DOCTORS UNION CALLS FOR FORENSIC MEDICINE COUNCIL TO BE SHUT DOWN
Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2009
Turkey
The Turkish Doctors Union (TTB) has urged the Ministry of Justice to
shut down all facilities of the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK)
in connection with the ongoing trial against Ergenekon, a clandestine
terrorist organization with links to the state accused of attempting
to topple the government.
In a written statement, the TTB acknowledged that the ATK and its
reports are extremely important for the Ergenekon investigation,
but stressed that some of its members have close links with the
Ergenekon suspects and that some of the reports given by the ATK have
been disputed.
The report in question, prepared by the ATK’s Third Specialized
Board, allowed Ä°brahim Å~^ahin — the former head of the National
Police Department’s Special Operations Unit and a suspected member
of Ergenekon — to avoid prison time for his role in the Susurluk
affair, in which a car accident revealed shadowy links between gangs
and Turkey’s security forces. The report, prepared in 2000, claimed
that Å~^ahin had lost his memory after a traffic accident unrelated
to Susurluk in 2000.
The Turkish Doctors Union has urged the Ministry of Justice in a
written statement to shut down all facilities of the Council of
Forensic Medicine in connection with the ongoing trial against
Ergenekon.
One of the doctors who prepared this report about Å~^ahin, Professor
Erbil GözukırmızÄ& #xB1;, is still seated on the Third Specialized
Board and, at the same time, a member of the Workers’ Party (Ä°P),
the leader of which, Dogu Perincek, is a suspect in the trial against
Ergenekon. The Ä°P has previously said it will name GözukırmızÄ& #xB1;
as minister of youth and sports if it comes to power.
Gözukırmı zı also had very close ties with İP deputy leader Ferit
Ä°lsever, Professor Emin Gurses, former Ä°stanbul University Rector
Kemal Alemdaroglu and businessman Ä°brahim Benli — all Ergenekon
suspects. In addition, GözukırmızÄ& #xB1; was a member of a committee
established by former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC)
President Rauf DenktaÅ~_ to refute claims that the killings of
Anatolian Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire in 1915
constituted genocide.
In its statement, the TTB noted that the chairwoman of the Third
Specialized Board, Dr. Nur Bilgen, was punished by the TTB Disciplinary
Committee for covering up torture claims. Birgen was barred from
practicing medicine for six months by the TTB after a report she wrote
claimed that seven protesters who had been arrested in 1995 were
healthy despite having been tortured. She was barred from practice
a second time after she prepared another scandalous report about two
prisoners who had developed serious medical conditions after a hunger
strike; she had certified that they could remain in prison because
they had recovered.
The Ministry of Justice issued a written statement on Jan. 16 in
response to an earlier TTB report that voiced allegations against
Birgen. The statement said that the accusations about her had been
rejected by the Administrative Court. But in another written statement
issued by the TTB in response, it was noted that the Administrative
Court nullified the decision of TTB disciplinary committee on the
grounds that the TTB does not have the right to suspend public
officials from their duties and that the sole authority that can
make such a decision is the Ministry of Justice. The TTB claimed that
the court decision did not deny the fact that Biren had issued false
reports about torture victims.
In the same statement the Ministry of Justice had indicated that the
European Court of Human Rights found that 95 percent of the council’s
reports were accurate. But the TTB recalled that an independent
committee appointed by the European court had confirmed that the
patients who were under hunger strike were given ‘healthy’ reports
by the ATK while they were actually in critical condition.
When it issued its report on Å~^ahin, the Third Specialized Board
said he was suffering from "permanent damage" to his brain and ears
in addition to a number of psychological problems as a result of his
car accident in 2000. He was later pardoned by former President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer.
The TTB statement raised doubts about the accuracy of the report on
Å~^ahin and underlined that since the board suggested once in its
report that he had suffered "permanent damage," it will feel itself
bound by its earlier decision and if Å~^ahin is brought in front of
the board he will once again receive the same contested decision.
–Boundary_(ID_0yk4IcvkjJ2+JODPQqgUlA)- –