Turkey

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.

From: War Resisters' International

5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DX, Britain

cc: Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, fax: +32-2-29 58561


United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, fax: +41-22- 9179006

To: Kara Kuvvetleri Komut Anligi

5 NcI Kolordu Komutanligi

Askeri Mahkemesi

Corlu

Turkey

On 27 and 28 January 2007, an international conference on conscientious objection took place at Bilgi university in Istanbul. The conference was organised by a small conference committee, and supported by Amnesty International Turkey, Connection e.V., European Bureau for Conscientious Objectors, Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Human Rights Watch, Istanbul Branch Human Rights Association, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, War Resisters' International, and others.

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

ISRAEL: Woman CO Hadas Amit sentenced to second prison term of 10 days Concodoc project, 02 January 2007
TURKEY: Conscientious objector Halil Savda remains in custody Concodoc at W

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

ISRAEL: Occupation refuser sent to prison Tue Oct 17

TURKEY: Conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan sentenced to 25 months imprisonmentTue Oct 17

On 21 October, 15 Turkish NGOs and political parties launched a new Conscientious Objection Platform to defend the human right to conscientious objection.

On 8 September 2006, the European Parliament voted in favour of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey. The issue of conscientious objection was raised in an amendment that had been proposed by EBCO and was introduced into the report by the Green Group. The relevant paragraph reads:

The European Parliament,

Hakan Ekinci, 28, who deserted his Istanbul garrison in May and fled to Albania, on Tuesday seized the Turkish Airlines Tirana-Istanbul flight on which he was being deported, threatening the pilot with a parcel disguised as a bomb, officials said. He had made an unsuccessful bid for asylum in Albania earlier.

Presentation at the international seminar "Unarmed Resistance: the transnational factor", Coventry, 15 July 2006

Andreas Speck, War Resisters' International

WRI homepage > Programme Areas > The Right to Refuse to Kill > Solidarity with war resistance in Turkey (for Coventry seminar)

Contents

Introduction

The Turkish war resisters movement - a brief hi

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

UK14787-170406: BRITAIN: Conscientious objector sentenced to eight month in prison

TK14682-110406: TURKEY: Police searching for Turkish/Kurdish CO Halil Savda / fear of safety

Good news for a change from Turkey: on 9 March, Turkish gay conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan was unexpectedly released from military prison in Sivas, following an order by the Military Court of Appeal in Ankara. The reasons are still not known, but one of the reasons given is that even if finally sentenced, Mehmet Tarhan would unlikely need to serve more time in prison than he already had (he was arrested on 6 April 2005, and has spent almost one year in prison).

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

[co-alert] TK14724-160206: TURKEY: Solitary confinement for Mehmet Tarhan - arbitrary punishment Concodoc at WRI, Thu Feb 16, 2006