Sir, - Assurances from the Turkish embassy (March 16th) that the Ocalan trial will be free, fair and open might be guardedly welcomed if it were not for Mr Engin Asula's allegations that lawyers, in their defence of PKK members or Kurdish writers and activists, have acted as "fronts" or couriers for terrorists. Lawyers and human rights defenders in Turkey, particularly those acting for Kurdish clients, have suffered torture and, in some cases, assassination because of their work.
In 1994, a UK law society delegation to the trial of a group of lawyers charged with being members of an armed terrorist group stated: "It was difficult to avoid the conclusion that Turkish laws and procedure, particularly in the emergency zone, are operating overwhelmingly in the interests of the state at the expense of the fundamental human rights of the individual." Their report goes on: "The operation of anti-separatist and `anti-terrorist' legislation is providing an effective basis for prosecutions of those whose peaceful criticisms are seen as a threat to the Turkish state in its current form. Freedom of speech, and in particular the reporting of human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the State, is effectively being denied by the courts."
Human rights are immutable. The right to defence before the courts is absolute and unconditional. Attacks on those who provide this defence, such as Rosemary Nelson in Lurgan this week, are threats to the cornerstone of democracy. Attacks on lawyers defending Ocalan cannot, as Mr Asula suggests, be seen as understandable in the light of the PKK campaign. They are unacceptable attacks on the fundamental right to legal defence and should be prevented at all costs. - Yours, etc.,
Anne McCluskey, Kurdistan Solidarity Ireland, Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.