U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L The following information is from Amnesty International's research headquarters in London, England. A.I. is an independent worldwide movement working for the international protection of human rights. It seeks the release of people detained because of their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not used nor advocated violence. These are termed prisoners of conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained without charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial executions (political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners without reservation. Amnesty International promotes awareness of and adherance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally recognized human rights instruments, the values enshrined in them and the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and freedoms. Please do not repost the information below to any part of the Internet without prior permission from Amnesty International. Thank you for your help with this appeal. Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted on the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/newslett.html Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: sharriso@aiusa.org http://www.amnesty-usa.org/urgact/ Phone: 303 440 0913 Fax:303 258 7881 --------------------------------------------------- 6 November 1998 UA 286/98 Possible 'disappearance' / Fear for safety TURKEY Mehmet Mazaca, aged 63, Kurd There are serious concerns for the safety of Mehmet Mazaca, who has been missing since 22 October 1998. It is feared he may be held in secret police detention. Mehmet Mazaca works supplying firewood in the area surrounding Tunceli, his home town. On 22 October, he went to Kovancilar town in Elazig province to talk about some work. A witness reported seeing Mehmet Mazaca sitting in a cafe in Elazig, but this witness has since been impossible to trace. Mehmet Mazaca's family later received an anonymous telephone call saying that he was being held at Elazig Provincial Gendarmerie Headquarters. However, his family's attempts to get information from Tunceli and Elazig gendarmerie and police regarding Mehmet Mazaca's whereabouts have been unsuccessful. Mehmet Mazaca was detained in 1993 and imprisoned in Erzurum for five months, during which time he was tortured. After his release the Turkish Human Rights Foundation granted him medical treatment for the effects of torture. He was still undergoing medical treatment at the time of his current possible 'disappearance'. The reasons behind his 1993 detention and any charges against him remain unclear. Many clashes between Turkish security forces and the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) have taken place in the mountainous area surrounding Tunceli. The situation in the area remains tense. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code (CMUK), for the prompt and proper registration of detainees and for notification to their families, are frequently ignored. This facilitates the 'disappearance' and torture of detainees and causes great distress to their families. Since March 1997, people suspected of offences under Turkey's 1991 Anti-Terror Law can be held in police custody without access to family, friends or legal counsel for up to four days. This period may be increased to 10 days in the six provinces currently under State of Emergency, which does not include Elazig province, and to seven days in the rest of Turkey. However, detainees are supposed to be granted access to a lawyer during extended periods of detention. This does not, however, often happen in practice. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters: - expressing concern for the safety of Mehmet Mazaca, who went missing on 22 October 1998 and is believed to be held in unacknowledged detention in Elazig, possibly at Elazig Provincial Gendarmerie Headquarters; - urging that immediate steps be taken to establish his whereabouts and that his family and lawyer be informed of the results without delay; - urging that he is not subjected to any form of torture or ill-treatment; - asking to be informed of any charges that may be brought against him; - expressing dismay that Turkish citizens are held in unacknowledged incommunicado detention, in contravention of the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code (CMUK). - reminding the government of Turkey of its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Article 3: 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person'. APPEALS TO: Minister of the Interior: Mr Kutlu Aktas Icisleri Bakanligi Ankara, Turkey Dear Minister: Telegrams: Interior Minister, Ankara, Turkey Faxes: 011 90 312 418 9208 Minister of Justice: Mr Hasan Denizkurdu Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara, Turkey Dear Minister: Telegrams: Justice Minister, Ankara, Turkey Faxes: 011 90 312 418 5667 COPIES TO: State Minister with responsibility for Human Rights: Mr Hikmet Sami Turk Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara, Turkey Faxes: 011 90 312 417 0476 Ambassador Baki Ilkin Embassy of the Republic of Turkey 1714 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington DC 20036 Email: embassy@turkey.org Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after December 17, 1998. 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person'. Article 3, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Visit the Amnesty International UDHR campaign website on http://www.amnesty.excite.com- ___________________________________________________________________________ U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L The following information is from Amnesty International's research headquarters in London, England. A.I. is an independent worldwide movement working for the international protection of human rights. It seeks the release of people detained because of their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not used nor advocated violence. These are termed prisoners of conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained without charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial executions (political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners without reservation. Amnesty International promotes awareness of and adherance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally recognized human rights instruments, the values enshrined in them and the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and freedoms. Please do not repost the information below to any part of the Internet without prior permission from Amnesty International. Thank you for your help with this appeal. Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted on the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/newslett.html Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: sharriso@aiusa.org http://www.amnesty-usa.org/urgact/ Phone: 303 440 0913 Fax:303 258 7881 _____________________________________________________________________________ 5 November 1998 UA 285 Fear for safety / Death threats and intimidation GUATEMALA Witnesses and survivors of the Rio Negro massacre With court proceedings due to start on 9 November 1998 against those accused of involvement in the Rio Negro massacre in 1982, threats and intimidation of witnesses, their families, and survivors of the massacre have escalated. Amnesty International is extremely concerned for their safety. This is the first time that those responsible for one of hundreds of massacres of Mayan peoples that took place during the early 1980s will be legally tried in court. Since the trial date was announced, witnesses and their families, together with survivors of the massacre, have been threatened and intimidated by those alleged to be responsible, in an apparent attempt to frighten them into not testifying. These include former soldiers, military commissioners and members of the Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil, Civil Defence Patrols. Community leaders and members of non-governmental organizations assisting the victims' families and survivors have also been intimidated and threatened with death and destruction of their homes. In March, the leader of Coordinadora de Maya Achi de Viudas, Huerfanos y Desplazados de Baja Verapaz, The Maya Achi Coordination of Widows, Orphans and Displaced People in Baja Verapaz -- an organization campaigning on behalf of victims' relatives for the exhumation of secret mass graves -- was shot and injured while walking his son home from school. Other members and supporters of the Coordination have also been threatened. In October, property belonging to Widows in Pacux, who have been working in support of the victims, was destroyed. Although legal complaints by those who have been intimidated and threatened have been filed before the relevant Guatemalan authorities, no investigation into these crimes is known to have taken place. BACKGROUND INFORMATION On 13 March 1982, over 177 women and children were killed by armed forces members and their auxiliaries in the village of Rio Negro, municipality of Rabinal, in the Baja Verapaz department. One month earlier, the men from the same village had also been massacred. In January 1994, the remains of at least 143 victims were located and exhumed from three mass graves. Other mass graves are known to exist in or near the village. Due to fear of reprisals against victims' relatives, forensic exhumations of mass graves have been prevented in Guatemala until very recently. Early exhumations in the late 1980s and early 1990s were characterized by inadequate procedures and allegations that evidence was being removed from secret graves. There were also attempted abductions and threats against those demanding the exhumations. In addition, members of the judiciary attempting to conduct proper exhumations were threatened; many discontinued their involvement in legal cases. Those arrested so far in connection with the Rio Negro massacre include three members of a Civil Defence patrol: Carlos Chen Gomez, Pedro Gonzalez Gomez and Fermin Lajtuj Xitumul. An application by them for amnesty under an earlier amnesty law has been turned down by the Constitutional Court. Amnesty International has made repeated requests and recommendations to the authorities reminding them of their duty to the victims of past human rights violations and their relatives. The recommendations include the request for an effective program to guarantee the safety and protection of witnesses and others involved in judicial investigations into past cases of human rights violations. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/E-mails/faxes/express/airmail letters: - urging the authorities to guarantee the physical integrity of witnesses, survivors and their relatives, and all those involved in the investigation into the Rio Negro massacre of March 1982. - asking the authorities to fully investigate all complaints of acts of violence and intimidation, and in particular attacks and threats against members of the Maya Achi Coordination of Widows, Orphans and Displaced People in Baja Verapaz and those who support them; - urging the authorities to adopt Amnesty International's recommendations regarding their duty to the victims and their families of past human rights violations and to the rest of society, and particularly urging that they implement an effective program to guarantee the safety and protection of witnesses and all those who assist with judicial investigations into past abuses; - reminding the government of Guatemala of its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Article 8: 'Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law'. APPEALS TO: If voice answers fax ask: 'me puede dar tono de fax, por favor' (SALUTATION) President of the Republic of Guatemala: (Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente / Dear President) S.E. Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen Presidente de la Republica de Guatemala Palacio Nacional 6a Calle y 7a Avenida, Zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala , GUATEMALA Telegrams: Presidente, Guatemala, Guatemala E-mails: alvaroarzu@guateconnect.com / alvaroarzu@guate.net Faxes: 011 502 221 4537 Minister of Interior: (Senor Ministro / Dear Minister) Lic. Rodolfo Mendoza Rosales Ministro de Gobernacion Ministerio de Gobernacion Despacho Ministerial Of. N0 8, Palacio Nacional 6a Calle y 7a Avenida, Zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA Telegrams: Ministro Gobernacion, Guatemala, Guatemala Faxes: 502 361 5604 / 361 5613 District Attorney of Baja Verapaz: (Sr. Fiscal Distrital / Dear District Attorney) Lic. Fredin Fernandez Fiscal Distrital de Baja Verapaz Ministerio Publico 10a Avenida 3-96, Zona 1, Salama Baja Verapaz, GUATEMALA Telegrams: District Attorney, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala Faxes: 011 502 940 0277 Governor of the department of Baja Verapaz: (Sr. Gobernador / Dear Governor) Sr. Jorge Mendez Castaneda Gobernador Departamental de Baja Verapaz Palacio Departamental de la Gobernacion, Coban Alta Verapaz, GUATEMALA Telegrams: Gobernador, Baja Verapas, Guatemala Faxes: 011 502 952 1369 COPIES TO: Auxiliary Human Rights Procurator of Baja Verapaz: Procurador Auxiliar de Derechos Humanos de Baja Verapaz Procuraduria Auxiliar de Derechos Humanos de Baja Verapaz 7a Avenida 4-50 Zona 1 Salama, Baja Verapaz, GUATEMALA Faxes: 011 502 940 0207 Coordinadora de Maya Achi de Viudas, Huerfanos y Desplazados de Baja Verapaz Huerfanos y Desplazados de Baja Verapaz 3a Calle 3-77, Zona 4 Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, GUATEMALA Community telephone: 011 502 940 0318 Diario La Hora 9a Calle 'A' l-56 Zona l Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA E-mails: lahora@lahora.com.gt Faxes: 011 502 251 7084 Diario Prensa Libre 13 Calle 9-31, Zona l Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA E-mail: medioselectronicos@prensalibre.com.gt Faxes: 011 502 251 8768 Ambassador Embassy of Guatemala 2220 R St. NW Washington DC 20008 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after December 17, 1998.