"Made into a target because I opposed a system of injustice using democratic means”
Prison letter from Sandra Bakutz
On February 10 I travelled to Istanbul as part of an international delegation. The subject that particularly concerned me was a mass trial which had started as a result of a police operation on April 1, 2004 which targeted entirely democratic and legal associations and their members. This operation actually originated in Italy but its most dramatic consequence was repressive measures and rights violations aimed at democratic activists in Turkey. More than 100 people were arrested with the help of forged documents and diskettes. Eighty-two of them were imprisoned. Although the court found that diskettes could not be used as proof, dozens of people are still imprisoned and the wave of repression goes on.
Since I have for many years worked for human rights - in Turkey, amongst other places - I am thoroughly familiar with the methods used in this country against the democratic opposition. I have often taken part in delegations and seen with my own eyes how human rights are abused here. Torture remains on the agenda - this is confirmed by all human rights organisations and NGOs, on an almost daily basis. One of the best examples of the “democracy of appearances” is the prisons, which are an open wound, like they were before. People are imprisoned, and then they are not even sure of their lives.
In 2000 a gigantic regime of prison isolation was instituted, aimed at stepping up the repression used against prisoners. For over four years there has been an extensive resistance to policies which are a threat to the entire democratic opposition. In this resistance 118 people have lost their lives. Nonetheless severe censorship is used to try and conceal these facts. I see it as my task to bring this to light and make my small contribution to democratic changes.
Now I myself have been made into a target. But that will not change my attitude. I have been accused of being a member of the illegal organisation the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front) because I opposed the system of injustice using democratic means. Here I would only like to call on international public opinion to pay more attention to Turkey and the circumstances here, in order that an end is put to silence.
February 18, 2005
Sandra Bakutz
Letter sent out of prison through her lawyer