THE OBSERVATORY
for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği – İHD) about the police excessive use of force and judicial harassment against Mr. Ethem Açıkalın, President of the Adana branch of the İHD, and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz, İHD Treasurer.
According to the information received, on August 14, 2008, about 44 people, including administrators of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), provincial and district organisations in Adana, Küçük Dikili Mayor and Misis Mayor were detained from their house in early morning. Within the framework of these detentions, police and gendarmerie forces planned to raid Adana DTP provincial organisation. After the İHD Adana branch was informed of these events, Mr. Ethem Açıkalın and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz went immediately to observe the scene.
When Messrs. Açıkalın and Beyaz entered into the DTP building, they saw the police raid. After a while, police force members asked Messrs. Açıkalın and Beyaz why they had come there. They replied that they had come because they got a call about these events, and because part of their activities was to get information and prepare reports about detentions and to release these reports to the public. After a short argument, police forces forcibly took Mr. Ethem Açıkalın and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz out. They threw them from the DTP building, located on the third floor, in the stairs. As a result, Mr. Beyaz’s arm was broken. Mr. Beyaz was taken to the State Hospital in Adana, where he got a medical report that stated he would be disable for service for the next two months.
Furthermore, the Adana police forces immediately filed a complaint against Messrs. Ethem Açıkalın and Hüseyin Beyaz for “resisting against police forces”.
The İHD Adana branch is also planning to file a criminal complaint.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concerns about these events, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning the human rights activities of Messrs. Ethem Açıkalın and Hüseyin Beyaz, in a context of increasing harassment and judicial proceedings against human rights defenders in Turkey.
The Observatory urges the Turkish authorities to conform to the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Human Rights Defenders, so as to create an environment conductive to human rights defenders, to take effective measures to protect, promote, and respect them, to ensure their access to effective remedies, to take action to prevent attacks and harassment against them.
The Observatory further recalls that as a Participating State of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Turkey acknowledges that “the […] UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders [… places] a responsibility […] on states to adopt and implement adequate legislation and administrative procedures that would provide for a conducive environment for human rights defenders to promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and recognises “the need for particular attention, support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its Institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States”[1].
Actions required:
Please write to the Turkish authorities, urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Ethem Açıkalın and Hüseyin Beyaz;
ii.Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned threats and acts of intimidation, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
iii. Put an end to all acts harassment, including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Ethem Açıkalın and Hüseyin Beyaz and all human rights defenders in Turkey;
iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
v. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Turkey.
Addresses:
· President of Turkey, Mr. Abdullah Gül, Cumhurbaskanligi 06100 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: +90 312 468 5026; Email: cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
· Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara, Turkey, Fax: + 90 312 417 0476; receptayyip.erdogan@basbakanlik.gov.tr
· Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Humman Rights, Mr. Cemil Çiçek Fax: 00 90 312 417 42 06
· Interior Minister, Mr. Beşir Atalay, Ministry of Interior, Içisleri Bakanligi, 06644 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95 / +90 312 418 7696, besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr
· Justice Minister, Mr. Mehmet Ali Şahin, Ministry of Justice/ Adalet Bakanligi, 06659 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 414 62 26
· Foreign Minister and State Minister for Human Rights, Mr. Ali Babacan, Office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: +90 312 287 88 11
· Ambassador, Mr. Ahmet Üzümcü, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Ch. du Petit-Saconnex 28b – CP 271, CH-1211, Geneva 19, Switzerland, E-mail : mission.turkey@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 734 08 59
· Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, avenue Louis Lepoutre, 99, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 340 98 79.
Please also write to the embassies of Turkey in your respective country.
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Geneva -Paris, August 19, 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
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FIDH International Federation for Human Rights 17, Passage de la Main d’Or 75 011 Paris, France |
OMCT World Organisation Against Torture Case postale 21 – 8 rue du Vieux-Billard 1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland |
[1] See OP 6 & OP 8 of the Resolution on Strengthening OSCE Engagement with Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions, adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on July 10, 2007.