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| Hundreds of Turkish soldiers to stand trial for rape of Kurdish woman
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 3 (AFP) - Prosecutors in Turkey have indicted hundreds of Turkish soldiers in a controversial case involving the torture and multiple rape of a Kurdish woman while she was in custody in 1993 and 1994, the plaintiff's lawyer said Friday. The woman, who is 31 and known only as S.E., said she was blindfolded when she was tortured and raped, leading the prosecution to charge all 405 soldiers who served during that period in two paramilitary stations in Mardin province in the southeast of the country where she claims she was abused. BizVantage – All the Net, all the time, just for you. "In such cases it is very difficult to find the perpetrators and usually the suspects are acquitted. But even the fact that the prosecutors opened a case is something," lawyer Eren Keskin said. Turkish authorities have been reluctant to look into widespread allegations of torture and rape by security forces in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, the theatre of a 15-year bloody conflict between sepratist Kurdish rebels and the army. S.E. says she was tortured and raped at the hands of paramilitary troops each time she was taken into custody in November 1993 and in March and August 1994, a period of intense fighting against Kurdish rebels. Her claims have been verified by a medical report. In the last incident, she lost consciousness and came to after nine days in hospital. She was never officially charged with any crime. S.E., who suffered severe psychological problems, immigrated to western Turkey together with her family. From there she managed to win asylum in Germany, where she is still living, in Bochum. The first hearing in the case will be held on October 10 in Mardin. Turkey's failure to stamp out torture and other human rights abuses has long impeded its bid to join the European Union. str-su/fc/jfs Turkey-Kurds-rights-justice
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