Sentencing of three members of the Adana branch of the IHD - TUR 002 / 0807 / OBS 093

17/08/2007
Urgent Appeal

The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Association (Insan Haklari Dernegi - IHD) about the sentencing of three members of the Adana branch of the Association for criticising the "Return to Life" military operations of December 2000 and the prison conditions of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

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:

According to the information received, on June 7, 2007, Mr. Ethem Acikalin, President of the IHD branch in Adana, Mr. Mustafa Bagcicek, Secretary General, and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz, Financial Secretary, were sentenced by the Adana Criminal Court n°1 to two years and eight months’ imprisonment for "inciting hatred and hostility" and "praising crime and criminals" (Article 215 of the Criminal Code). On the same day, the three men appealed their sentence before the Appeal Court in Ankara (Yargitay). They will remain free until the decision of the court, which should take place within one year.

The Observatory recalls that on December 19, 2000, the military had organised the "Return to life" military operations that had been launched simultaneously in 22 prisons all over Turkey in order to end two months of hunger strikes and "death fasts" carried out by hundreds of political prisoners, and which resulted in the death of 31 people, two of them soldiers. At that time, the hunger strikers were protesting against the State’s plan to transfer its prisoners from large wards to "F-type" prisons (characterised by small one- and three-person cells, where continued isolation leaves prisoners particularly vulnerable to torture and other forms of ill treatment).

On December 18, 2005, Mr. Ethem Acikalin, Mr. Mustafa Bagcicek and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz had organised a demonstration, protesting against these military operations and calling for the prosecution of those responsible for these violations. The second charge was brought after they criticised, in the press release issued at the occasion of the demonstration, Mr. Öcalan’s solitary confinement in Imrali Prison.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities of Turkey urging them to :

i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ethem Acikalin, Mr. Mustafa Bagcicek and Mr. Hüseyin Beyaz, as well as of all human rights defenders in Turkey;

ii.Ensure that their rights to a fair and impartial trial be guaranteed when appealing their sentences, so that the charges against them be dropped, as they are arbitrary;

iii.Put an end to acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in Turkey;

iv.Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or 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", its Article 5, which provides that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, [...] to meet or assemble peacefully", its Article 6.b, which states that "everyone has the right [...] to freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms" and its Article 12.2 which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or 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.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Turkey, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, which was ratified by Turkey in 1988.

Addresses:

 President of Turkey, Mr. Ahmet Necdet Sezer, 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
 Interior Minister, Mr. Abdulkadir Aksu, Ministry of Interior, Içisleri Bakanligi, 06644 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95, aaksu@icisleri.gov.tr
 Justice Minister, Mr. Cemil Cicek, Ministry of Justice/ Adalet Bakanligi , 06659 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 418 5667, ccicek@adalet.gov.tr
 Foreign Minister and State Minister for Human Rights, Mr.Abdullah Gül, Office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: +90 312 287 88 11 / + 90 312 417 04 76, agul@mfa.gov.tr
 Ambassador, Mr. Türkekul Kurttekin, 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 Brussels, avenue Louis Lepoutre, 99, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 340 98 79.

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Turkey in your respective countries.

***
Geneva-Paris, August 17, 2007

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: Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80 Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29

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