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.
I am very concerned about his reports of illtreatment in the form of violently cutting his hair, which left Mehmet Tarhan with serious pain and bruises. In protest against his illtreatment, Mehmet Tarhan began an indefinite hunger strike, with very reasonable demands:
- the documentation of the health implications of his illtreatment by civilian doctors;
- prosecution of those responsible for the illtreatment;
- provision of essentials during his hunger strike (vitamin B1, water, salt, sugar, and juice).
I express my hope that you will do everything possible to ensure that Mr Tarhans demands are met, so that he can end his hunger strike.
Mehmet Tarhan has already earlier been abused by other prisoners, with encouragement and collaboration of the prison authorities. When Mehmet Tarhan went public about this earlier abuse, the situation worsened. At his trials on 26 May and 9 June in Sivas, he clearly showed signs of physical abuse, and could hardly walk. He protested against this earlier abuse with a hunger strike that lasted for 28 days.
The sentences from 10 August 2005 are a violation of international legal standards. In the case of Turkish conscientious objector Osman Murat Ulke the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention decided in 1999 (Opinion 36/1999) that any detention of a conscientious objector after an initial detention following a first act of refusal is "arbitrary, being contrary to article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights".
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 immediately release conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan, as the present imprisonment is arbitrary and a violation of Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
I call on you to respect the right to life, and the right to conscientious objection.
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