The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Association (nsan Haklari Dernei - HD) about recent acts of harassment against Mr. Ethem Ackaln, President of the Adana branch of the HD.
According to the information received, on March 10, 2009, the home of Mr. Ethem Ackaln was raided by plain clothes policemen working with the Anti-Terror Unit of the Police Forces, who were in possession of a search warrant and a detention order against him. However, Mr. Ethem Ackaln was not arrested as he was outside his home at that moment. The terms of the detention order remain unknown.
This act of harassment comes in a context where HD has been issuing public reactions on cases of violations of the most fundamental rights of children.
The Observatory is concerned about the ongoing harassment against Mr. Ethem Ackaln, and recalls that the latter has been a privileged target of the authorities since the beginning of 2008 (see background information).
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon Turkish authorities to cancel the detention order against Mr. Ethem Ackaln in the absence of any valid ground for such detention, and to put an end to all kinds of harassment against him, HD members, and other human rights defenders in Turkey, in accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998.
The Observatory urges the Turkish authorities to also comply with 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].
Background information
On January 23, 2008, Mr. Ethem Ackaln was arrested in Adana and accused of "being a member of an illegal organisation" (Article 314 of the Criminal Code, referring to Article 220/6 of the Criminal Code in Turkish Law n° 5237) and "propaganda for an illegal organisation" (Article 7/2 of Anti-Terror Law n° 3713). These charges are linked to Mr. Ackaln's participation in a press conference organised on December 17, 2007 by the Adana Front for Rights and Freedoms (Adana Haklar ve Ozgurlukler Cephesi) in order to denounce the assassination, probably by the police, on December 10, 2007, in Ankara, of Ms. Kevser Mzrak, supposed to be a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi - Cephesi - DHKP-C). During the press conference, a document denouncing extrajudicial executions and calling on the police forces to prevent such human rights violations had been read out.
Accused of being a member of DHKP-C, Mr. Ackaln might be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 7,5 to 15 years.
After being detained in the F-type prison[2] in Adana, with six opponents also arrested on January 23, 2008, Mr. Ackaln was released on June 23, 2008, pending a hearing, rescheduled for March 25, 2009, before the 8th Heavy Penal Court in Adana.
Actions required:
Please write to the Turkish authorities, urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ethem Ackaln and of all human rights defenders in Turkey;
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 Mr. Ethem Ackaln and all human rights defenders in Turkey;
iv. Comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, 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 Gul, 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 Cicek Fax: 00 90 312 417 42 06
・ Interior Minister, Mr. Beir Atalay, Ministry of Interior, Icisleri Bakanligi, 06644 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95 / +90 312 418 7696, besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr
・ Justice Minister, Mr. Mehmet Ali ahin, 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 Uzumcu, 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, March 11, 2009
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[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.
[2] F-Type prisons are characterised by small one- and three-person cells, where continued isolation leaves prisoners particularly vulnerable to torture and other forms of ill treatment.
