US embassy cable - 03ANKARA2246

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002246 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE 
SUBJECT: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION IN LONG-STANDING 
MANISA TORTURE CASE 
 
REF: A. 02 ANKARA 7467 
     B. 02 ANKARA 6189 
 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: An appeals court upheld the torture 
convictions of 10 police officers in the high-profile 1996 
Manisa case; the ruling is final.  The officers are expected 
to serve jail terms ranging from two years to more than four 
years.  Human rights observers and European diplomats 
welcomed the ruling, but said it does not necessarily 
indicate a broader trend toward eroding the climate of 
impunity for police who commit torture.  End Summary. 
 
 
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Ruling Ends Long, High-Profile Trial 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
2. (U) The Turkish Court of Appeals 8th Department April 4 
unanimously upheld the October 16 ruling by the Manisa Penal 
Court convicting 10 police officers of torture and sentencing 
them to prison terms ranging from five to 11 years (reftel 
A).  The officers were sentenced to 10 months imprisonment 
for each detainee they tortured.  According to the 
Prosecution Law, under which convicts serve a portion of 
their sentences, the officers' actual time behind bars is 
expected to range from two years to four years, four months. 
The defense cannot appeal the ruling. 
 
 
3. (C) The decision ended a seven-and-a-half-year trial 
plagued by repeated reversals and procedural delays.  The 
ruling came less than three months before the statute of 
limitations in the case was set to expire, which would have 
ended the case with no verdict.  An Embassy contact told us 
that Interior Ministry officials had complicated efforts by 
the court to contact the defendants in an attempt to delay 
the case long enough to avoid a verdict (reftel B), a common 
practice in police torture cases. 
 
 
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Observers Welcome Ruling, But Remain Skeptical 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
4. (U) Justice Minister Cicek publicly praised the ruling, 
saying that police will now "think nine more times" before 
committing torture.  Pelin Erda, one of the victims' 
attorneys, told us the ruling is important because police 
charged with torture in Turkey rarely do jail time.  She 
averred that the ruling will discourage police from torturing 
detainees and encourage victims to press charges.  Still, she 
noted that the court sentenced the defendants to the shortest 
jail terms permitted for torture.  Husnu Ondul, president of 
the Human Rights Association, said the significance of one, 
high-profile conviction should not be overstated.  Noting 
that defendants in other recent torture cases have been 
acquitted or given light sentences, he argued that the GOT 
needs to launch a broad anti-torture campaign. 
 
 
5. (C) The case drew close international attention due to the 
large number of defendants and the possibility that the 
accused would go unpunished because of a lapse of time.  The 
EU used the case as a test of the GOT's human rights reforms, 
tracking the proceedings in its progress reports on Turkey's 
EU candidacy.  German and Danish diplomats told us the Manisa 
case was at the top of the agenda for the EU's Turkey 
watchers.  They said a decision to overturn the conviction 
would have been disastrous, as EU observers were expecting 
the October ruling to be upheld.  Both diplomats agreed this 
ruling alone will not dramatically improve Turkey's image in 
EU capitals; Europeans will wait and see whether a trend 
emerges. 
 
 
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Comment 
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6. (C) The Turkish judicial system's general inability to put 
law-breaking police behind bars has contributed greatly to 
the climate of impunity for torture.  For that reason, this 
ruling is significant.  But the skeptics have it right -- one 
high-profile case does not necessarily indicate a sea change. 
 In the area of human rights reform, the GOT has a tendency 
to highlight individual successes while delaying fundamental 
change.  It is worth noting that the defendants in this case 
remained on the streets during their trial, while defendants 
charged with speech crimes and other lesser offenses are 
routinely held until a verdict is reached. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PEARSON