Judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of human rights lawyer Levent Pişkin

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URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY

TUR 007 / 1116 / OBS 097

Judicial harassment /

Arbitrary detention
Turkey
November 15, 2016

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Turkey.

Descriptionof the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicial harassmentand arbitrary detention of Mr. Levent Pişkin, a human rights lawyer member of theAssociation of Lawyers for Freedom (Ozgurlukcu Hukukcular Dernegi – OHD), LGBTI activist and member of the Justice Commission of the Peoples’Democratic Party (HDP)[1].

Accordingto the information received, on November 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. the policeraided in Levent Pişkin’s appartment, confiscated some of his belongings,including his computer and phone, and arrested him. The Public Prosecution Office ordered his placement in custody and he wastransferred to BursaDetention Centre.

The arrest would berelated to his visit to his client, Member of Parliament. Selahattin Demirtaş,HDP co-Chair, detained since November 4, 2016. Some media accused him ofconveying Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş’s message to a German Magazine which could beused as propaganda. No formal charges have been brought against him yet.

The day of his arrest, he wassupposed to participate in the defense of 46 lawyers facing judicial harassmentsince 2011 for exercising their profession[2].

Over the past years, Mr.Levent Pişkin has been suffering constant harassment. A bomb exploded in hisgarden which is apparently related to Turkish nationalists. In March 2014, hewas sued by President Erdogan and sentenced by the Istanbul’s 14thCriminal Court to pay 10 thousand liras (around $3,700) in damages for“insult, slander or heavy provocation of a public official for their publicservice”. He reacted to a speech by Mr. Erdogan, Prime minister at the time,who said that “if Alevilik is about loving Ali, I’m a perfect Alevi”, andtweeted “Waiting for PM to declare, ‘I am a perfect fag’. Obviously I will notlearn how to be a fag from you. Kisses.#AnayasadaLGBT [LGBT in the Constitution]”.

TheObservatory draws the attention of the Turkish authorities on the Principle ofthe United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, in particularPrinciples 16, 18, and 20 on Guarantees for the functioning of lawyers, andPrinciple 23 on Freedom of expression and association.

TheObservatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to immediately andunconditionally release Levent Pişkin and put an end to the ongoing harassment,including at judicial level, against human rights defenders, and in particularlawyers, since it only seems to aim at sanctioning theirlegitimate human rights work.

Actionsrequested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities in Turkey, urging them to:

i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Levent Pişkin as well as of allhuman rights defenders in Turkey;

ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Levent Pişkin, as well as other human rights defenders in Turkey;

iii. Put an end to all forms ofharassment, including at judicial level, against Mr. Levent Pişkin, as well as other human rights defenders in Turkey;

iv.Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, in particular with Articles 1, 6(a), 9, 11 and 12.2;

v.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, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesi06560 Beştepe-Ankara, Tel: (+90 312) 525 55 55, Fax: (+90 312) 525 58 31,E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

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

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

· Ambassador Izzet Selim Yenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to theEuropean Union in Brussels, Avenue des Arts 36-38, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium;Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50

· Ambassador Mehmet Ferden Çarikçi, Permanent Mission of Turkey to theUnited Nations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28B 1211 Geneva 19, Tel: +4122 918 50 80; Fax: +41 22 734 08 59; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

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

***

Paris-Geneva,November 15, 2016

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

The Observatory was created in 1997 by OMCT and FIDH. The objectiveof this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, theEuropean Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implementedby international civil society.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@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] HDP is the Peoples’ Democratic Party which is a left wing political party infavor of minorities.

[2] For more information, see: the Observatory’s Urgent Appeal TUR 002 / 0613 / OBS 059.1published on March 20, 2014.