Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
77
Amnesty International September 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
propaganda through the press". Istanbul State Security
Court sentenced him to 16 months’ imprisonment and
a fine on 13 June 2000. He was remanded to prison on
29 June 2001. AI has adopted Dr Fikret Ba
kaya as a
prisoner of conscience and is campaigning for his
immediate and unconditional release. (See AI Index:
44/042/2001)
The EU and the Council of Europe have called
Turkey to comply with Article 10 of the European
Convention. Turkey’s National Program mentions a
"review" of some articles which have frequently been
used to restrict freedom of expression, but again links
the intended reform to "basic principles of the Turkish
Constitution, in particular those concerning the
secular and democratic character of the Republic,
national unity and the unitary state model". AI is
concerned that this wording suggests that restrictions
which do not comply with Article 10 will be retained.
Therefore AI continues to campaign for a thorough
reform of law and practice to fully ensure freedom of
expression in Turkey.
TURKMENISTAN
Persecution of religious believers
Possible prisoner of conscience Shagildy Atakov
and harassment of his family
(update to AI Index: EUR 01/03/00
and EUR 01/001/2001)
Concerns for the safety of Baptist Shagildy Atakov
were heightened in February following reports that he
had been treated so harshly in prison that he was in
imminent danger of dying. He had allegedly been
beaten repeatedly by prison guards and had been
inappropriately administered psychotropic drugs in
order to punish him for his religious beliefs.
According to his wife Artygul Atakova, who
visited him in Seydi labour camp on 3 and 4 February,
he was reportedly hardly able to walk, he was bruised,
he had abdominal pains, he frequently lost
consciousness and he was suffering from jaundice.
Shagildy Atakov reportedly told his wife that he was
being treated with Aminazin and Prometazin,
although he had been given no explanation as to why
he needed to undergo this treatment. The psychotropic
drug Aminazin (also known as Chlorpromazine,
Largactil or Thorazine) is a major tranquilliser used in
the
treatment
of
psychoses.
Prometazin
or
Promethazin (also known as Phenergan) is an
antihistamine, which is used for a number of purposes,
including the relief of allergy, nausea and vertigo, but
is also be used to induce sleep. According to AI's
medical advice, these drugs are not in themselves
sinister. There are specific disorders for which they
are prescribed, but they should be administered by
qualified doctors, and their use monitored. Aminazin
in particular can have powerful side-effects, including
involuntary movements. In the light of previous
allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Shagildy
Atakov, and in the absence of evidence that he
suffered from any psychiatric disorder, AI feared that
the administration of such drugs might be a punitive
measure.
Apparently in response to international concern
about the way his health had deteriorated in detention,
Shagildy Atakov was transferred from Seydi labour
camp to a prison hospital in the town of Mary in mid-
February. The director of the governmental National
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights in
Turkmenistan explained in a letter to AI’s UK Section
that Shagildy Atakov had been transferred for medical
assistance and that “his health [was] at present in a
normal state”. However, he gave no details of the
medical treatment given to Shagildy Atakov. He also
denied that Shagildy Atakov had been ill-treated in
detention, but did not provide evidence in support of
this claim.
On 1 March Shagildy Atakov was reportedly
returned from the prison hospital in Mary to Seydi
labour camp and placed in a punishment cell for one
month. Three weeks later, according to unofficial
sources, he was transferred some 800 kilometres
across Turkmenistan to a maximum security prison in
the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi (formerly
Krasnovodsk) in the west. The official reason for his
transfer was not known.
In May Shagildy Atakov was reportedly
unexpectedly taken to Ashgabat in a bid to persuade
him and his family to agree to leave the country for
the United States of America, according to reports by
Keston News Service. The authorities had allegedly
also brought Shagildy Atakov's wife Artygul to
Ashgabat from Kaakhka where she lives in internal
exile, for a meeting with her husband at the offices of
the National Security Committee (KNB). The two,
however, reportedly told the KNB separately and
jointly that they had no wish to leave Turkmenistan.
The KNB reportedly warned Shagildy Atakov that if
the family refused to emigrate he would have to serve
his sentence in full.
In March Shagildy Atakov completed the first two
years of his four-year sentence. He was charged with
"swindling", but his supporters believed that the real
reason was his religious affiliation. According to
unofficial sources, Shagildy Atakov was to have been
included in the latest presidential amnesty, issued on
23 December 2000. However, he reportedly refused to
swear an oath of loyalty to the President on religious
grounds, and so was not released.
Shagildy Atakov’s wife Artygul and his five
children continued to be harassed by the Turkmen
authorities. According to the non-governmental
organization Missionswerk Friedensstimme, the
family were pressurized by the mullah, administration
officials and officers of the KNB in Kaakhka to
convert to Islam. Artygul Atakova was reportedly also
warned that the family home would be confiscated if
Baptists continued to meet there. In April the local
authorities reportedly threatened to deprive Artygul
Atakova of her parental rights because her children
refused to take part in their daily school ceremony -
the reading of the oath of allegiance to President
Saparmurat Niyazov and the kissing of the Turkmen