Break-in of the apartment of Eren Keskin, human rights lawyer and co-president of the Human Rights Association (İHD)

TUR 001 / 0120 / OBS 002.2

Break-in / Threats /

Intimidation

Turkey

June 22, 2020

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests yoururgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the break-inof the apartment of Ms. Eren Keskin, human rights lawyer[1]and co-president of the Human Rights Association (İHD). Ms. Eren Keskin is thewinner of multiple international awards for her peace and human rights work,including the 2018 Helsinki Civil Society Award[2],and was the 2018 finalist of Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders[3].

According to the information received, on June 16, 2020 unknown peoplebroke into the apartment of Ms. Eren Keskin, while nobody was at home. Nothingwas stolen from the apartment. However, the perpetrators took Ms. Eren Keskin’sbelongings from drawers and thrown them around. Moreover, her jewellery wasdemonstratively left on the main table in the room. The incident was reportedto the local police and is currently being investigated.

The Observatory recalls that on June 12, 2020, four days before theattack, Ms. Eren Keskin was summoned by the Prosecutor of Istanbul, onallegations of “terrorist propaganda” in connection to the messages she postedin 2015 on social media concerning the curfew in the South-East of Turkey andthe Kurdish issue. The Observatory fears that the above-mentioned attackconstitutes an act of threat and intimidation targeting Ms. Eren Keskin for herhuman rights activities.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the threats againstMs. Eren Keskin and calls on the Turkish authorities to conduct a transparent,impartial, immediate and thorough investigation into the above-mentioned actsand to put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level,against her as well as against all human rights defenders in Turkey. Finally,the Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to ensure an enablingenvironment by avoiding public discourse aimed at stigmatising journalist,human rights defenders and political activists.

Background information:

From 2013 to 2016, Ms. Eren Keskin held the title of editor-in-chief forÖzgür Gündem (‘Free Agenda’) and also joined the “co-editor-in-chief” campaign,which was organised between May and August 2016, to support the imprisoned editorialstaff of the newspaper. Özgür Gündem newspaper was shut down by the EmergencyDecree no. 675 on October 29, 2016 over “terrorist propaganda” allegations.

In the aftermath of the solidarity campaign, criminal investigationswere launched against 49 people, who held the title of co-editor-in-chief forÖzgür Gündem, and criminal cases were launched against 38 of them. Many columnistsof the newspaper also face criminal cases for their articles published in thenewspaper. A total of 143 cases, some of which were later combined, have beenlodged against Ms. Eren Keskin in relation to her editorship in the newspaper.

In addition, the case known as the Özgür Gündem main trial started inDecember 2016, in which five advisory board members, as well as foureditors-in-chief of the newspaper, have been facing charges for “disrupting theunity of the state”, “incitement to commit crime”, “membership to a terroristorganisation”, “terrorist propaganda” and “publishing and spreading statementsof terrorist organisations” in relation to articles published in Özgür Gündem.On October 10, 2018the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court lifted Ms. ErenKeskin’s international travel ban. However, she still has a travel ban issuedagainst her in other cases and investigations.

On January 13, 2020, the 15th hearing of the main trial in Özgür Gündemnewspaper case was held before the Istanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court. Theprosecutor asked Ms. Eren Keskin and other defendants to be convicted of"membership to a terrorist organisation" (Article 324/2 of theCriminal Code and Article 5/1 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713). The prosecutoralleged that Ms. Eren Keskin promoted the objectives of the terroristorganisation through her articles published in the newspaper and other articlespublished during her chief editorship. Three defendants were acquitted in thatcase, while Ms. Eren Keskin’s case was separated along with other defendants.

To date, Ms. Keskin was sentenced to a total of 17.5 years in prison andover 400,000 TL (around 60,000 Euros) in fines. Out of the files imposing fineson Ms. Keskin, judicial remedies were exhausted for the fines amounting to morethan 300,000 TL (around 45,000 Euros) - and Ms. Keskin already started to paythat amount thanks to national and international solidarity - while the prisonsentences and the remainder of the fines are still pending before the Court ofAppeals and the Court of Cassation.

In addition, Eren Keskin’s ongoing work as a human rights lawyer hasalso been challenged: the legal team of the Office of the President of Turkeyfiled an application to the Istanbul Bar Association in August 2018 requestingthe Bar to launch a disciplinary investigation against Ms. Keskin, which mayresult in disbarment. The investigation is still pending.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Turkey asking them to:

i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrityand psychological well-being of Ms. Eren Keskin, as well as of all humanrights defenders in Turkey;

ii.Carry out an impartial, transparent, immediate and thorough investigation intothe above-mentioned events in order to identify all those responsible, bringthem before and independent tribunal and sanction them as provided by law, andensure the report on the outcome of the investigation is made public;

iv. Put an end to all formsof harassment, including at the judicial level, againstMs. Eren Keskin and all human rights defenders in Turkey and ensure thatthey are able to carry out their human rights activities without hindrance;

vi.Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, inparticular its Articles 1 and 12;

vii.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsin accordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Turkey.

Addresses:

· President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep TayyipErdoğan, Fax: +90 (312) 525 58 31. Email: contact@tccb.gov.tr

· Minister of Justice, AbdülhamitGül. Email: info@adalet.gov.tr. Fax: +90 (0312) 419 33 70

· Minister of Interior, SüleymanSoylu. Email: diab@icisleri.gov.tr; sti@icisleri.gov.tr

· Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Diplomatic Mission ofTurkey to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50. Email: info@turkdeleg.org; tr-delegation.eu@mfa.gov.tr

· Ambassador Sadık Arslan, PermanentMission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Email: turkey.unog@mfa.gov.tr

Please also write to the diplomaticmissions or embassies of Turkey in your respective country.

***

Geneva-Paris, June 22, 2020

Kindly inform us of any actionundertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protectionof Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programmeis to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against humanrights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human RightsDefenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, callthe emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18/ +33 1 43 55 18 80

[1] For almostthirty years, she has contributed to the protection of minority rights,countered violence against women, and campaigned to challenge militarism andend torture. She is the founder of a legal office providing pro bono servicesfor transgender persons and women who were raped or sexually abused by thenational security forces

[2] See https://www.nhc.nl/helsinki-civil-society-award-2018-goes-to-eren-keskin/

[3] See FIDHPress Release published on May 13, 2019:https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/turkey/turkey-fidh-supports-the-human-rights-activist-eren-keskin