International CO Day: May 15th
Editorial
After the release of Mehmet Tarhan in March last year (see co-alert,
10 March 2006),
it became more quiet about conscientious objectors in Turkey. However,
persecution continues, and even though Mehmet Tarhan had been released,
he was sentenced to 25 months imprisonment on 10 October 2006 (see
co-alert, 17
October 2006).
The present case of Halil Savda shows that there is no change in
policy. On 12 April 2007, Halil Savda faces sentencing for a second
charge of disobedience as a result of his conscientious objection - a
clear violation not only of the human right to conscientious objection,
but also of Article 14 paragraph 7 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.
Halil Savda needs international support, to break the vicious cycle of
imprisonment, "release", transfer to military barracks, being given a
military order, disobedience, and imprisonment. But support will also
be crucial to achieve the recognition of the right to conscientious
objection in Turkey.
For these reasons, activists in Turkey and War Resisters'
International call for an international day of action on 12 April 2007,
in support of Halil Savda and all COs in Turkey.
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12 April 2007: Day of action in support of
imprisoned conscientious objector Halil Savda
Turkish conscientious objectors need our support
Turkish/Kurdish conscientious objector Halil Savda has been severely
punished for his declared conscientious objection on 15 March 2007,
when he has been sentenced to 15 ½ months imprisonment on charges of
desertion and disobeying orders – by the same court that is now to try
him again for disobeying orders. He is likely to be sentenced to a
further six months of imprisonment at the next trial session on 12
April.
War Resisters' International calls for an international day of action
in solidarity with Halil Savda on the day of his trial, and likely
sentencing.
- organise vigils in front of Turkish embassies or consulates (a
list of all Turkish embassies (in Turkish and English) can be found at http://www.mfa.gov.tr/MFA/Ministry/TurkishRepresentations/).
- write protest letters to the Turkish authorities, and Turkish
embassies.
* General Staff of the Turkish
Military: Fax +90-312-4250813
* 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/20070320a.html.
- organise stalls and vigils in your town/city/village, and spread
information on the imprisonment of Halil Savda.
Background
 Already the sentence from 15
March constitutes a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention
on Human Rights, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion),
both of which Turkey has signed and ratified.
The new trial is not only a violation of Article 9 ECHR and Article 18
ICCPR, it also constitutes a violation of Article 14 para 7 of the
ICCPR, which states that "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
of each country". The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention made this clear in its opinion 36/1999, on the very similar
case of conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke: "The Working Group
is of the opinion that there is, since, after the initial conviction,
the person exhibits, for reasons of conscience, a constant resolve not
to obey the subsequent summons, so that there is "one and the same
action entailing the same consequences and, therefore, the offence is
the same and not a new one" (see Decision of the Constitutional Court
of the Czech Republic, 18 September 1999, No. 2, No. 130/95).
Systematically to interpret such a refusal as being perhaps provisional
(selective) would, in a country where the rule of law prevails, be
tantamount to compelling someone to change his mind for fear of being
deprived of his liberty if not for life, at least until the date at
which citizens cease to be liable to military service."
It has to be feared that this is the beginning of a vicious cycle of
military order, disobedience, arrest, and sentencing, which leads to
what the European Court of Human Rights called "civil death" in its
judgement from 24 January 2006 on the case of Osman Murat Ülke. The
court noted: "The numerous criminal prosecutions against the
applicant, the cumulative effects of the criminal convictions which
resulted from them and the constant alternation between prosecutions
and terms of imprisonment, together with the possibility that he would
be liable to prosecution for the rest of his life, had been
disproportionate to the aim of ensuring that he did his military
service. They were more calculated to repressing the applicant’s
intellectual personality, inspiring in him feelings of fear, anguish
and vulnerability capable of humiliating and debasing him and breaking
his resistance and will. The clandestine life amounting almost to
“civil death” which the applicant had been compelled to adopt was
incompatible with the punishment regime of a democratic society."
Exactly the same is now happening in the case of Halil Savda, on trial
again on 29 March 2007.
War Resisters' International appeals to the Corlu Military Court to
take international legal standards and judgements into account, and to
close the case against conscientious objector Halil Savda on 12 April
2007. There is no case to answer, as his "new" act of disobedience is "one
and the same action entailing the same consequences and, therefore, the
offence is the same and not a new one".
More information on Halil Savda and conscientious objection in Turkey
is available at http://wri-irg.org/co/turkcampaign-en.htm
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