New information

TUR 003 / 0618 / OBS 087.2

Sentencing/

Judicial harassment

Turkey

May 28, 2019

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT),has received new information and requests your intervention in the followingsituation in Turkey.

Newinformation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliablesources about the sentencing of human rights lawyer and co-president of theHuman Rights Association (İHD) Ms. Eren Keskin[1]and her ongoing judicial harassment. An honorary member of the Paris BarAssociation, Eren Keskin is the winner of multiple international awards for herpeace 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 May21, 2019, İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court convicted Ms. Eren Keskin for“propaganda on half of a terrorist organisation” - namely the Kurdistan WorkersParty (PKK) - under Article 7(2) of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713), andsentenced her to 3 years and 9 months of prison. Ms. Eren Keskin attended thisfinal hearing, which was also followed by foreign diplomats. The sentence willbe taken to the Regional Court of Appeal.

Since 2016, Ms. Eren Keskin and seven otherdefendants, columnists or rotating editors of the closed newspaper Özgür Gündem, have faced charges for“disrupting the unity of the state”, “openly inciting to commit crime”, “beinga member of a terrorist group”, “propagandizing for a terrorist organization”and “publishing and spreading statements of terrorist organisations” inrelation with articles published in ÖzgürGündem (see background information below).

The Observatory firmly condemns the sentencing andjudicial harassment of Ms. Eren Keskin, as it seems to be merely aimed atpunishing her for her human rights activities and her legitimate exercise ofher right to freedom of expression.

Background information:

On March 30, 2018, Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of FirstInstance sentenced Eren Keskin to seven and a half years in jail in relation tosome articles published in Özgür Gündem during the time when she wasco-editor-in chief. According to the court’s decision, the articles have“degraded” the Turkish nation and “insulted” the Turkish president.

On October 10, 2018, in the tenth hearingheld in the Özgür Gündem main case,the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court ordered to lift Ms. ErenKeskin’s international travel ban as an interim ruling. The trial, whichstarted in December 2016, was then postponed again until January 17, 2019.Travel bans issued against her in other pending trials remain active.

A total of 143 cases have been lodged against Eren Keskin.Some of these lawsuits/case files have been combined by the courts. 12 of theselawsuits have been finalized, five are still pending before the Supreme Courtof Appeals (or the Court of Cassation), while seven are pending before theCourt of Appeals. As a result of these cases, the courts sentenced Ms. Keskinto a total of 12.5 years in prison and 460,000 TL (around 70,000 Euros) infines. Out of the files imposing fines on Ms. Keskin in the amount of 158,000TL (around 24,000 Euros) have been finalized, while the sentences totaling to12.5 years in prison and the remainder of the fines are still pending beforethe Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Appeals (or the Court ofCassation).

In addition, Eren Keskin’s ongoing work as a human rightslawyer has also been challenged: the legal team of the Office of the Presidentof Turkey filed an application to the Istanbul Bar Association in August 2018requesting the Bar to launch a disciplinary investigation against Ms. Keskin,which may result in disbarment. The investigation is still pending.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Turkeyasking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances thephysical and psychological integrity of Ms. Eren Keskin;

ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against Ms. Eren Keskin and against all human rights defendersin Turkey;

iii. Comply with all the provisions of the United NationsDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly onDecember 9, 1998, in particular its Articles 1, 6(a), 9, 11 and 12.2;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights andfundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standardsand international instruments ratified by Turkey.

Addresses:

· President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Fax:(+90 312) 525 58 31

· Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yıldırım.Email: ozelkalem@basbakanlik.gov.tr

· Minister of Justice, Mr. Bekir Bozdağ. E-mail:ozelkalem@adalet.gov.tr

· Minister of Interior, Mr. Süleyman Soylu.Fax: +90 (312) 425 61 30

· Ambassador Izzet Selim Yenel, DiplomaticMission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Fax: + 32 2 51104 50

· Ambassador Mr. Ali Naci Koru, PermanentMission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Email: mission.turkey@ties.itu.int

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassiesof Turkey in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, May 28, 2019

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail:Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 1880

· Teland fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] For almost thirty years, she has contributed to theprotection of minority rights, countered violence against women, and campaignedto challenge militarism and end torture. She is the founder of a legal officeproviding pro bono services for transgender persons and women who wereraped or sexually abused by the national security forces. From 2013 to 2016,Eren Keskin held the title of ‘co-editor-in-chief’ for Özgür Gündem (‘Free Agenda’), as a form of support of theimprisoned editorial staff.

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

[3] See FIDH Press 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 @font-face { font-family: Arial;}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: "MS Mincho";}@font-face { font-family: OpenSymbol;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }h1 { margin: 24pt 0cm 0.0001pt 21.6pt; text-indent: -21.6pt; break-after: avoid; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: normal; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText { margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }span.Titre1Car { }span.apple-converted-space { }span.ww-lieninternet { }span.FootnoteCharacters { vertical-align: super; }span.WW-FootnoteReference4 { vertical-align: super; }span.Marquenotebasdepage1 { vertical-align: super; }span.CorpsdetexteCar { }span.PieddepageCar { }span.En-tteCar { }span.NotedebasdepageCar { }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }