STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN TURKEY AND ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CUSTODY - KHRP TRIAL OBSERVATION REPORT

Between 27 and 30 June 2001, KHRP sent a delegation to Istanbul to observe the trial of five women charged under Article 312(2) of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 8(1) of the Anti-Terror Law before the State Security Court (DGM) for speeches they had made at the June 2000 conference in Turkey 'Against Sexual Violence in Custody' which were deemed to have contained "propaganda against the State's indivisibility". Participants of the June 2000 conference, including NGO representatives and lawyers working against sexual violence, and the victims themselves, had given testimony and had spoken about their experience of sexual violence. Following the conference, the State commenced two investigations against nineteen of the speakers.

This report examines the wider context of the case and Turkey's international obligations, and lays out the findings of the trial observation delegation including information taken from the delegation's interviews with the Chief Public Prosecutor in the case, as well as representatives from several NGOs including those working with women and the displaced and human rights organisations. What is clear from this report is that sexual violence against Kurdish women is perpetrated by the Turkish State and that, despite its commitments under international conventions and treaties, those who speak up for these women, whether activists, journalists or lawyers, do so at great risk to themselves, as the State continues to make every effort to silence them.


Copies of this report are available from the KHRP for £ 5.00