mercredi 4 juillet 2007

RAPPORT HRW - IRAK: LES FORCES DE SECURITE DU KURDISTAN TORTURENT LES DETENUS

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
http://hrw.org/french/docs/2007/07/03/iraq16331.htm



Irak: les forces de sécurité du Kurdistan torturent les détenus

Le gouvernement régional doit mettre fin aux abus à l’encontre des détenus et aux violations de procédure judiciaire

(New York, le 3 juillet 2007) – Les forces de sécurité du Kurdistan dans le nord de l’Irak torturent régulièrement les détenus et leur refusent le droit fondamental à un jugement en bonne et due forme, a déclaré Human Rights Watch dans un rapport paru aujourd’hui.
Human Rights Watch exhorte le gouvernement régional kurde à mettre un terme à la torture et aux mauvais traitements infligés aux prisonniers détenus par les services de sécurité. Les autorités kurdes doivent traiter tous les détenus conformément aux normes internationales et leur garantir le droit à un procès équitable et en bonne et due forme.

Le rapport de 58 pages, intitulé « Caught in the Whirlwind: Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces » (« Piégés par la tornade: Tortures infligées par les forces de sécurité et absence de procès équitables au Kurdistan »), fait état des mauvais traitements et des vices de procédures judicaires systématiques et largement répandus, infligées aux prisonniers dans les centres de détention par les forces de sécurité du Kurdistan. Le rapport se base sur des recherches menées d’avril à octobre 2006 dans la région du Kurdistan irakien. Il se fonde également sur plus de 150 interviews de détenus.

Human Rights Watch a fait part de ses inquiétudes auprès des membres du gouvernement kurde, notamment auprès du président du Gouvernement régional kurde Mas’ud Barzani, qui a mis en place un comité gouvernemental chargé de mener, début octobre 2006, des visites d’inspection dans plusieurs centres pénitentiaires.

« Les forces de sécurité du Kurdistan infligent régulièrement des tortures et d’autres mauvais traitements aux détenus », a déclaré Sarah Leah Whitson, directrice pour le Moyen-Orient à Human Rights Watch. « Bien que les autorités kurdes aient pris d’importantes mesures pour améliorer les conditions de détention dans ces centres, elles doivent faire plus pour en finir avec la torture. Le gouvernement se doit de punir les responsables de prisons et les interrogateurs qui se sont rendus coupables d’abus. »

Le Parti démocratique du Kurdistan (PDK) et l’Union patriotique du Kurdistan (UPK) sont les deux principaux partis de la région du Kurdistan ; chacune d’entre eux dispose de ses propres forces de sécurité connues sous le nom d’Asayish. L’Asayish du PDK et celui de l’UPK fonctionnent tous deux en dehors du contrôle du Ministère de l’Intérieur du gouvernement régional. Les Asayish possèdent leurs propres centres de détention et y ont détenu des centaines de prisonniers, surtout ceux suspectés d’avoir mené des activités liées au terrorisme.

Lors d’interviews menées dans des centres pénitentiaires d’Asayish, des prisonniers ont raconté à Human Rights Watch que les agents d’Asayish les avaient battus avec des barres de métal et d’autres instruments, les avaient mis en positions de stress pendant de longues périodes, et les avaient gardés menottés et les yeux bandés plusieurs jours d’affilée. La plupart des détenus avec lesquels Human Rights Watch s’est entretenu racontent également avoir été maintenus en isolement pendant de longues périodes. A quelques exceptions près, Human Rights Watch a constaté que les centres de détention d’Asayish étaient extrêmement surpeuplés et insalubres.

Human Rights Watch constata aussi que les Asayish maintenaient des centaines de détenus en attente de jugement, leur refusant tout droit à un procès en bonne et due forme, y compris leur droit de contester la détention. Dans la majorité des affaires impliquant des prisonniers d’Asayish et sur lesquelles Human Rights Watch a enquêté, les autorités kurdes n’avaient inculpé les détenus sous aucun chef, ne leur avaient pas permis de contacter des proches ou un avocat, et ne les avaient pas présentés à un juge d’instruction. Les détenus n’avaient pas non plus pu bénéficier des procédures d’appel ou n’avaient pas eu un procès dans un délai raisonnable.

Human Rights Watch a par ailleurs enquêté sur plusieurs affaires dans lesquelles les autorités kurdes ont apparemment tenu en otage les proches d’individus recherchés pour des activités liées au terrorisme. Dans d’autres affaires, des prisonniers condamnés ayant déjà purgé leur peine restaient en prison. Certains prisonniers qui avaient été jugés et acquittés étaient eux aussi maintenus en détention. La plupart d’entre eux n’avaient pas connaissance de leur statut juridique, ni même de la durée de leur détention, ou encore du sort qui serait le leur.

« Les autorités kurdes doivent inculper les détenus coupables de crimes ou alors les relâcher », a ajouté Whitson. « Les détenus doivent se voir donner la possibilité de contester la base légale de leur détention et bénéficier d’un procès rapide et équitable, sur base des charges retenues contre eux. »

En juillet 2006, l’Assemblée nationale du Kurdistan a adopté une Loi sur la lutte contre le terrorisme dans la région du Kurdistan irakien (Loi anti-terrorisme). Celle-ci criminalise un large éventail de délits considérés comme étant des actes terroristes. Elle ne clarifie cependant pas le statut juridique des personnes suspectées de terrorisme et arrêtées avant l’entrée en vigueur de la loi. Parmi ces personnes, il y a plusieurs suspects arrêtés lors d’opérations conjointes entre les forces militaires irakiennes et américaines, et placées ensuite sous le mandat des autorités kurdes.

« Les autorités kurdes doivent établir des critères clairs pour évaluer le statut juridique des personnes suspectées de terrorisme et arrêtées avant l’adoption de la Loi anti-terrorisme », a déclaré Whitson. «Et elles doivent nommer un comité juridique indépendant chargé de mener la révision complète de toutes les affaires de détenus. »

Durant les mois de recherches menées pour ce rapport, Human Rights Watch a pu discuter de manière régulière avec les autorités kurdes, et salue la coopération reçue de la part des responsables du PDK et de l’UPK. Le PDK et l’UPK ont tous deux donné à Human Rights Watch un accès à tous les centres de détention de leur Asayish, ont permis des interviews avec des officiels d’Asayish, des directeurs de prison, des conseillers juridiques et d’autres acteurs pertinents. Human Rights Watch salue aussi le sérieux avec lequel les autorités kurdes ont répondu aux inquiétudes décrites dans ce rapport. Au cours de l’année dernière, les responsables d’Asayish ont entamé des révisions partiales des affaires de détenus et relâchés plusieurs groupes de prisonniers, dont la plupart avaient été détenus sans procès en bonne et due forme.

Bien que Human Rights Watch salue et apprécie la coopération des autorités kurdes, celle-ci doit encore se traduire par des améliorations visibles pour la plupart des prisonniers dans les centres de détention d’Asayish. Cette coopération manque encore d’une révision juridique indépendante et impartiale du statut juridique des détenus, que Human Rights Watch avait recommandée de toute urgence.

________________________________________
http://hrw.org/french/docs/2007/07/03/iraq16331.htm

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT: KURDISTAN SECURITY FORCES TORTURE DETAINEES

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Iraq: Kurdistan Security Forces Torture Detainees

Regional Government Must End Detainee Abuse and Violations of Due Process
(New York, July 3, 2007) – Kurdistan security forces in northern Iraq routinely torture and deny basic due-process rights to detainees, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Human Rights Watch urges the Kurdistan Regional Government to end torture and ill-treatment of detainees in the custody of the security services. The Kurdish authorities should treat all detainees according to international standards and ensure their right to due process and fair trials. The 58-page report, “Caught in the Whirlwind: Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces,” documents widespread and systematic mistreatment and violations of due process rights of detainees at detention facilities by Kurdistan security forces.

The report is based on research conducted in Iraq’s Kurdistan region from April to October 2006, including interviews with more than 150 detainees. Human Rights Watch raised its concerns with leaders of the Kurdistan government, including President Mas`ud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who created a government committee to carry out inspection visits to several detention facilities in early October 2006.

“Kurdistan security forces routinely subject detainees to torture and other mistreatment,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch. “Although Kurdish authorities have taken serious steps to improve conditions at detention facilities, they must do more to end the practice of torture.

The government must punish prison officials and interrogators found responsible for abuse.” The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are the two principal parties in the Kurdistan region, and each maintains its own security forces, known as Asayish. Both the KDP Asayish and the PUK Asayish operate outside the control of the regional government’s Ministry of Interior, maintain their own detention facilities, and have held hundreds of detainees, particularly those arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related offenses.

During interviews at Asayish detention facilities, detainees told Human Rights Watch that Asayish agents had beat them with metal rods and other implements, put them in stress positions for prolonged periods, and kept them blindfolded and handcuffed continuously for several days at a time.

The vast majority of detainees with whom Human Rights Watch spoke also reported that they were held in solitary confinement for extended periods. With some exceptions, Human Rights Watch found that conditions of detention at Asayish facilities were severely overcrowded and unhygienic.

Human Rights Watch also found that the Asayish are holding hundreds of detainees in legal limbo without basic due-process rights, including the right to challenge their detention. In the vast majority of Asayish detainee cases that Human Rights Watch investigated, the Kurdistan authorities have not charged detainees with offenses, allowed them access to their relatives or a lawyer, brought them before an investigative judge, provided a mechanism by which they could appeal their detentions, or brought them to trial within a reasonable time period.

Human Rights Watch also investigated several cases in which Kurdish authorities had apparently held hostage relatives of individuals sought for terror-related offenses. In other cases, convicted prisoners had already served their sentences but remained in prison, and detainees who had been tried and acquitted continued to be held.

Most had no knowledge of their legal status, how long they would continue to be held, or what was to become of them.

“The Kurdistan authorities must charge detainees with criminal offenses or else release them,” said Whitson. “Detainees must be able to challenge the legal basis for their detention and receive a prompt, fair trial on the charges against them.”

In July 2006, the Kurdistan National Assembly adopted the Law on the Combat of Terrorism in the Iraq Kurdistan Region (Anti-Terrorism Law), which criminalizes a wide range of offenses deemed to constitute terrorism. This law has not clarified the legal status of those terrorism suspects who were arrested prior to its enactment. This includes several suspects arrested in joint sweeps involving Iraqi and US military forces, and subsequently transferred to the custody of Kurdistan authorities.

“The Kurdish authorities must establish clear criteria to assess the legal status of terrorism suspects arrested prior to the Anti-Terrorism Law,” Whitson said. “And they need to appoint an independent judicial committee to conduct a thorough review of all detainee cases.”

During the months that Human Rights Watch conducted research for this report, it held regular discussions with the Kurdistan authorities, and acknowledges the cooperation it received from officials of both the KDP and the PUK. The KDP and PUK both gave Human Rights Watch access to all Asayish detention facilities and facilitated interviews with Asayish officials, prison directors, legal advisers and other relevant actors.

Human Rights Watch also acknowledges the seriousness with which the Kurdistan authorities responded to the concerns now highlighted in this report. Over the course of the last year, Asayish officials have initiated partial reviews of detainee cases and released several groups of detainees, most of whom they had held without due process.

While Human Rights Watch recognizes and welcomes the cooperation of the Kurdistan authorities, this cooperation has yet to translate into any discernible improvement for most detainees in Asayish detention facilities and falls well short of the independent and impartial judicial review of the legal status of detainees that Human Rights Watch has recommended as a matter of urgency.

This report is also available in Arabic, French, Spanish...
on:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/03/iraq16319.htm

اعتصام تركماني أمام البرلمان البلجيكي

Iraqi Turkmens Demonstration in BrusselsJuly 2nd 2007
For Arabic see:

mardi 3 juillet 2007

ITF EUROPE REP DR. AYDINLI ATTENDED THE KURDISH CONF. IN BRUSSELS

Brussels Parliament - 2nd July 2007
Dr Hassan AYDINLI, ITF Europe Representative and
President of the Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights - Belgium
and Dr Sheth Jerjis of SOITM


Attending the Conference organized by Mr Jan BEGHIN, First Vice-President of the spa.-spirit group of the Brussels Parliament and the Kurdish Institute in Brussels on 2nd July 2007

on Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution: Referendum on the status of Kerkuk and other contested territories in Irak"

The Belgian politicians who were on the panel:

Mr Jan BEGHIN, First Vice-President of Brussels Parliament

Mr Bert ANCIAUX, Flemish Minister of Culture

Ms Nelly MAES, President of ALE

Hereunder is the Appeal that Dr Aydinli handed to the Belgian and Dutch politicians attending the conference:


IRAQI TURKMENS APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN POLITICIANS & DECISION MAKERS

The Turkmens are the third main ethnic group in Iraq and the second main ethnic group in the north of Iraq. Their population is estimated at 3 million (12% of the Iraqi population).

Northern Iraq has been the homeland of the Iraqi Turkmens for over a millennium. The Turkmen region TURKMENELI lies between the Arab and Kurdish regions of Iraq, it stretches from Tel Afer in northern Iraq near the Syrian border to Mendeli near the Iranian border. The Turkmen population in Iraq is concentrated in the Provinces of Musul, Erbil, Kerkuk, Salaheddin, Dyala and Baghdad. Their biggest concentration is in Kerkuk, their capital city and main cultural centre since more than 800 years. Turkmens have played a constructive and important role in Mesopotamia (Iraq) where they established states and principalities and governed the region during centuries.

Since the creation of the Iraqi State in 1921 as a consequence of World War One which caused the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the inclusion of the actual north of Iraq (Musul Vilayati) into the Iraqi State, the Turkmens are systematically discriminated, marginalized and oppressed in Iraq for geopolitical and economical reasons as the Turkmen region contains huge oil and gas reserves, concentrated around Kerkuk, Khanaqin and Aynzala. For these economical and geopolitical reasons the successive Iraqi governments have tried to assimilate the Turkmens and purposely underestimated their number and true representation in Iraq, considering them as a small minority!

Since the occupation of Iraq by the Anglo-American forces on 9th April 2003 the situation of the Turkmens has deteriorated even more and more dramatically as a result of the U.S. decision to allow the Kurdish parties (KDP and PUK) and their militia to penetrate, occupy and control Kerkuk and all other important Turkmen towns and cities of the Turkmen region, as a reward for their collaboration during the invasion of Iraq. Since then, the Turkmens are subjected to even harsher policies of discrimination, marginalization and oppression, but this time by the Kurdish Parties which are now controlling the entire north of Iraq and for the same economical and geopolitical reasons.

The Kurds claim that Kerkuk is a Kurdish city; they are now actively busy kurdifying it, their aim is to annex Kerkuk to the Kurdish Autonomous Region in order to benefit alone from its oil and gas wealth. To achieve this goal the Kurdish parties have brought over 600.000 Kurds from the Kurdish autonomous region as well as from Syria, Iran and Turkey and settled them in Kerkuk and its surroundings, some of them in the houses vacated by fleeing Arabs, some others in government buildings, military camps, military personnel housing and compounds in and around Kerkuk and the remaining are still waiting in their makeshift houses and slums established on the lands belonging to the Turkmens. All of this is in preparation to annex Kerkuk to the Kurdish region through a referendum at the end of 2007 called for by the infamous Article 140, which was conceived and written by the Kurds and which has been incorporated under the pressure of their lobby in the “New Iraqi Constitution”.

For the above reasons, Turkmens denounce the Kurdish hegemony in the north of Iraq as well as Kurdish influence and manipulations of Iraqi politics since 2003, they reject Article 140, they are against the annexation of Kerkuk and other Turkmen town and cities to the Kurdish Autonomous Region, they demand the revision of the New Iraqi Constitution in order to be recognized as the third main community in Iraq, with rights equal to those obtained by the Arabs and the Kurds.

The Turkmens, being more vulnerable today than ever before in their long history in Iraq, are calling on the European Union and the United Nations asking their urgent help, support and protection in order to obtain their rights, achieve their objectives and preserve the existence of their community and their culture in Iraq.


Brussels, 2nd July 2007

Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights - Belgium











TURKMENEN TEGEN ARTIKEL 140 VAN DE "NIEWE IRAKESE GRONDWET"

Brussel 2 juli 2007
TEGEN DE "NIEWE IRAKESE GRONDWET"!
NEE AAN ARTIKEL 140 !
STOP DE ETNISCHE DISCRIMINATIE TEGEN DE TURKMENEN !

LES TURKMENES IRAKIENS MANIFESTENT DEVANT LE PARLEMENT BRUXELLOIS


Bruxelles le 2 juillet 2007
NON A L'ARTICLE 140 DE LA 'NOUVELLE CONSTITUTION IRAKIENNE' !
NON A LA DISCRIMINATION DES TURKMENES EN IRAK !
NON A L'HEGEMONIE DES PARTIS KURDES DANS LE NORD DE L'IRAK!

dimanche 1 juillet 2007

التركمان في بلجيكا وهولندا سوف يتظاهرون امام برلمان بروكسل


http://www.bizturkmeniz.com/tr/index.htm


التركمان في بلجيكا وهولندا يتظاهرون امام برلمان بروكسل يوم 2 تموز 2007


بيان صحفي يتظاهر ممثلين عن التركمان في كل من بلجيكا وهولندا امام البرلمان في العاصمة البلجيكية بروكسل في الوقت الذي تقيم فيه الجمعية الكردية والمركز الثقافي الكردي في بلجيكا ندوة يستضيفها حزب الاشتراكي الفلمنكي يوم الاثنين 2 تموز 2007 من الساعة 10:30 الى 12:30.
موضوع الندوة "المادة 140 من الدستور العراقي: الاستفتاء حول كركوك ومناطق اخرى متنازع عليها في العراق" ان كلمة "مناطق متنازع عليها" هي المناطق المتواجدة ضمن تركمن ايلي (اقليم التركمان في شمال العراق) واضافوا اليها مدينة كركوك.منذ اجتياح القوات الانجلو-امريكية للعراق اذار 2003 الاحزاب والمليشيات الكردية منحوا الصلاحية لاختراق واحتلال والسيطرة على اكثر مدن وقصبات التركمان في شمال العراق بدءا بمدينة كركوك الذي اتموا تكريدها.
الهدف من المظاهرة
.استنكار هيمنة الاحزاب الكردية على مدينة كركوك واتباعهم سياسة التمييزالعنصري والتهميش ضد التركمان -
رفض المادة 140 الذي كتبها الاكراد واضافوها الى الدستور العراقي ليتمكنوا من ضم كركوك الى الاقليم الكردي في المستقل
المطالبة بحقوق التركمان العادلة اسوة للعرب والاكراد لكون التركمان العنصر الاساسي الثالث في العراق مع العرب والاكراد و القوميةالاساسية الثانية في شمال العراق وعلى الرغم من ذلك فهم مهمشون ويعاملون كاقلية ومواطنون من الدرجة الثانية
المطالبة بـ " وضع خاص " لكركوك: كما هو حال العاصمة بغداد وكما كتب في بنود الدستور العراقي الموقت بتمتع بغداد وكركوك
بوضع خاص وعدم ضمهما الى أي اقليم او ولاية اتحادية
- في حالة قبول تطبيق النظام الاتحادي في العراق: المطالبة بحكم ذاتي للتركمان وانشاء اقليم تركمن ايلي الاتحادي كموطن وملاذ امن للتركمان حيث يديرون شوونهم ويحمون مناطقهم وهويتهم وتقاليدهم
جمعية تانش - هولندا
جمعية الصداقة الاوروبية- التركمانية
جمعية الدفاع عن حقوق تركمان العراق - بلجيكا

Brüksel’de Türkmen dayanışma mitingine davet

http://bizturkmeniz.com/tr/index.htm

Kürt parti ve örgütlerinin Belçika Parlamentosunda Avrupa siyaset arenasına ve Avrupa kamu oyuna propaganda amaçlı Irak anayasasının Kerkük’ü altın tabakta bu ırkçı partilere sunan 140. maddesini kendilerince anlatmak için bir brifing düzenlediklerini öğrenmiş bulunuyoruz.

Amaçları Kerkük’ü yasal olmayan bir şekilde Kuzey Irak bölgesinin Başkenti yapmaktır.

Biz Hollanda ve Belçika’da ikamet eden Türkmenler olarak milli bir görev olarak Irak anayasasının 140. maddesinin reddi ve anayasadan tamamen kaldırılması için, çoğunluğu Türkmen olan Kerkük’ün bir Irak şehri olduğunu duyurmak amacı ile Belçika’nın başkenti Brüksel’de Belçika Parlamento binası önünde dayanışma mitingine davet ediyoruz.

Dayanışma mitingi tarihi : 2-7-2007Dayanışma zamanı : saat 9.30 – 12.30 arası


Adres : Brussels Hoofdstedelıjk Parlement Lombardstraat 69, 1005 Brussel

Not: Bu dayanışma mitingine katılmak isteyip ulaşım imkanları olmayanlar aşağıda verilen telefon numaralarından birini arayarak Hollanda’dan miting alanına ulaşmaları sağlanacaktır.
Telefon numaraları :
0640318673
0616399362
0636146836

Tanış Derneği – Hollandawww.tanis-turkmen.nl info@tanis-turkmen.nl
Committee for the defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights – Belgium
Euro-Turkmen Friendship Association
http://turkmenfriendship.blogspot.com/2007/06/iraqi-turkmens-to-demonstrate-in.html