Several important human rights NGOs, including AI and HRW, have in recent days expressed concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Turkey. I base myself here on the appeal issued on 28 September by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).
The Observatory has been informed by the reliable Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği – İHD) about the arbitrary arrests of 31 members and executives of İHD Şanlıurfa Branch, the Education and Science Workers Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), the Health and Social Service Workers Trade Union (SES) as well as the searches by the police of the houses of the chairpersons and executives of the above mentioned organisations and their offices.
In the morning of September 27, law-enforcement officers raided İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch offices as well as the houses of their chairpersons and executives and arrested 31 members of these organisations. The police was in possession of a warrant from the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecution Office mentioning allegations of “propaganda for an illegal organisation” and “participating in activities in line with the action and aims of that organisation” and has denied to release information on the reasons of the raids and arrest, on the basis of legal provisions pertaining to the fight against terrorism.
Among those arrested were İHD Şanlıurfa Branch President Cemal Babaoğlu, İHD executivesMüslüm Kına and Müslüm Çiçek, Eğitim-Sen Branch President Halit Şahin, Eğitim-Sen former Branch President Sıtkı Dehşet and Eğitim-Sen executive Veysi Özbingöl.
The Observatory denounces the continuing policy of arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders in Turkey, and particularly İHD members and members of trade unions, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities. To that extent, the Observatory recalls that other İHD members are in pre-trial detention, notably Mr. Muharrem Erbey, İHD General Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of its Diyarbakir Province branch who had been detained since December 2009, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede, İHD members in Diyarbakır, or that others remain in provisional release pending the outcome of criminal trials on alleged terrorism charges.
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the continuing harassment against human rights defenders, including members of İHD, and urges the Turkish authorities.
for more detials and suggested actions you can take, see:
Arbitrary arrest and detention of 31 human rights defenders – TUR 001 / 0911 / OBS 114 – FIDH – Worldwide Human Rights Movement.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 