Conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan
Use this form to send the letter below to the relevant authority (Ahmet Necdet Sezer, President of the Turkish Republic). You can add your own notes in a separate box after the standard text, if you wish. You must include a name, address, and email address; a copy will be sent to you with a cc to the WRI office (so we have a record of how many email letters have been sent out for this particular case).
Dear Mr President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
I am very concerned about the treatment of conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan, who was arrested at 5am on 8 April 2005. He was held at the police station in Izmir until the recruitment office opened, and then reassigned to a military unit in Tokat, although he had declared himself a conscientious objector.
Mehmet Tarhan has been abused by other prisoners, with encouragement and collaboration of the prison authorities. When Mehmet Tarhan went public about the abuse, the situation worsened. At his trial on 26 May in Sivas, he clearly showed signs of physical abuse, and could hardly walk.
I am also very concerned about the arrest of four more conscientious objectors, Erdem Yalcinkaya, Mustafa Seyhoglu, Ersan Ugur Gor, and Hasan Cimen, who attended the trial of Mehmet Tarhan in Sivas. Although all of them were released later, I am concerned about these developments.
I call on you to ensure the safety of imprisoned conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan. As Turkey does not recognise the right to conscientious objection (in contradiction to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), it should at least make sure that those conscientious objectors it throws into prison are safe.
I call on you to respect the right to life, and the right to conscientious objection.
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