Turkey leads in persecution
At least 45 journalists were detained in Turkey in March, according to the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS).
"The number of journalists taken into custody was 45, those attacked and beaten numbered eight, 114 journalists, writers and publishers are in prison, there have been three instances of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) shutting down radio and television channels, 17 warning penalties were handed out by RTUK to radio stations and television channels, and four books were banned", said the TGS.
Three foreign journalists were among those taken into custody, including New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer, and two journalists from Finland. The 1996 report of the US Journalists' Protection Committee declared Turkey to be the "country that imprisons the most journalists".
Gold mine threatens heritage
Turkish villagers and environmentalists have united to fight a gold mine proposed for the site where an ancient civilisation once flourished. The struggle in Bergama — a town dotted with marble columns and theatres built by the ancient Greeks — has attracted national attention. Residents fear the mining venture by French-based Eurogold will harm the environment by using cyanide to separate gold from other minerals, while offering little benefit to villagers.
In January, Bergama's 3000 residents unanimously vetoed the use of cyanide in a referendum. Residents worry about the mine's impact on its main source of income, the tens of thousands of tourists who visit Bergama's ancient sites each year.
Kurdish papers banned in Germany
Two publications that bring news of the national struggle of the Kurdish people have been banned in Germany. The German Supreme Court ruled on April 9 that weekly Biji was committing a criminal act when it published communiqués of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan, the armed wing of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK was banned by the German interior minister in November 1993.
In a second ruling, the court overturned the acquittal of another publication, Kurdistan-Rundbrief, on charges that it published a speech by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan which was read at a peace demonstration in Bonn in 1995. A lower court in Cologne had ruled that printing the speech was permissible as part of the freedom of the press. Kurdistan-Rundbrief will soon be put on trial again for publishing a peace message.
South Africa lifts arms ban on Turkey
Pretoria lifted all limitations on arms exports to Turkey on April 15. A total ban was imposed in April 1995 in the wake of a massive incursion by the Turkish army into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish liberation fighters. "The decision will only improve the relations between the two countries", South African ambassador Riaan Eksteen said. "There is a great potential of cooperation between South Africa and Turkey, and this also covers military and defence fields." Turkey's war against Kurdistan Workers Party guerillas continues unabated.
South Africa will immediately tender for a contract for 145 attack helicopters. South Africa's state-of-the-art Rooivalk helicopter gunship, produced by the state-owned Denel Corporation, was developed by the apartheid regime to fight liberation movements in Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Thousands executed in China
Amnesty International estimates that 3500 people have been executed in China since Beijing launched the "Strike Hard" anti-crime campaign a year ago. Beijing refuses to reveal the total, but a count of incomplete official reports gives a figure of 3000.
Wang Jiafu, a member of China's parliament, said in March that 500,000 were given "long-term to life imprisonment".
Fraud, tax evasion and many non-violent crimes are already punishable by death in China, but AI director for Asia Rory Mungoven said the list is becoming "broader and broader". The president of the Supreme People's Court, Ren Jianxin, confirmed this, indicating that more corruption-related offences would be added to the list.