Continuing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli, members of OHD

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about continuing arbitrarydetention and judicial harassment of Mr. Ramazan Demir and Ms. AyşeAcinikli, membersof the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (Ozgurlukcu Hukukcular Dernegi –OHD).

Accordingto the information received, on May 25, Judge Bulent Dalkiran, President of theIstanbul 14th Criminal Court of Peace, assisted by magistratesMehmet Celik and Ferhat Korkmaz, denied the request for release that had beenfiled by Mr. Demir and Ms. Acinikli's lawyers on May 18. The judge justifiedhis decision on the grounds that he had “not been able to hear the accused”.

Ithas to be recalled that on April 6, 2016, Mr. Demir and Ms. Acinikli werereferred by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor Office to the Istanbul 3rdCriminal Court of Peace, which remanded them in custody. As of issuing thisUrgent Appeal, both remain in pre-trial detention under terrorism-relatedcharges (see background information)[1].

Thefirst hearing against Mr. Ramazan Demir, Ms. Ayşe Acinikli, as well as nineother OHD members, Messrs. İrfan Arasan, Hüseyin Boğatekin, ŞefikÇelik, Adem Çalışçı, Tamer Doğan, Mustafa Ruzgar, Ms. AyşeGösterişlioğlu, Mr. Sinan Zincir and Ms. Raziye Ozturk[2],is scheduled for June 22, 2016 before the 14th Heavy Penal Court.

The Observatory calls uponthe Turkish authorities to release immediately and unconditionally Mr. RamazanDemir and Ms. Ayşe Acinikli, as their detention is arbitrary since it only aimsat sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities, and to put an end tothe ongoing harassment, including at judicial level, against them and more ingeneral against all human rights defenders and lawyers. The Observatory is alsoconcerned over the health conditions of Mr. Ramazan Demir, who reportedly lostover 7 kilograms in detention.

The Observatory recallsthat this wave of arbitrary arrests and detentions is part of wide-rangeanti-terrorism operations, started in late July 2015. Such operations turnedinto a massive crackdown on some civil society organisations depicted as“terrorist networks”. This campaign has been targeting dozens of peacefulactivists who have been involved in the monitoring of human rights violationsresulting from anti-terrorism operations and who have been advocating for apeaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue[3].These peaceful activists include human rights defenders, particularly HumanRights Association (IHD) members, lawyers, political party representatives andjournalists[4].

TheObservatory draws the attention of the Turkish authorities on the Principle ofthe United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (attached), inparticular Principles 16, 18, and 20 on Guarantees for the functioning oflawyers, and Principle 23 on Freedom of expression and association.

Backgroundinformation:

Inthe early morning of March 16, 2016, OHD members Messrs. İrfan Arasan, HüseyinBoğatekin, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, Tamer Doğan, Ramazan Demir and MustafaRuzgar, as well as Ms. Ayşe Acinikli and Ms. Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu were arrestedand saw their houses in Istanbul raided by the police, within the framework ofan anti-terrorism operation which targeted at least 89 individuals in severalcities (Aydın, Diyarbakır, Bingöl, Ağrı,Konya, Bitlis, Erzurum, Mus, Mardin, Şırnak, Siirt, Elazığ, İzmir, Muğla, Urfa,Antep, Maraş and Sakarya).

The nine lawyers were arrested on charges of“membership of an illegal organisation” reportedly for events that took placebetween 2011 and 2014. During their interrogation, they were questioned aboutinterviews they gave in the media, complaints they lodged before the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights (ECtHR) and visits to their clients. According to ourinformation, the authorities have yet to disclose the reasons behind thealleged offences that led to the searches and arrests. To date the case file onthe arrests remains confidential pursuant to the Article 153.2 of the TurkishCriminal Code Procedure (No. 5271).

On March 17, the lawyers were to plead the case of the46 lawyers tried for participating in the defence of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, oneof the founding members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). During thehearing, the lawyers who could be present said that they could not defendadequately their clients whilst their colleagues were in custody. A delegationof lawyers from France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom wasalso attending the trial.

Moreover, as a civil society group attempted todeliver a press statement outside the court to denounce the illegal arrest anddetention of the nine lawyers, the gathering was attacked by Turkish police inriot gear, equipped with tear gas and water cannons.

On March 18, Istanbul First Criminal Court of Peace,chaired by judge Mr. Bakır Altun ordered the release of Messrs. İrfan Arasanand Mustafa Ruzgar.

On March 19, the Istanbul First Criminal Court ofPeace ordered the release of the seven remaining ÖHD lawyers arguing that theevidence provided was insufficient and that detention was a disproportionatemeasure of restraint under the circumstances. The public prosecutor, Mr. Orhan Aydın,objected this decision in a hearing that lasted 13 hours. As the courtconfirmed its decision, the public prosecutor objected the court's decision.

OnMarch 21, the Istanbul First Criminal Courtof Peace rejected the public prosecutor’s objection a second time. The publicprosecutor filed an objection before the Istanbul Second Criminal Court ofPeace.

On March 22, the Istanbul Second Criminal Court ofPeace, chaired by Judge Mr. Durmuş Karacalı, accepted the objection and orderedthe arrest of four lawyers, namely Hüseyin Boğatekin, Ayşe Acinikli, RamazanDemir and Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu, togetherwith 17 other individuals. The court argued that there was enoughevidence showing that they had committed the alleged crime, and that they couldrun away or damage the evidence. The court did not inform the defense lawyersof the hearing and failed also to ask for counter arguments. The defenselawyers filed an objection against this order.

The same day, Mr. Hüseyin Bogatekin and Ms. AyseGösterişlioğlu were arrested and detained in the courthouse, while the policecould not find Ayşe Acinikli and Ramazan Demir. Overnight, the Istanbul EightCriminal Court of Peace, chaired by Mr. Atila Öztürk, heard Hüseyin Bogatekinand Ayse Gösterişlioğlu. The court limited the number of defense lawyers tothree per accused. It decided to remand them to detention in Metris Prison formales in Istanbul and Bakırköy Prison for females respectively.

Actionsrequested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities in Turkey, urging them to:

i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. İrfan Arasan, Ayşe Acinikli, HüseyinBoğatekin, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe BaşarTamer Doğan, Ramazan Demir andMustafa Ruzgar, and Ms. Ayşe Acinikli and Ms. Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu as well as of all human rightsdefenders in Turkey;

ii. Release Mr. Ramazan Demir and Ms. AyşeAcinikli immediately and unconditionally, as their detention is arbitrary sinceit only aims at sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all forms of harassment,including at judicial level, against Messrs. İrfan Arasan, Ayşe Acinikli, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Şefik Çelik,Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe BaşarTamer Doğan, Ramazan Demir and Mustafa Ruzgar, and Ms.Ayşe Acinikli and Ms. Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu,as well as all human rights defenders in Turkey;

iv.Put an end to the crackdown on civil society under the pretext of counteringterrorism and publicly recognise the legitimate role of human rights defendersin line with Turkey’s international commitments;

v.Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, in particular with:

-its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and inassociation with others, to promote and to strive for the protection andrealization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national andinternational levels”;

-its Article 6(a), which foresees that “everyone has the right, individually andin association with others, to participate in peaceful activities againstviolations of human rights and fundamental freedoms”;

- its Article 9, which provides that “in theexercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the promotion andprotection of human rights as referred to in the present Declaration, […]everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, interalia: […] (c) to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance orother relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamentalfreedoms”.

- its Article 11, which provides that “everyonehas the right, individually and in association with others, to the lawfulexercise of his or her occupation or profession”.

-its Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessarymeasures 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 arbitraryaction as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rightsreferred to in the present Declaration”;

vi.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 Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, CumhurbaşkanlığıKülliyesi 06560 Beştepe-Ankara, Tel: (+90 312) 525 55 55, Fax: (+90 312) 525 5831, E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

· Prime Minister of Turkey AhmetDavutoglu tel: (0312) 422 10 00 ; Fax: +90 (312)403 62 82

· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, No: 8 Balgat / Ankara- Turkey 06100; Tel : +90 (312) 292 10 00

· Minister of Justice, Mr. Bekir Bozdağ, 06659 Kizilay, Ankara; Tel: +90(312) 417 77 70; Fax: +90 (0312) 419 33 70; E-mail: info@adalet.gov.tr

· Ministerof Interior, Mr. Efkan Ala; tel: +90 (312) 422 40 00; Fax: +90 (312)425 61 30; Email: ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

· Ambassador Izzet SelimYenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, Avenuedes Arts 36-38, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium; Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50

· Ambassador Mehmet FerdenÇarikçi, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin duPetit-Saconnex 28B 1211 Geneva 19, Tel: +41 22 918 50 80; Fax: +41 22 734 0859; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Turkey in your respectivecountry.

[1] Besides, some members of the Association of Families of Prisoners (TUAD),composed essentially of relatives of convicted and detained persons, are alsoreportedly targeted.

[2] On March 16, 2016, an arrestwarrant was issued against Mr. Sinan Zincir and Ms.Raziye Ozturk, who turned themselves in to the 14th Heavy Penal Court on May11, 2016. Both were released after the hearing.

[3] See among others the Observatory Urgent Appeals TUR 001 /1015 / OBS 081 of October 1, 2015; TUR 001 / 1015 / OBS 081.1 of October 6,2015; TUR 003 / 1215 / OBS 111 of December 21, 2015; TUR 001 / 0116 / OBS 010of January 19, 2016; and TUR 002 / 0216 / OBS 017, of February 11, 2016.

[4] For more information see FIDH PressRelease of 21 September 2015.