AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

AAAS is concerned about new charges brought against Yavuz Onen, Chairman of the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), and the subject of previous AAAS alerts, which addressed former charges brought against him in connection with his human rights advocacy activities. Onen and three others are on trial for violating Article 2911, Meeting and Demonstrations Law. The trial commenced on 4 November 1997. If found guilty, the men face 18 months to three years in prison.

The four have been charged for illegally reading a report on the Susurluk incident to the people of the town of Kizilay. The report, which is one of several official reports about the incident, was prepared for the Turkish Parliament, but was never officially submitted. It was the result of an official investigation into a car crash that occurred on 3 November 1996. The car's passengers included a former Istanbul deputy police chief, a pro-government Kurdish village guard chieftain and right-wing parliamentarian, and a convicted international drug smuggler wanted by Interpol. The incident led to the resignation of former Interior Minister Mehmet Agar and fed suspicions of links between Turkey's security officials, organized crime, and right-wing assassins. However, no arrests have yet been made and high-level officials implicated in the scandal remain in power.

A number of official reports have been prepared regarding the incident and some are circulating in public, but none have been officially presented to Parliament. Onen and the other three men were charged for reading a copy of the report in public as they walked to Parliament to submit the report.

The HRFT was established in 1989 and has treated over 2,500 torture survivors. Its documentation center monitors human rights violations in Turkey and issues daily and annual reports. The HRFT's board members and executive directors have repeatedly been prosecuted for their human rights work.

The charges brought against Yavuz Onen and the three men standing trial with him are clear violations of international human rights standards, including basic protections provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. They include:

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted without opposition by the United Nations in 1948)

• the right to freedom of expression (Article 19); and
• the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association (Article 20).

Under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ratified by Turkey in 1957)

• the right to freedom of expression (Article 10); and
• the right to freedom of assembly and to freedom of association with others (Article 11).

(Sources of information on this case include the Turkish Daily News, November 5, 1997.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters:

• calling on the government of Turkey to drop the charges against Yavuz Onen and the three others on the grounds that the charges violate their right to freedom of expression and association; and
• requesting information about the court proceedings and legal status of Onen and the three men on trial with him.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

President Suleyman Demirel
Office of the President
Cumhur Baskanligi
06100 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 468 5026


Oltan Sungurlu
Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakanligi
06559 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 417 3954

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
1714 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036


Ambassador Mark Parris
Embassy of the United States of America
Ataturk Blvd.
PSC 93, Box 5000
Ankara, Turkey
APO AE 09823
Fax: 011 90 312 467 0019

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