EXTERNAL (for general distribution)AI Index: EUR 44/31/95

Distr: UA/SC

UA 32/95"Disappearance"/Fear for safety13 February 1995

TURKEYFaruk Dürre, aged 33, farmer

Shortly after midnight on 27 January 1995, several men in plain clothes came to the house of Faruk Dürre in Adana. When his wife, Hatun, asked for their identity, they told her that they did not have to reveal it and that they were taking her husband away who would be their "guest" for a while. They then dragged Faruk Dürre away, beating him as they went. When his family and lawyer sought information of his whereabouts, the prosecutor's office and the police denied any knowledge of it. It is not known where he is being held and there is grave fear for his safety.

Faruk Dürre, married with two children, comes from the village of Malazgırt near Keranlık. The village was burnt down by the security forces in the autumn of 1993, after the villagers, many of them members of the extended Dürre family, had refused to join the village guard militia. All 23 houses of the village were destroyed and all the families were forced to leave. Faruk Dürre settled with his family in Adana, where he has since been without work.

According to reports, Faruk Dürre himself has not been politically active. However, he is said to have refused to become a village guard, and also resisted efforts by the security forces to enlist his services as an informer. His father, Abdurrahman Dürre, is a well-known Kurdish intellectual and writer, now living abroad in political exile. Abdurrahman Dürre has been imprisoned and tortured repeatedly in the past for his political activities. It is thought that Faruk Dürre's detention may be in connection with his father's activities abroad. An interview with the father was published in the now banned Kurdish-owned newspaper Özgür Ülke the day before Faruk Dürre "disappeared".

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The conflict in southeast Turkey between government forces and guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) has claimed more than 14,000 lives since it began in August 1984. Police operations against suspected PKK supporters and other Kurdish activists are being carried out all over Turkey. A state of emergency remains in force in 10 provinces in the east and southeast.

Detainees taken into custody on suspicion of political offences may be held without charge for up to 15 days. In the 10 provinces under emergency legislation the maximum detention period for political detainees may be doubled to 30 days. Adana is not under a state of emergency.

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt and proper registration of detainees, and for notification of their families, are almost universally ignored in the southeastern provinces and increasingly disregarded in the rest of Turkey. Lack of proper registration and notification is not only extremely distressing for families, but also creates the conditions in which "disappearances" and torture can occur.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express and airmail letters either in English or in your own language:

- expressing serious concern for the safety of Faruk Dürre who was detained at his home in Adana on 27 January 1995 and has since "disappeared";

- urging that immediate steps are taken to establish his whereabouts and state of health;

- appealing for his his family and lawyer to be informed without delay;

- asking to be informed of the results of any investigation carried out.

APPEALS TO:

1) Adana Chief Public Prosecutor

Cumhuriyet Başsavcısı

Adana C. Başsavcılığı

Adana, Turkey

Telegrams: Cumhuriyet Bassavciligi, Adana, Turkey

Salutation: Dear Sir

2) Deputy Prime Minister

Mr Murat Karayalçın

Başbakanlık

06573 Ankara, Turkey

Telegrams: Deputy Prime Minister, Ankara, Turkey

Telexes: 44061/44062/44063 bbmt tr

42099 basb tr

42875 bbk tr

Faxes: +90 312 417 0476 Deputy PRIME MINISTER

Salutation: Dear Deputy Prime Minister

3) Governor of Adana

Mr Bekir Aksoy

Adana Valiliği

Adana, Turkey

Telegrams: Mr Aksoy, Valiligi, Adana, Turkey

Salutation: Dear Governor

COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:

President of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission

Mr Sabri Yavuz

İnsan Hakları Araştırma Komisyonu Başkanı

TBMM

Ankara, Turkey

Faxes: +90 312 420 5394

and to diplomatic representatives of Turkey accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 27 March 1995.