Torture death divides parties

ANKARA - Parliament discussed the human rights situation in Turkey yesterday, while a parliamentary commission unanimously adopted a report on the death of Engin Çeber by torture that saw a spat of words pass between parties.

Torture death divides parties

During the meeting, a discussion took place between Mehmet Ekinci of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and Akın Birdal of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP.

Ekici said there was an instruction from the outlawed Revolutionary Left, or Dev-Sol, organization that urged resistance to the police and said the swelling on Çeber’s head while in custody could have been caused by such resistance.

"All of these cases must be investigated and reports must be written objectively," he said, and added individuals had responsibilities to the state just as the state was in charge of torture and ill treatment cases.

"In the Engin Çeber case there was both an active part and another part, in which he was subjected to ill treatment. These two parts should be separated from one another and clearly explained in the report," he said.

His remarks drew criticism from Birdal who said torture was a crime against humanity in international human rights and humanitarian law. He said an individual who was detained during a peaceful demonstration had the right to resist. "Human rights law comes out of the legitimacy of the right to resistance. Therefore, torture is a crime against humanity. This crime can in no way be defended."

Zafer Üskül, head of Parliament’s Human Rights Commission, said the state had the right to self-protection. "And therefore, the state will protect its self-legitimacy," he added.

State accepts responsibility
Çeber died from injuries he received at the Metris Prison in Istanbul. In the first public statement of its kind, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin accepted state responsibility in the case.

Meanwhile, Üskül will participate in an international conference in the Armenian capital of Yerevan bringing together ombudsmen from the Council of Europe and Central Asian countries May. 25 to 26, 2009. the MHP’s Ekici criticized the visit to Armenia. Hurriyet

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