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conscientious objectors need our support
TURKEY: Conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan sentenced to 4 years
imprisonment
On 11 August 2005, Turkish conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan
was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, on two charges of
"insubordination in front of his unit". He received a sentence
of two years imprisonment for each of the charges.
Tarhan had been arrest in Izmir on 8 April 2005, and has by now been
charged twice with "insubordination in front of his unit". At
the last trial on 12 July 2005, the two separate cases of insubordination
have been joined, and will now be tried together.
Tarhan had been on hunger strike from 25 May to 21 June 2005, to protest
against maltreatment and the authorities inability to protect him in
prison. He ended his hunger strike after 28 days, after the prison
authorities accepted his demands (see TK14724-220605).
Tarhan had been briefly released from military prison following a trial
session on 9 June 2005 (see TK14724-220605),
but had been brought back to his military unit, where he was again given a
military order, which he refused. This lead to the second charge, and a
second trial on 12 July, where the decision was taken to join the two
cases.
It is highly significant that the decision to return Mehmet Tarhan to his
unit accompanied by the military, taken after the trial on 9 June, was not
taken by the local military recruitment office, but by ASAL, the Central
Office for Recruitment in Ankara. This is important, because the second
case is in clear breach of Article 14 paragraph 7 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): "No one shall be
liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has
already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and
penal procedure." In 1999, the United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention ruled against Turkey in the case of conscientious
objector Osman Murat Ãlke that every detention following an initial
detention is arbitrary, and called on the Government "to take
necessary steps to remedy the situation so as to bring it into line with
the principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights." (Opinion 36/1999)
- War Resisters' International calls for letters of support to Mehmet Tarhan.
• Mehmet Tarhan
• 5. Piyade Egitim Tugayi
• Askeri Cezaevi
• Temeltepe - Sivas
• Turkey
- War Resisters' International calls for urgent protest faxes and emails to:
- General Staff of the Turkish Military: Fax +90-312-4250813War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of Mehmet Tarhan and all other imprisoned conscientious objectors.
- Presidency of the Turkish Republic: Fax +90-312-4271330, email cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
A protest email to the Turkish President Ahmet Nezdet Secer can be sent at http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20050812a.html .
- Sivas Military Prison
• 5. Piyade Egitim Tugayi
• Askeri Cezaevi
• Temeltepe - Sivas
• Turkey
• Fax +90-346-2253915
- Central Office for Recruitment Ankara
• MSB ASKERALMA DAIRESI BASKANLIGI
• 06100 BAKANLIKLAR/ANKARA
• Fax +900-312-4193674
• email msbasal@asal.msb.gov.tr
A protest email can be sent at http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts20050616b.htm
Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International
- War Resisters' International: Statement of the WRI Council meeting, Seoul, 2 July 2005
- War Resisters' International: Turkey campaign page
- War Resisters' International: Mehmet loves Baris: Documentation CO in Turkey (html, pdf)
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