94 (EUR 44/95/94, 14 September) - Turkey: fear of torture / "disappearance": Mehmet Balamir, Kadriye Ozcanli; and new names: Gursel Sahin, Nezahat Ozen, Metin Dag

Index Number: EUR 44/103/1994
Date Published: 25 September 1994
Categories: Europe And Central Asia, Turkey

On 20 September 1994, the Diyarbakir office of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Ulke was raided by members of the police, gendarmerie and Special Team - the third such raid within six weeks. This time, correspondents Gursel Sahin, Nezahat Ozen and Metin Dag were detained. They are said to be held incommunicado at the Gendarmerie Regimental Headquarters in Diyarbakir and it is feared they are being subjected to torture. All three have been previously detained. Mehmet Balamir and Kadriye Ozcanli remain in incommunicado detention and are believed to be under torture. Currently, 18 of Ozgur Ulke's journalists and chief editors are in prison and on trial; of the 147 issues of the daily published so far, 143 have been confiscated.