CAT/C/54/D/544/2013 The facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1 The complainant is a Turkish national of Kurdish ethnicity who was born on 15 November 1962 in the village of Ömerli, which is the native village of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It was under the latter’s influence that the complainant first came to sympathize with the Kurdish movement. This led him to actively support PKK combatants by bringing them supplies and performing other tasks. Following the coup d’état of 12 September 1980, 2 the complainant and many other young people from his and nearby villages were arrested and convicted for being members of the PKK. The complainant was detained, 3 tortured and prosecuted in a multi-accused trial brought against PKK members in 1981. He was ruled to be a PKK combatant and sentenced to 16 years and 8 months’ rigorous imprisonment. 2.2 On 20 April 1990, he was released on parole and forcibly recruited into the Turkish army for two years. During that period, he was subjected to repeated harassment, threats and other forms of persecution. About one year after returning to his village, he was arrested again and imprisoned for 3 months for having taken part in a protest against the Aleppo massacres. 4 In 1992, the complainant returned to his native village but, until 1999, was required to report to the police station at regular intervals to sign a register. Despite these actions taken against him, the complainant never ceased to support the PKK and other affiliated political parties, and was a founding member of the Party of Democracy (DEP) (Democrasi Partisi) 5 in Halfeti. However, on account of his earlier conviction, loss of civil rights and ban on holding political office, he could belong to the party only unofficially. Owing to the very close surveillance of the party’s premises and of the complainant himself, however, his involvement did not escape the notice of the authorities, and he continued to be subjected to numerous forms of persecution, including sundry harassment, searches, short periods of detention and death threats. 2.3 Before the DEP was dissolved, the complainant played a significant part in the creation of the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), even though, for the same reasons, he could not appear as an official founding member. HADEP having subsequently run into numerous difficulties, the DEHAP (Democratic People ’s Party) was founded in October 1997, and the complainant again contributed actively to the party’s establishment. 6 Three months later, law enforcement officials approached the complainant to inform him that he was not permitted to engage in political activities as part of the party leadership. Because of his close involvement with all the Kurdish parties which succeeded one another, the complainant continued to be seen as an active member of the PKK, since all those parties were looked upon as the legal arm of the PKK. In 2004, he managed to obtain a police document listing the charges brought against him at the time, including what was described as an “offence against the State”. 7 In addition, the HAPED was banned by the Turkish Constitutional Court, which ruled that, by assisting the PKK, it was acting against the integrity of Turkey and the nation. __________________ 2 3 4 5 6 7 GE. 15-11119 On 12 September 1980, the Turkish Army, led by General Kenan Evren, organized a coup d ’état and established a military regime that was to continue until 1983. The complainant attaches a statement (original Turkish text and translation into German) dated 3 June 1987. At the end of the Gulf war, believing they had the support of the United States of America, the Kurdish people rose up. The repression caused 2 million Kurds to fl ee to Turkey and Iran. In exchange for receiving the refugees, Turkey sought an undertaking from Kurdish leaders in Iraq that they would provide no support to the PKK. Turkish political party founded on 7 May 1993 and dissolved on 16 June 1994. The complainant attaches a copy of his membership card. The complainant attaches a copy of the report (original version in Turkish). 3/12