A statement issuee by Mahmut SAKAR, Lawyer and Chairman of the Diyarbakir Branch of the Human Rights Association, stated that the IHD members had been taken into custody so as to prevent them making comments on the Turkish incursion into Northern Iraq. But he also stated that he felt that this was only a partial reason and that he feared greater suppression of Associations and groups in Diyarbakir. In support of this belief he referred to the statements of the National Security Council1 and cited, as an example, the recent closure of the Demokrasi newspaper.

Referring to the raid on the office of the Human Rights Association, he stated that a significant number of completed application forms to the European Commission of Human Rights in relation ot the right of individual petition, Article 25 of the Convention,

1 A report prepared by the National Security Council in January 1997 was leaked to the press. It contained statements on NGO activities and stated that NGOs who carry out activities against the State in matter of human rights should be closely monitored and obstructed.

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