Türkiye
22.07.16
Urgent Interventions

Arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders Orhan Kemal Cengiz and Sibel Semira Hurtas

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TUR 005 / 0716 / OBS 063

Arbitrary arrest

Turkey
July22, 2016

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in thefollowing situation in Turkey.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has beeninformed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Orhan KemalCengiz, a human rights lawyer[1],a journalist who writes on various human rights issues and founding member andformer President of the Human Rights Agenda Association (Insan HaklariGundemi Dernegi - HRAA)[2], and his wife, Ms. SibelSemira Hurtas, a journalist specializing in women's rights and Statecrimes.

According to the informationreceived, on July 21, 2016, Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz and Ms. Sibel Semira Hurtaswere arrested by the police at Istanbul’s Ataturk international airport, beforeboarding for a plane to London to attend a conference promoted by the the TahirElci Foundation and placed in police custody. Ms. Sibel Semira Hurtas wasreleased on the same day but Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz remained detained in IstanbulSecurity Directorate located on Vatan Avenue. The grounds for his arrest havenot been provided. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, he has nothad access to his lawyer.

On July 17, 2016, Mr.Orhan Kemal Cengiz was mentioned on a blacklist of “dissent journalists” to bedetained soon, published on the pro-Government Twitter account known as Başkentçi.

The Observatory recallsthat the arrests take place against the backdrop of the deteriorating humanrights situation in Turkey. Since July 2015, the authorities have launched amassive crackdown on some civil society organisations abusively depicted as“terrorist networks”. The campaign targeted dozens of peaceful activists whohave been involved in the monitoring of human rights violations resulting fromanti-terrorism operations and who have been advocating for a peacefulresolution of the Kurdish issue, including NGO members, lawyers, politicalparty representatives and journalists.

Moreover, with the imposition of a State ofemergency that followed the failed military coup d’État of July 14, 2016, theObservatory fears that the Turkish authorities will step up restrictions tohuman rights and fundamental freedoms and repression against dissenting voices,including human rights defenders.

The Observatory stronglycondemns the arbitrary arrest of Ms. Sibel Semira Hurtas and Mr. Orhan KemalCengiz, as it seems to only aim at sanctioning their right to freedom ofexpression and legitimate human rights activities. Accordingly, the Observatorycalls upon the Turkish judicial authorities to immediately and unconditionallyrelease Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz and stop the harassment against him and hiswife.

Until Mr. Orhan KemalCengiz is released, the Observatory further urges the Turkish authorities toensure that his arrest is in compliance with international law standards.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Turkeyasking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrityof Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz as well as of all human rights defenders in Turkey;

ii. Release immediately and unconditionally Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz, as it seems to only aim at curtailing his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all acts ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Orhan Kemal Cengiz and all human rights defenders in Turkey, so that they are able to carry out their work withouthindrance;

iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with its Articles 1, 6(b)(c) and 12.2;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Turkey.

Addresses:

· President of Turkey,Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Fax: (+90 312) 525 58 31, E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

·Prime Minister of Turkey AhmetDavutoglu, Fax: +90 (312)403 62 82

·Minister of Justice of Turkey, Mr. Bekir Bozdağ, Fax: +90 (0312) 419 3370; E-mail: info@adalet.gov.tr

· Minister of Interior of Turkey, Mr. EfkanAla; Fax: +90 (312) 425 61 30; Email: ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

· Ambassador Izzet Selim Yenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to theEuropean Union in Brussels, Belgium; Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50

· AmbassadorMehmet Ferden Çarikçi, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations inGeneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 734 08 59; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

Please also write to the diplomatic missionsor embassies of Turkey in your respective country.

***
Paris-Geneva, July 22, 2016

Kindly inform us of any action undertakenquoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory was createdin 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of this programme is to intervene toprevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCTand FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call theemergency line:

  • E-mail: Appeals[at]fidh-omct.org
  • Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
  • Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] He is one of the lawyers in the“Tahir Elci” case, a Kurdish human rights lawyer and President of theDiyarbakir Bar Association killed in November 2015. In February 2016, he spokeat the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, devoting his entire speech to the memoryof Mr. Tahir Elci.

[2] The HRAA was established in 2003 inorder to work at the national and international levels on human rightsviolations, especially on torture, freedom of expression, minority rights andeconomic, social and cultural rights.