Judicial harassment of nine lawyers of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom

Release / Excessive useof police force

Turkey

March 23, 2016

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

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicialharassment of nine lawyers, Messrs. İrfan Arasan, Hüseyin Boğatekin,Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, Tamer Doğan, Ramazan Demirand Mustafa Ruzgar as well as Ms. Ayşe Acinikli and Ms. Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu, members of the Association of Lawyersfor Freedom (Ozgurlukcu Hukukcular Dernegi – OHD).

According to the information received, in the early morning of March 16,2016 Messrs. İrfan Arasan, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, TamerDoğan, Ramazan Demir and Mustafa Ruzgar, as well as Ms. Ayşe Acinikli and Ms.Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu were arrested and saw their houses in Istanbul raided bythe police, within the framework of an anti-terrorism operation which targetedat least 89 individuals in several cities (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 caseof the 46 lawyers tried for participating in the defence of Mr. AbdullahÖcalan, one of the founding members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).During the hearing, the lawyers who could be present said that they could notdefend adequately their clients whilst their colleagues were in custody. Adelegation of lawyers from France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UnitedKingdom was also 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 ofPeace, chaired by judge Mr. Bakır Altun ordered the release of Messrs. İrfanArasan and 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. OrhanAydın, objected this decision in a hearing that lasted 13 hours. As the courtconfirmed its decision, the public prosecutor objected the court's decision.

On March 21, the Istanbul FirstCriminal Court of Peace rejected the public prosecutor’s objection a secondtime. The public prosecutor filed an objection before the Istanbul SecondCriminal Court of Peace.

On March 22, the Istanbul Second Criminal Courtof Peace, chaired by Judge Mr. Durmuş Karacalı, accepted the objection andordered the arrest of four lawyers, namely Hüseyin Boğatekin, Ayşe Acinikli,Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu,together with 17 other individuals. The court argued that there wasenough evidence showing that they had committed the alleged crime, and thatthey could run away or damage the evidence. The court did not inform thedefense lawyers of the hearing and failed also to ask for counter arguments.The defense lawyers 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. Over the night, the IstanbulEight Criminal Court of Peace, chaired by Mr. Atila Öztürk, heard HüseyinBogatekin and Ayse Gösterişlioğlu. The court limited the number of defenselawyers to three per accused. It decided to remand them to detention in MetrisPrison for males in Istanbul and Bakırköy Prison for females respectively.

The Observatory recalls that this wave ofarbitrary arrests and detentions is part of wide-range anti-terrorismoperations, started in late July 2015. Such operations turned into a massivecrackdown on some civil society organisations depicted as “terrorist networks”.This campaign has been targeting dozens of peaceful activists who have beeninvolved in the monitoring of human rights violations resulting fromanti-terrorism operations and who have been advocating for a peacefulresolution of the Kurdish issue[1].These peaceful activists include human rights defenders, particularly HumanRights Association (IHD) members, lawyers, political party representatives andjournalists[2].

The Observatory draws the attention of the Turkish authorities on thePrinciple of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers(attached), in particular Principles 16, 18, and 20 on Guarantees for thefunctioning of lawyers, and Principle 23 on Freedom of expression andassociation.

The Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to immediately andunconditionally put an end to the ongoing harassment, including at judiciallevel, against human rights defenders, and in particular lawyers, since it only seems to aim at sanctioning theirlegitimate human rights work.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Turkey, urging them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychologicalintegrity of Messrs. İrfan Arasan, AyşeAcinikli, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe BaşarTamer Doğan,Ramazan Demir and Mustafa Ruzgar, and Ms. Ayşe Acinikli and Ms. AyşeGösterişlioğlu as well asof all human rights defenders in Turkey;

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

iii. Put an end to the crackdown on civil society under the pretext ofcountering terrorism and publicly recognise the legitimate role of human rightsdefenders in line with Turkey’s international commitments;

iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with:

- its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for theprotection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”;

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

- its Article 9, which provides that “in the exercise of human rightsand fundamental freedoms, including the promotion and protection of humanrights as referred to in the present Declaration, […] everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, inter alia: […] (c) to offer and provideprofessionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice andassistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

- its Article 11, which provides that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to the lawful exercise of his orher occupation or profession”.

- its Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take allnecessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities ofeveryone, individually and in association with others, against any violence,threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure orany other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exerciseof the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

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 TayyipErdoğan, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesi 06560 Beştepe-Ankara, Tel: (+90 312) 525 5555, Fax: (+90 312) 525 58 31, E-mail: contact@tccb.gov.tr

• Prime Minister ofTurkey Ahmet Davutoglu 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

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

• AmbassadorIzzet Selim Yenel, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union inBrussels, Avenue des Arts 36-38, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium; Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50

• AmbassadorMehmet Ferden Çarikçi, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations inGeneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28B 1211 Geneva 19, Tel: +41 22 918 50 80;Fax: +41 22 734 08 59; Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

  Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Turkey in yourrespective country.

[1] See among others the Observatory Urgent Appeals TUR001 / 1015 / OBS 081 of October 1, 2015; TUR 001 / 1015 / OBS 081.1 of October6, 2015; TUR 003 / 1215 / OBS 111 of December 21, 2015; TUR 001 / 0116 / OBS010 of January 19, 2016; and TUR 002 / 0216 / OBS 017, of February 11, 2016.

[2] For more informationsee FIDH Press Release of 21 September 2015.