NEW ISTANBUL POLICE CHIEF SHOULD NOT MAKE SAME MISTAKES

BIA Magazine
June 15 2009
Turkey

With the transfer of Istanbul’s Chief of Police Cerrah to Osmaniye
province as a governor, it is hoped that his replacement will respect
human rights more..

The person to fill the post of Istanbul Chief of Police now that
Celalettin Cerrah has been given the post of governor of Osmaniye
province in the south of Turkey, needs to avoid making the same
mistakes.

For one, s/he must not make erroneous statements about the human
rights violations carried out by police officers. This is particularly
important as a step towards preventing police violence.

Emma Sinclair, Turkey rapporteur for Human Rights Watch (HRW), wrote
a report about Turkey last year and shared the data with government
representatives. She remembers statements on the Istanbul Police
Force website.

She said that these statements always denied claims of human rights
violations by the police in the strongest terms, using hostile
language. They put forward their own versions of events even while
investigations were continuing and targeted those making the claims.

"Thus claims of torture and maltreatment were covered up. Evidence was
manufactured. In addition the statements about controversial events
were always produced very fast. The new Chief of Police should not
repeat this. The police as an institution has to be more careful."

"Culture of impunity" In an HRW report on police violence published
in December 2008 , she had written,

"There are […] signs of continuing problems of police violence,
and a reported rise in overall complaints of torture and police
violence since the beginning of 2007. At the core of the persistence
of these phenomena is the culture of impunity. Historically, law
enforcement officials were rarely if ever held to account, and still
less often in a manner that reflected the gravity of the violations
committed. Today, despite increased legal safeguards, law enforcement
officers who flout them can still enjoy effective impunity when they
are alleged to have abused or even unlawfully killed victims."

Some have termed the Police Departments website the "Cerrah News
Agency". Some examples of statements made in the past are:

When people experienced police violence during forced house
demolitions, the person recording and broadcasting the violence was
termed the "provocator of the AltınÅ~_ehir riots."

When Nigerian refugee Festus (Fastos) Okey was shot dead in the
Beyoglu police station in central Isatabul, the statement on the
website tried to conjure up an image of a "potential criminal" in
order to indirectly legitimise his death.

When Engin Ceber died in prison and doctor reports and witnesses
showed that he and his friends had been tortured at the police station,
Cerrah said, "He was not beaten by us."

After a police operation in Bostancı, Istanbul, where police officer
Semih Balaban was shot by militant Orhan Yılmazkaya, and Yılmazkaya
was later shot, too, Cerrah said at the police officer’s funeral:
"We revenged our friend’s death."

When cars were set on fire in December 2007, Cerrah targeted Kurds in
his statement, and talked of "perpetrators" rather than "suspects". He
also advised people to install cameras at home and at work "if they
want security."

Following the request of the governor’s office, the Istanbul Police
Force carried the investigation into the police violence used on 1 May
2008. Not surprisingly, the report found that "proportionate force"
had been used. The investigation was led by deputy police chief Mehmet
KızılguneÅ~_, who had been taken off duty as the head of the riot
police following violence against women protesters on 6 March 2005
as they were demonstrating for International Women’s Day.

When events of people wearing police uniforms and committing violent
acts emerged, Cerrah warned the public to ask plain clothes police
officers for ID. However, he did not mention that all officers,
whether in uniform or plain clothes, need to show their ID and give
an explanation when stopping someone and give those who request it
a report.

After protesters tried to open a pancard reading "We will not become
Israeli soldiers" on 30 August 2006, and others attact them, Cerrah
praised the lynching attempt, saying: "Citizens interfered and showed
the appropriate reaction. It was a good reaction."

Hours after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
in 2007, Istanbul governor Muammer Guler and Cerrah appeared on TV
together. Cerrah, for whose questioning in the matter the governor
has never given permission, said, "It was a murder committed with
nationalist feelings." Although reports have pointed to police
negligence, he is not facing prosecution. (TK/AG)