International associations ask UN to act for jailed lawyers
International associations ask UN to act for jailed lawyers
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 Human Rights Association (Insan Haklari Dernegi - İHD), the International Association of Lawyers (Union internationale des avocats – UIA), the Conférence internationale des Barreaux de Tradition Juridique Commune (CIB), the European Democratic Lawyers (EDL), Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), the Conseil National des Barreaux (CNB – France), the Syndical des Avocats de France (SAF – France), the Grenoble Bar Association (France), the Montpellier Bar Association (France), the Paris Bar Association (France), the Rennes Bar Association (France), the Human Rights Institute of the Grenoble Bar Association, the Human Rights Institute of the Montpellier Bar Association and the French-Speaking section of the Brussels Bar Association, have sent a letter to Gabriela Carina Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and to Margaret Sekaggya UN Special Rapporteur on the on the situation of human rights defenders Paris-Geneva-Brussels, July 11, 2012.
In the letter they explained that "on the basis of the report published by the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in May 2012 following the mission conducted to Turkey in October 2011 we conclude that you are both fully aware of the situation in the country, and in particular of the arrest, detention and prosecution of lawyers under
terrorism-related charges for defending individuals accused of terrorism-related crimes".
In Turkey, cases of judicial harassment against lawyers for merely defending their clients’ rights in politically sensitive cases are not new but, during the past years, they have become frequent. As you know, many lawyers suffer judicial harassment because they are identified with their clients or the cause they defend. Notably, lawyers who represent clients in anti- terrorism cases, in turn face prosecution for terrorism on the basis of the vague provisions on “membership”, “support” or “propaganda”. This practice blatantly violates international human rights law1. Other lawyers have also suffered harassment due to their involvement in the promotion of universal human rights standards, as has been the case for İHD members and lawyers Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Hasan Anlar, Ms. Filiz Kalaycý, Mr. Halil İbrahim Vargün, and Mr. Murat Vargün. This trend is particularly problematic in that it constitutes a serious obstacle to the strengthening of the rule of law.
The associations said they "fear that justice is misused as a weapon to repress, intimidate and punish lawyers, through criminal proceedings that blatantly violate the right to a fair trial. Lawyers are an important component in the functioning of the justice system and play a crucial role in defending the Rule of Law".
In addition, the lawyers' rights to defence are infringed upon, as prolonged pre-trial detention is used very frequently and may be seen as a form of punishment per se, independently of the outcome of the trial. Over the past years, the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) has been particularly used against human rights defenders, including lawyers, which entails the application of a set of rules less protective of the rights of the defence: obstacles to the access of evidence against defendants, excessive length of criminal proceedings, impossibility to counter examine some witnesses, etc.
The associations say to be "concerned that during such investigations, the principle of confidentiality of communications and consultations between lawyers and their clients in the framework of their professional relationship has been violated (Principle 22 of the Havana Principles). Indeed, communications between the lawyers and their clients were intercepted, law offices were searched, etc".
The vague definition of terrorism and its interpretation by the courts has made it possible for prosecutors and judges to consider that the mere criticism of the authorities for their human rights record may in itself be construed as a form of support to terrorist groups or evidence of membership in terrorist groups. In this context, those who defend or take a stand for the promotion or protection of human rights are particularly vulnerable to judicial harassment.
In November 2011, underlines the letter, "the pattern of judicial harassment against lawyers marked a new unprecedented step with the mass arrests of several dozens lawyers under the same investigation process. On November 22, 2011, a broad campaign of arrests was launched in 16 cities targeting 46 lawyers, 3 staff working for a legal firm and one journalist in the context of an anti-terrorism operation. This operation was publicly presented as intending to dismantle an alleged terrorist network - the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) - an organisation said by the authorities to be the “urban branch” of the armed PKK. Since 2008, several operations of this kind have been launched, targeting mostly executives and members of the Kurdish political party Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), İHD members, members of trade unions, lawyers and journalists, who have been advocating for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue".
The lawyers were taken into custody in Istanbul for their alleged membership in KCK under charges of “membership in an illegal organisation” and “being executives of an illegal organisation”. 36 of them were remanded into custody between November 26 and December 7 pending the end of the investigation after they had been interrogated at the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Heavy Penal Court No. 11. They are currently detained in İstanbul Bakýrköy Closed Prison for Females or Kocaeli Kandýra F Type Closed Prison No. 2 for men4. All of them have been involved in the legal representation of Abdullah Öcalan and have been accused of “passing orders of Abdullah Öcalan”. Some of them were already the subject of judicial harassment on the same basis (see above). Those arrested also included defence lawyers who are engaged in the main KCK trial handled by the Diyarbakýr High Penal Court No. 6. The lawyers took a stance against the Kurdish language ban during defence before the Diyarbakýr courts as a matter of principle and stated that they would not be able to defend their clients. Both the lawyers and the Diyarbakýr Bar Association were warned several times by the court and the prosecutors about “committing a crime”.
On April 18, 2012, the court accepted the indictment order submitted to it on April 6 but did not schedule a hearing for the case. The lawyers were charged with “belonging to a criminal organisation” under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code.
This case, which is known as the “Lawyers trial” is due to open on July 16-18, 2012.
The signatory organisations express "their deepest concern about the ongoing judicial harassment against the above mentioned lawyers, whose aim appears to exclusively punish them for merely exercising their legitimate professional activities, in disregard of the Turkish obligation to comply with the international standards regarding the independence of the judiciary, the statute of the lawyers as well as the protection of human rights defenders.
Given the gravity of this situation, the association "urge you to take action in the framework of your mandates so that the charges against the 50 lawyers, legal workers and the journalist be dropped and, more generally, that judicial harassment targeting lawyers stop, as they are baseless and seem to only aim at punishing them for their defence activities".
In the letter they explained that "on the basis of the report published by the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in May 2012 following the mission conducted to Turkey in October 2011 we conclude that you are both fully aware of the situation in the country, and in particular of the arrest, detention and prosecution of lawyers under
terrorism-related charges for defending individuals accused of terrorism-related crimes".
In Turkey, cases of judicial harassment against lawyers for merely defending their clients’ rights in politically sensitive cases are not new but, during the past years, they have become frequent. As you know, many lawyers suffer judicial harassment because they are identified with their clients or the cause they defend. Notably, lawyers who represent clients in anti- terrorism cases, in turn face prosecution for terrorism on the basis of the vague provisions on “membership”, “support” or “propaganda”. This practice blatantly violates international human rights law1. Other lawyers have also suffered harassment due to their involvement in the promotion of universal human rights standards, as has been the case for İHD members and lawyers Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Hasan Anlar, Ms. Filiz Kalaycý, Mr. Halil İbrahim Vargün, and Mr. Murat Vargün. This trend is particularly problematic in that it constitutes a serious obstacle to the strengthening of the rule of law.
The associations said they "fear that justice is misused as a weapon to repress, intimidate and punish lawyers, through criminal proceedings that blatantly violate the right to a fair trial. Lawyers are an important component in the functioning of the justice system and play a crucial role in defending the Rule of Law".
In addition, the lawyers' rights to defence are infringed upon, as prolonged pre-trial detention is used very frequently and may be seen as a form of punishment per se, independently of the outcome of the trial. Over the past years, the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) has been particularly used against human rights defenders, including lawyers, which entails the application of a set of rules less protective of the rights of the defence: obstacles to the access of evidence against defendants, excessive length of criminal proceedings, impossibility to counter examine some witnesses, etc.
The associations say to be "concerned that during such investigations, the principle of confidentiality of communications and consultations between lawyers and their clients in the framework of their professional relationship has been violated (Principle 22 of the Havana Principles). Indeed, communications between the lawyers and their clients were intercepted, law offices were searched, etc".
The vague definition of terrorism and its interpretation by the courts has made it possible for prosecutors and judges to consider that the mere criticism of the authorities for their human rights record may in itself be construed as a form of support to terrorist groups or evidence of membership in terrorist groups. In this context, those who defend or take a stand for the promotion or protection of human rights are particularly vulnerable to judicial harassment.
In November 2011, underlines the letter, "the pattern of judicial harassment against lawyers marked a new unprecedented step with the mass arrests of several dozens lawyers under the same investigation process. On November 22, 2011, a broad campaign of arrests was launched in 16 cities targeting 46 lawyers, 3 staff working for a legal firm and one journalist in the context of an anti-terrorism operation. This operation was publicly presented as intending to dismantle an alleged terrorist network - the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) - an organisation said by the authorities to be the “urban branch” of the armed PKK. Since 2008, several operations of this kind have been launched, targeting mostly executives and members of the Kurdish political party Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), İHD members, members of trade unions, lawyers and journalists, who have been advocating for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue".
The lawyers were taken into custody in Istanbul for their alleged membership in KCK under charges of “membership in an illegal organisation” and “being executives of an illegal organisation”. 36 of them were remanded into custody between November 26 and December 7 pending the end of the investigation after they had been interrogated at the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Heavy Penal Court No. 11. They are currently detained in İstanbul Bakýrköy Closed Prison for Females or Kocaeli Kandýra F Type Closed Prison No. 2 for men4. All of them have been involved in the legal representation of Abdullah Öcalan and have been accused of “passing orders of Abdullah Öcalan”. Some of them were already the subject of judicial harassment on the same basis (see above). Those arrested also included defence lawyers who are engaged in the main KCK trial handled by the Diyarbakýr High Penal Court No. 6. The lawyers took a stance against the Kurdish language ban during defence before the Diyarbakýr courts as a matter of principle and stated that they would not be able to defend their clients. Both the lawyers and the Diyarbakýr Bar Association were warned several times by the court and the prosecutors about “committing a crime”.
On April 18, 2012, the court accepted the indictment order submitted to it on April 6 but did not schedule a hearing for the case. The lawyers were charged with “belonging to a criminal organisation” under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code.
This case, which is known as the “Lawyers trial” is due to open on July 16-18, 2012.
The signatory organisations express "their deepest concern about the ongoing judicial harassment against the above mentioned lawyers, whose aim appears to exclusively punish them for merely exercising their legitimate professional activities, in disregard of the Turkish obligation to comply with the international standards regarding the independence of the judiciary, the statute of the lawyers as well as the protection of human rights defenders.
Given the gravity of this situation, the association "urge you to take action in the framework of your mandates so that the charges against the 50 lawyers, legal workers and the journalist be dropped and, more generally, that judicial harassment targeting lawyers stop, as they are baseless and seem to only aim at punishing them for their defence activities".
