On the 6th of October 2021, Lighthouse Reports released a video on its Twitter account revealing the reality of an EU campaign compromising masked men in charge of turning away asylum seekers at EU borders. In this video, one can clearly see masked men beating asylum seekers with bludgeons while they are trying to escape along with their screams from being beaten up. The nonprofit organization points out similar cases in Croatia, Greece, and Romania.
Thanks to the testimonies of the victims, former policemen, and guard officers, videos containing footage, and tracing the money trails back to EU funds, Lighthouse Reports gathered strong evidence of the involvement of the EU and national governments. The organization gave detailed insight into the case of Croatia and stated that the footage allows for identification of the uniforms of the masked men as jackets used by the Intervention Police. The Intervention Police are the Croatian police’s riot control branch, whose jackets are financed by the EU’s Internal Security Fund. The organization managed to film 11 pushbacks in Croatia. Similar findings were carried out in Romania. In Greece, they collected and analyzed 635 videos of alleged pushbacks in the Aegean, at least 15 of them showing masked men in action.
This afternoon Aegean Boat Report received an emergency call from a group of 12 people, who had been forced into a life raft by masked men on a Greek coast guard vessel, and left drifting east of Simi. The group consisted of men, women and several small children. @YlvaJohanssonpic.twitter.com/ecZcKYgTIU
The report also highlighted the use of violence from the officials, with several testimonies of assaulted asylum seekers. Testimonies of police involved in border operations confirm the regular use of violence. It is also known that the belongings of migrants are stolen and confiscated, later burned.
The EU is therefore involved in the pushback perpetrated at the border by national police thanks to its financial and material support. The EU policy on migration was already highly criticized because of the policy of containment carried out at the borders, making agreements with third countries such as Turkey or Libya.
Those internal and external policies of containment carried out by the EU and the Member States go against all the fundamental values of the EU, the EU human rights legal framework, and the EU regulations on migration.
Migrants pushed back at the borders can be refugees from countries bordering Europe, such as Turkey, or nationals from third countries (Syria or Afghanistan) which use European neighboring countries as a transit to reach Europe. The pushbacks perpetrated at the EU borders by the masked men can therefore have tragic consequences for migrants, especially for refugees fleeing from bordering countries of Europe. For instance, if a Turkish asylum seeker fleeing from the persecution of the Turkish government is pushed back at the Greek border, they will be forced to go back to Turkey, where their life might be in danger. A Syrian refugee pushed back at the European border will continue his life in Turkey. The shadow armies are therefore violating the principle of non-refoulement, according to which no one should have to return to a country where they could face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and other irreparable harm.
This afternoon Aegean Boat Report received an emergency call from a group of 12 people, who had been forced into a life raft by masked men on a Greek coast guard vessel, and left drifting east of Simi. The group consisted of men, women and several small children. @YlvaJohanssonpic.twitter.com/ecZcKYgTIU
[1]OHCHR, “The principle of non-refoulment under international human rights law” (available in https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/GlobalCompactMigration/ThePrincipleNon-RefoulementUnderInternationalHumanRightsLaw.pdf, 14/09/2020)
The European Union is largely recognized to be a successful union of 27 member states. All the 27 member states have the right to free movement of goods, services, people, and so on. By EU law and practice this also extends to the movement of refugees. However, law and practice in many cases have nothing in common.
The latest actions of the European Union highlight the doublespeak wherein there is a narrative for public consumption. However, the practical on-ground reality is something vastly different from the on-ground reality. Some latest reports highlight that an eight-month probe by journalists from seven countries uncovered a system run by special units who usually hide their identity by wearing unmarked uniforms and face-covering balaclavas.
The EU significantly finances Croatia’s border operations, including Koridor. Open source evidence reveals that Intervention Police who are part of Koridor stay at hotels along the border when they are on mission. Hotels & per diems are paid out of the EU’s Internal Security Fund pic.twitter.com/scpvdQWxei
The Der Spiegel news magazine in its investigation obtained and highlighted videos of 11 pushbacks described by Der Spiegel allegedly show men beating refugees before bringing them back across the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, Der Spiegel is not the only magazine that has highlighted this pathetic treatment of the refugees to state the least. Other videos and witness testimonies point to special Greek coastguard units detailed to intercept asylum seekers’ boats in the Aegean Sea and set them adrift aboard orange life rafts, some paid for with EU cash.
Lighthouse reports which wrote the report concerning EU’s doublespeak highlighted that In Romania, we captured for the first time how Romanian police units are pushing people, back people, to Serbia. The videos, published by Libération, were supported by testimony from people who had been summarily expelled who also reported serious assaults during these same incidents captured on film. DW reports that According to human rights organizations, there were more than 16,000 pushbacks at the Croatian-Bosnian border last year alone. Similar incidents have recently been observed at the border between Belarus and Poland. There are also frequent reports of such operations at the Turkish-Greek border and on the high seas.
EU governments deny the existence of a violent campaign by masked men to turn away asylum seekers at EU borders. A months-long investigation by @LHReports & leading media unmasks these groups, reveals who commands & finances them pic.twitter.com/nGNFs5Epsi
There are two types of refugees in the EU. One section of them uses a border of a country that has a border to Europe. A second category is refugees from a country that has a border with the EU. It is the second category of refugees who are at risk because when they get pushed back they get arrested in a country that is a country that is not a part and thus is not bound by EU law. The refugees may face human rights violations in non-EU countries like torture.
However, there is very little being done by the European Union to take action against authorities who openly violate EU laws and guidelines and treat the refugees in a pathetic and despicable manner. The state by EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has said that “This must be investigated” in the context of the pushbacks by refugees and she has also stated that “There is also convincing evidence of misuse of EU funds”, not all EU member states seems to agree. For example, the Greek foreign minister refused to “apologize” for Greece’s ongoing involvement and stated categorically that “Greek borders are the borders of the EU and we act within the framework of international and European law to protect them”.
These varied actions and statements expose Doublespeak. The hypocrisy of the EU’s woeful lack of recognition of pathetic and crass treatment of refugees. The statement by the EU Home Affairs Commissioner is not tantamount to placing pressure on countries whose border security officials are trying to physically push back migrants. After all, there isn’t a lack of unity by member states on the issue of what to do with errant police officers. The Greek Foreign minister is on record refusing to apologize for the actions of the Greek border guard. It is this doublespeak of the Greek border guard and the overall attitude of the European Union which emphasizes open borders and rights for people to be granted refugee status as soon as they enter EU territory. The double-speak is a woeful lack of recognition of the serious rights violations faced by refugees when police forces use force to push them out of the EU. It is a blatant violation of EU and International law and the EU’s silence in this instance and their general statements on welcoming refugees is hypocrisy and it is this double-speak between the statements and reality as seen in Greece and other EU countries.
Writing a project requires people to spend time in understanding what is expected by donors who want to fund the project, deciding on the ideas of a project in consultation with the organization and other interested parties/stakeholders, deciding on the budget with interested parties/stakeholders and finally writing project proposal. In a three-part article written by broken chalk concerning the requirements of how to write a project proposal for EU projects Broken chalk made various suggestions on how to write a project proposal. Through this article, we will provide applicants with a brief guide on how what they should be doing before they start writing a project proposal for any project be it in the European Union or not.
Understanding what is expected by donors who want to fund the project:
Before applicants begin to write the project they must have a thorough understanding of what is expected to be written as a part of the project proposal by donors. This is our experience in Broken Chalk.
To illustrate this we would like to provide an example of a project which is posted on the grants and tenders section of the European Union. The project that the Broken Chalk is working on is a project titled “Conditions for the successful development of skills matched to needs”. There is a description of the project on the funding and opportunities page of the EU website. We went through the various annexes of the general EU guidelines as well as the call document to understand the needs of the EU donors for the specific project.
Applicants need to ensure that they need to go through various documents, again and again, to ensure that they have a precise understanding of the needs of the donors who in the case of the project that the Broken Chalk is pursuing is the European Union.
Deciding on a concrete idea for the project:
Before starting to write a project applicants should take time to decide on a concrete idea for a project. The broken chalk is in the process of seeking ideas from its volunteers, interns as well as people in the organization responsible for project management on the project titled “Conditions for the successful development of skills matched to needs”.
It is suggested to the applicants that they consult as many people as possible and make a note of as many ideas as possible with many people so that there are options from which the best possible option can be selected. When selecting the best possible option for applicants should consult with the board of the organization so that the viewpoint of the organization is represented in the formation of the idea of the project. Consultation with the board will be especially useful in a situation where no other members of an organization are willing to contribute to various ideas.
Budgeting for a project:
Once an idea has been agreed upon then it is strongly recommended that applicants start budgeting for the project. Budgeting is the idea that there must be an account for how much will be spent on what items of the project.
Applicants must remember that the process of budgeting is not as simple as just including the costs of a product. Therefore, they must keep adequate time in hand to ensure that there is a proper account for the items on which they would like to spend. The project idea should drive the costs of the project that is budgeted. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that applicants have a concrete idea in mind and it is agreed upon with the board of the organization before starting the process of budgeting. There is also a need to have an understanding of the top line support budget that the EU or other institutes have to offer so that the idea takes this factor into consideration.
When budgeting for a project for the EU or other financial institutions there is a need to consider both personnel and direct costs of the project. Personnel costs take into consideration the cost of employing people. e.g. salary of people. Direct costs take into consideration the costs of the project. For example, if a massive room has to be built to teach students then the project costs should include the cost of building material such as brick and steel. The budgeting of the project ideas must at least 90% of the time account for contingencies as well as overhead costs. Overhead costs refer to costs of operating a business minus the direct costs. Contingencies are supposed to be utilized during the case of any emergencies. All of these costs (contingencies and overheads only when needed) need to be accounted for and only then should be sent to the European Union. As a rule, 10% of the overall costs and 5% of the overall costs are dedicated to overhead costs and contingencies respectively.
It is recommended that applicants send the budget estimate of the project in the form of a Microsoft Excel document to donors whether in the European Union or elsewhere.
This hashtag was created to fight against the nine years six months sentence prison against Ayse Ozdogan issued by a Turkish Supreme court of appeals.
Despite the massive social reaction in Turkey on social media, Ayse Ozdogan was arrested last Saturday. On Twitter, her brother said that “The execution was not postponed; they came to pick up my sister.” The grounds for her conviction were being an administrator in a private student dormitory, having an account at Bank Asya, using the Bylock, and being a member of an armed terrorist organization, namely the Gulen Movement.
The Gulen Movement is considered a terrorist organization according to Erdoğan’s regime, which accused the group of taking part in the attempted coup in July 2016. To this day, the government is carrying out severe repression about the member of the groups or the persons linked to the group in one way or another.
Her arrest was so controversial in Turkey because Ayse Ozdogan has end-stage cancer, and despite her poor health, she has been sent to prison. She had already been detained shortly after a first operation on November 12, 2019. Her detention provoked a massive reaction, and an online campaign started by Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and deputy from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), led to her release on December 27, 2019.
However, her health got worse because she could not get her second surgery. The cancer had spread, and Özdoğan’s tooth, palate, zygomatic bone, and lymph nodes were removed in an emergency operation. She, therefore, lost her ability to see and hear due to the trauma her facial bones suffered.
Ayse Ozdogan recalled her hearing with the judge:
I went before the judge while I still had wounds in my mouth and face, and my stitches were not removed. As a result of the judge’s decision to arrest me, I became ill and fainted at the end of the court. Later, due to the interventions on my body and face, I was sobered up and sent to prison. The first day I was alone in a cell, it was cold, and I had to sleep on the floor. I slammed my operated areas against the wall on the bunk bed because I had difficulty walking. When I was taken to the ward, my face and eyes were swollen enough to obscure my vision completely.
Özdoğan suffers from cancer and is facing imprisonment on a terrorism conviction. According to the Human Rights Association, there are currently 1,605 sick prisoners in Turkish prisons, 604 of whom are critically ill. Critics have slammed authorities for refusing to release them. pic.twitter.com/zdnVCSC33L
Despite the evident proofs of the health condition of Ayşe Özdoğan and the risks of detention for her care, it was determined in the report of the 3rd Specialization Committee of the Presidency of Forensic Medicine on October 1, 2021, “that Ayşe Özdoğan did not find any recurrence or metastasis in her examinations, was followed at regular intervals without treatment, and did not receive active treatment; she lived her life in prison conditions. It has been concluded that he can continue his sentence alone and that his sentence can be continued in prison by providing regular polyclinic control.”
According to the Human Rights Association (İHD), there are more than 1,605 sick prisoners in Turkish prisons, approximately 604 critically ill. Despite the forensic and medical reports stating that they cannot remain in prison, they are not released.
Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, many education systems still face significant disruptions. Students and teachers in more than 50 countries continue to be affected by the total or partial school closure. But whether students are learning face-to-face or remotely, teachers are at the center of the process. Education is at the center of building human capital. Although teaching is the utmost important job, they are underpaid. Adequate payment is not the only problem they are facing.
Today, we celebrate the extraordinary dedication and courage of all teachers and their capacity to adapt and innovate under very challenging and uncertain conditions. They are at the center of global education improvement efforts and play a key role in accelerating progress towards an inclusive, equitable, and quality education for every student, in all circumstances.
According to research carried out among teaching unions in more than 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America by Education International.[1]
There is a rise in profit-making, low-fee private schools, mainly in Africa and Latin America, which pay low teacher salaries and compromise quality as operating expenditures are brought down as much as possible to maximize profits.
According to 50 percent of the unions; Violence in the classroom is making teaching unsafe.
The mass media promotes “either a negative or a very negative attitude” towards teachers, according to 39 percent of the unions.
Only one in three teachers report having access to continuing professional and leadership development (CPLD), and three-quarters see the CPLD they receive as poor quality.
Today, education is under attack in many countries. The attacks range from the bombing of schools to the killing of students and teachers. Rape and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and forced recruitment also occurred, instigated by armed groups. Attacks on education harm the students and teachers, but they also affect the communities in the short and long term.
More than 22,000 students, teachers, and academics were injured, killed, or harmed in attacks on education during armed conflict or insecurity over the past five years.
Between 2015 and 2019, 93 countries experienced at least one reported attack on education, marking an increase of 19 affected countries, up from 74 countries in the previous reporting period of 2013-2017.
Attacks on higher education were reported in 73 countries. Law enforcement, military forces, or pro-government armed groups used excessive, even lethal, force to disperse university students and staff protesting on campuses or over education-related grievances, primarily in situations of insecurity.
As Broken Chalk, we want to take the attention of the international, national human rights organizations, human rights defenders, stakeholders, educational foundations, and associations into the challenges of Teachers In Turkey. The teachers from Turkey have been facing human rights violations from their Government for a long time now. Turkish Government has taken the lives of the teachers, their families. Being tortured and losing their jobs are among that educators have been suffering. Teachers have been exposed to torture, put in prison, exiled, and lost their lives.
According to the data compiled by the Union of Education (Eğitim-Sen), Government dismissed 41,005 educators, including 33,965 teachers, 5,740 academic personnel, 1,300 administrative staff at educational facilities.[3]
Moreover, the Government revoked the teaching licenses of more than 23,464 teachers, who used to work for the private schools affiliated with the Gülen movement.[4]
One thousand sixty-nine private schools, 1550 university preparation schools, 301 private study centers, sixteen private universities were closed. [5]
The Turkish Foreign Minister has been boastful about the abduction of around 100 educators from 18 countries by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency.[6]
Due to unlawful and injustice practices of the current Government in Turkey, society’s oppression, cancellation of teachers’ diplomas, work permits, and passports, hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their country illegally by risking their lives. Unfortunately, some of them, including babies and children, lost their lives during their journeys across the Aegean Sea and Evros River.
As Broken Chalk,
We urge the governments to honor the teachers for their commitments to quality education and ensure students have the trained, qualified and empowered teachers they deserve.
We asked the Governments and armed groups to end attacks on education and refrain from using schools and universities for military purposes.
We asked the Turkish Government to give all the rights of Teachers back.
We continue to claim the rights of teachers through the national and international judiciary. We want to draw the attention of governments, stakeholders, non-governmental organizations, and human rights defenders to fight against the Human Rights Violations which educators are facing.
We wish all the teachers in the world a Happy World Teachers’ Day!
Broken Chalk announces it to the public with due respect.
Broken Chalk*
*Broken Chalk is a human rights organization and mainly concentrates on violations in the educational field.
Cover Picture is from: https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/styles/commemoration_header/public/commemorations/world-teachers-day-2021-cover.png?itok=18IrYAVc
The question the rapporteur will try to answer is the following: Can we conclude that the Turkish state is taking action to abduct political opponents and it is not investigated properly into these facts? To answer it, he will present three different topics, namely the execution of international abductions by the Turkish government, the executions of domestic abductions, and the presence of effective investigations.
Preliminary topics:
The report relied on examples of 27 cases of national abductions and 68 of international abductions. The reporter pointed out that other independent sources concluded the same findings, and that he relied mainly on the Ankara bar association report, report of International investigations, court findings, journal reports.
The report only takes into account abductions from 2016 to now. The rapporteur recalled the legal criteria for an enforced disappearance to be found: to be arbitrarily deprived of their freedom by state officials or under state’s orders, and the refusal to communicate the place or the whereabouts of the victims. The prohibition of enforced disappearance is a ius cogens norm, which means that every state is bound by the prohibition even if they did not ratify treaties that prohibit it. The rapporteur recalled that Turkey ratified the ICCPR and ECHR, which prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, the use of torture and establishes the right to life.
International abductions:
There are different ways to be internationally abducted:
Turkish citizens who lived abroad (teacher), their passports are canceled and handed over to IMT and brought back to Turkish
When the host state is not fully agreeing, Turkey intervened directly in the territory of the host state. For instance, it happened in Kenya: Kenya refused the extradition of the Turkish citizen so Turkey intervened and abducted him.
The most common way is to do it with the consent of the host country, they work together to bring them back illegally to Turkey without following the legal channel asking for extradition.
In 2017, the MIT (National Intelligence Organization of Turkey) was created a special department which is for human abductions or executions, in charge of executing international operations abroad. The UN wrote an open letter to Turkey stating that it could stop concluding secret agreements with other countries to carry out international abductions and bringing people back illegally to Turkey.
After being abducted, the victims disappear for weeks or months or are never seen again. They resurface with strong allegations of torture (electric chocs, beatings).
The minister of foreign affairs and the president himself acknowledge publicly carrying out international abductions in the newspaper, to show their power and for people to be afraid. They pretend that people who disappeared are terrorists and that the current state of emergency allowed them to arrest them in other countries.
Domestic abductions:
Domestic abductions are executed in a very similar pattern: large scale operations are carried out (example of abduction by 40 people heavily armed), are always visible in busy areas (middle of the highway with a lot of witnesses), often with cars and victims are forced into a black Volkswagen van. The kidnappers don’t care about being seen, or about their license plates being traced. When the people resurface, it always happens in police stations or the anti-terrorism department in Ankara. One victim recalled that he was abducted by the secret services which forced him to call the authority and to sign incriminating papers against him. There is no trace of legal detention when they disappear.
Several elements prove the involvement of the authorities in those abductions. One victim recalled that he worked for the secret services and that he was abducted by a former colleague. The camera footages and testimonies of victims and eyes witnesses demonstrated that the kidnappers were wearing TEM jackets (antiterrorism unit), or presented themselves as being police officers, or police who took them for “Interrogations”.
The Turkish position on domestic abductions is different from international abductions: it denies any involvement or ignores the accusations it and does not even count it. The ones abducted are always political opponents mostly belonging to the Gulen movement. When they resurface they all have made self-incrimination or with regards to others. The objective of those abductions is therefore to gather evidence to incriminate other persons, so the state does not acknowledges it according to the rapporteur.
The Turkish government does not carry out effective investigations. The relatives of the family members are very active in filling complaints, gathering evidence, camera footage, eyewitnesses. They hand them over to the prosecutor and nothing happens, even the most obvious acts like checking the license plate or tracking the phone of the victims. Non-investigative acts are executed, and the cases are closed after a while without findings. In addition, if relatives become to vocals, they are pressurized to retract the complaint. According to the rapporteur, no one has been convicted for abductions in Turkey even if the Turkish criminal code prohibits arbitrary deprivation of liberty, the use of torture. In addition, the code of criminal procedure establishes a duty to investigate
Witness 1: Mustafa Ozben
The witness lived in Istanbul and was a lawyer for the bar of Ankara. Until the failed coup he was a university teacher and was a member of the Gulen movement since 1993. According to him, being a member is based on goodness, which means doing good acts for humankind. After the coup, his university has been shot down, so he was unemployed. He took measures to hide like using his father’s credit card, not staying at his legal residence…
On the 9th of May of 2017, after taking his daughter to school and went to shops, he was abducted while going back to his car. Around 3 or 4 people surrounded him, beat him, and put him into a black transporter van. They put a sack over his head and beat him, insulted him, screamed at him, put plastic cuffs around his ankles and his hands. They took him to a huge warehouse in a small cell (6×9 feet, 3msquare) with a very hard mattress and carpets all around the walls. It was a tiny place with a camera and sound system to establish contact with him, and with an aeration system with a continuous sound, which he recalled as a type of torture.
During the first days of detention, they knocked at the door and put him on his knees, took him outside to be interrogated. They turned his face against the wall so he cannot see anything because it was extremely important for them not to be seen. They said that this is a place that neither exists nor does not exist where they are the state. They told him that if he helps them, they will forget about all the complaints made against him and, give him a new identity, money, and opportunities. But if he does not, they know human anatomy very well and everything about torture, and he may start to beg them to kill him. The witness answered that he did not commit any crimes and that he was only a member of the Gulen movement. The perpetrators asked him which general he called on the day of the coup. According to the witness, they were unskilled, and they knew just a few things about him and most of it has been fabricated. They needed to fill the complaints with facts, information, and names because they made everyone a terrorist without any proof.
He was always blindfolded. One day, he went out of the cell without a blindfold so he can describe the warehouse, with cells and corridor and interrogations room. He lost 20 kilos there, he was hungry and thirsty most of the time, and they were trying to break his resistance.
The detention lasted for 92 days. He was also tortured. In one of the interrogation rooms, they were two cuffs on the wall, he saw sticks, blood. They used electric chocs, beating, sex instruments and say that they are going to penetrate him. they tried everything that could break him, threatening him his family. There were no windows or clocks. They put headphones over his head, with national music or noise that put him crazy. He was also worried for his children and his wife while he was detained: not knowing was also part of the torture.
They released him and left him off in a neighborhood in Ankara. He supposed he was released because her wife was fighting for him to be released. He was released on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he was supposed to buy a cell phone and to meet them again on Friday to pretend that he had never been abducted and that he was only hiding at home.
In January 2021, the victim was abducted at his workplace and victim of systematic torture for 6 days. He was from a family of socialist workers and working as an electrician. He was defending the rights of workers and was part of a trade union, participated in press releases and press conferences, and was detained many times.
When he disappeared, his lawyer made an application before the relevant prosecutor, with requests for the base station information to collect all the footage, because he was abducted at his workplace which is also a bus station. However, no persecutor was appointed to the file and even the one on duty did not take action.
They applied to other institutions such as the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Interior, or Ministry of Justice, the anti-terrorism branch in Istanbul to make a statement for their client to be released but it never happened. Democratic and legal institutions, unions and confederations, political parties waged a very meaningful struggle for the client to be found. There were demonstrations in many European cities, his family was all over Istanbul, especially in Galatasaray square in Istanbul, which became the symbol of the struggle for disappearances. There were also demonstrations in his neighborhood, workplace… despite the curfew. The European Parliament sent an open letter to the ministry of interior for them to make a statement, but they did not answer.
While he disappeared, the victim was threatened with rape, suspended, handcuffed upside down, kept naked for days or hours, and subjected to brutal beatings.
After he was found, his lawyer filed a criminal complaint about kidnapping and systematic torture, but it is progressing very slowly even though they provide the license plate of the bus and footage of the scene of the crime. The prosecutor acts with indifference and effortlessness, and they become perpetrators as well according to the lawyer.
He has released after 6 days thanks to the struggle made by his family and the massive social reaction. After he was released, he got physical and psychological treatment. He can work and maintain his life but not talk in public about what he went through.
Witness 3: Mesut and Meral Kaçmaz
The man was a school principal and director of public relations in Pakistan, and his wife was a science and English teacher in Pakistan as well. He used to go to turkey frequently.
On the 27th of September, at night, 15-20 armed people came to this house and said that they are going to take them to a safe house. They did not show any legal documents to prove they were policemen and were not wearing uniforms. When they protested, the couple and their children were beaten up. Meral Kacmaz fainted at the door of the house, and they have been taken to different vehicles. Mesut was continuously beaten up in the car.
They brought them to the place where they were detained. There was no sunlight but iron bars ad curtains. It was very scary, but they had to calm down for their two daughters (15 and 17 years old). They had been all handcuffed, beaten, and blindfolded. Meral recalled that for the first time in her life she had to clean up blood from his kids’ bodies.
After 17 days, they said they will take them to the capital of Pakistan where they will be allowed to meet their lawyers and people from the Turkish embassy. The kidnappers handing them over to the Turkish intelligence, so the Turkish government sent them a private air croft to reach Turkey. During all the flight, the husband has been tortured, threatened by his family, and they told him: “you are going to accept whatever we say, or we are going to rape your wife and daughters in front of you”.
The wife was taken into custody in Turkey without the children for 6months. She felt half dead because she has been forcibly separated from his kids. She recalled that she was able to see other women in other cells crying for their children. They make her believe that she will never leave the jail, but she did not sigh what they wanted her to sign,
Their first hearing started on the 13th of February 2018, and after the second hearing on the 26 April 2018, her wife was released. On the 3rd of July, the husband was released, but they sentenced them to 6years and 3 months of detention. They know that the judiciary is controlled by the government, which says the “ultimate truth” and nobody can change it
The kidnappers told us that they received their file from the intelligence services in Pakistan and that it was clear. One of the kidnappers says “sorry sir, you are being ruled in turkey by a dictator and this is the order of Erdogan”.
The court’s allegations for their detention were that he deposited money to Asia bank, but he doesn’t know the real reason, he guessed he was chosen randomly or to disconnect the relation between Tukey and Pakistan as he was the director of public relations.
On 24th September 2021, the Judges who formed a part of the Turkey tribunal gave their final judgment on the situation of the freedom of the press, abductions, impunity, judicial independence, and torture. The judges also gave their opinion on whether witness testimony against the Turkish government amounted to the Turkish state conducting potential crimes against humanity against the victims.
The Turkish government had an opportunity to depose in front of the tribunal and present its point of view. However, the government had not sent any representative for the hearing of the Turkey tribunal. Therefore, the tribunal hearing took place without two sides to represent its point of view as would be the case during a normal hearing in a court or a tribunal.
The judges came to some scathing conclusions about the role/involvement of the Turkish state in its disrespect/contempt for human rights. In the case of torture, the judge noted that “The Tribunal is of the view that there is a systematic and organized use of torture in Turkey” and that there is the widespread use of torture against “people suspected of ordinary crimes”. This can be seen as a sign of contempt and disrespect for human rights because the right to a fair trial is a human right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An important concept of a free and fair trial as laid out by article 11 section 1 is that
Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to the law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
Torture of an individual due to suspicion is an egregious human rights violation because the police are not tasked with taking law and order into their own hands. In a normal democracy, it is for the courts to decide who exactly is guilty or not.
In this context, it is therefore important to note the scathing remarks of the judges on the issue of judicial independence. The judges note that “even though the applicable legal framework provided effective safeguards, the rule of law was destabilized very swiftly by the government’s reaction to the Gezi Park protest in June 2013 and furthermore to the concrete threat of prosecution of high-ranking state officials for corruption in December 2013”. The judges also notes that “the Tribunal notes with concern the mass dismissals of approximately 4.560 judges and prosecutors in the aftermath of the attempted coup d’état, based on a list drawn up by the High Judicial Council”. In addition the judges also noted that “multiple judges and prosecutors who had adopted decisions or performed investigations disapproved by the government, were summarily arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on suspicion of membership of a terrorist organization after the attempted coup d’État. This constitutes, in the view of the Tribunal, severe intimidation of the judiciary”. While there are several other points on the independence of judiciary made by the judges in the tribunal, the reality as noted by the judges is that judicially in Turkey is being systematically intimidated. Therefore, it gives an opportunity for the police to torture individuals with a judiciary which may not do much to hold the police accountable.
In regards to other human rights issues in Turkey, the judges made some other scathing remarks. As far as abductions are concerned the judges note that:
“The Tribunal furthermore observes a recurring pattern used to execute the enforced disappearances. Regarding domestic enforced disappearances, firstly, the perpetrators do not seem to be worried about an intervention by the law enforcement authorities since the forcible deprivations of liberty are carried out in broad daylight, in the presence of eyewitnesses or security cameras; secondly, the abductions are carried out in a similar manner, namely using the same type of vehicles, often by provoking a car accident and by a bag being put over the heads of the alleged victims after which they are pushed into a black transporter van”.
In so far as freedom of expression is concerned The Tribunal noted that “the repression against the press and freedom of expression points to a larger policy of the State to silence critical voices and limit people’s access to information”. Moreover, the judges state that “The restriction of freedom of expression, in particular press freedom, through the extensive use of criminalization, prosecution, and pre-trial detention of journalists, has been exacerbated by the events of 15-16 July 2016. These restrictions inhibit both the media and the public from actively exercising these freedoms, essential in a democratic society. In addition, they deeply impact the families and communities of their direct targets”.
In terms of impunity, The Tribunal was “of the opinion that there has been a persistent and prevailing culture of impunity in Turkey since 1980, which has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, particularly since the attempted coup d’état of 15 July 2016”. In particular, the judges noted that
The Tribunal acknowledges the Report’s identification of five interconnected causes which contribute to impunity and show the organized and institutionalized nature of the problem: (i) the deficient legal structure, (ii) the political rhetoric reinforcing the patterns of impunity, (iii) the lack of political will to hold state agents accountable, (iv) the ineffective and delayed investigations by prosecutors, and (v) the lack of an independent judiciary.
Due to these conditions, the tribunal noted that it “is of the view that the acts of torture and enforced disappearances committed in Turkey, in applications brought before an appropriate body and subject to the proof of the specific knowledge and intent of the accused, could amount to crimes against humanity”.
These judgments expose the all-around contempt and disrespect for human rights by the Turkish government. Those who question, oppose or disagree with the government or ensure that the government is bound to its limits face impunity, kidnapping, torture, persecution, purgery. This is aided by an executive that has no checks on it by either legislature, judiciary, or the media. The fundamental feature of respect i.e. accountability is all but missing in the Turkish system be it executive, judiciary, police, or media. These structures have bent to the will of the executive and the wholesale compromise of these institutions exposes the wholesale contempt of the Turkish government because they can commit rights violations and get away with and no one can ask any questions. This is the takeaway of the judgments.
One hearing in this week’s Turkey tribunal exposes the insecurity and the lack of respect for the fundamental rights of the press by the Turkish government
In the Turkey tribunal held over this week, there have been presentations of reports as well as testimonies of key witnesses on issues concerning Turkey. One such issue in which a report was presented and witness was heard was concerning the press freedom of Turkey.
In this article, the focus will be on the victims who have suffered human rights violations on account of disagreeing with the Turkish government and expressing dissent in order to encourage democracy and hold the government accountable for its actions.
One victim who was a journalist who testified in front of the judges who are a part of the tribunal claimed that the police applied charges such as insulting the president, Propaganda for the terrorist organization, overturn the Turkish govt through an armed rebellion, and being a member of a certain opposition movement and propaganda against the Turkish state. All of these charges combined attracted a combined prison sentence of 22.5 years by Turkish law.
As if these points are not enough the contention of the individual is that fleeing the country was the only option because some of his colleagues expressed fears that he could be part of a government-mandated hit list or what in the words of the individuals was an assassination list. While it couldn’t be ascertained for certain whether the individual was a part of the hit list or not at the time of fleeing the country, the individual did confirm that the name was a part of the hit list two years ago and that the Turkish media went so far as to display the name of the individual concerned in front of the media.
The victim who worked for a magazine in Turkey was one among the many at the time who exposed corruption in the government in 2013. Due to this four ministers had to resign. Since this time the Turkish government has been involved in silencing the voices of journalists who write against the government on various issues such as LGBT rights in Turkey, corruption among many issues. The victim is one among the many journalists.
The serious nature of the claims in front of the judges of the tribunal shows that the Turkish government is willing to do anything to ensure that journalists tow their line. The allegations of the government maintaining a potential hit/murder list and people’s name, in this case, a journalist’s appearing on the hit/murder list are very serious allegations that require the immediate and urgent attention of the international community, if required there needs to be an investigation to understand these claims. Everything has to be done to hold the Turkish state accountable for its actions against journalists. Only then can journalists can practice journalism without pressure. While the hit/murder list is the gravest allegations of many, other developments cannot be ignored. The shutting down of media platforms, the fleeing of journalists to the West, arrest of journalists without any charges, etc also needs to be taken into consideration in the context of Turkey.
Impunity and Turkey – a tale of the unaccountable
Hearings over this week seemed to confirm the terrible situation concerning impunity in Turkey. Two victims and both of their tales show the terrible situation of the unaccountable who commit crimes with impunity in Turkey.
One of them was an LGBT rights activist who wanted to ensure that the Turkish state does everything it can to protect the rights of the LGBT community. According to the individual, the situation of the LGBT community in Turkey is terrible, and face atrocities at the hands of the Turkish state. Crimes by the state such as rape and torture against the LGBT community are fairly widespread in Turkey.
When the activist started covering this the activist faced the full might of the Turkish government. The individual testified in front of the judges that in one instance the police placed the gun in the mouth of the individual. The clear attempt was to intimidate the activist so that there is no challenge to the Turkish government.
The same activist also testified yet another instance where the police dragged the individual out of an airline in Istanbul Airport Turkey and beat the individual on the airport tarmac. A group of some 20 people was involved in this particular incident, exposing the sheer lack of fear that criminals have in Turkey. This can be termed as impunity because at the heart of such an attack is to display the brazenness of criminals in order to intimidate and warn everyday people against expressing dissent against the Turkish government. Impunity is also a gory display of power in order to inform the world and people in Turkey that nobody can do anything to hold people accountable.
The other incident of impunity is when a man testified in front of the Turkey tribunal that police officers informed the man that his brother was killed by a bomb explosion only to find out that police officers had murdered the individual’s brother. The testimony of the individual regarding this was that there was a witness to the incident. Press given photographs it was not a live bomb it was a murder. Police officers were taken under custody and released three days later. Court refused the arrest of police officers. The court accepted that police had not murdered and let off the officers on account of lack of evidence.
These are two cases but they show one thing. Neither the courts, nor the police, nor the government is accountable for impunity that was in ugly display in these two cases. Therefore, the situation in Turkey is that impunity in Turkey is the tale of the unaccountable where a regime shields and protects criminals to only protect its image and ego.
I wish you to be safe. I wish you are not at risk of being jailed without concrete evidence or tortured by police for weeks or threatened with your loved ones. I didn’t even mention being fired in an unexplained letter, the confiscation of your money and all your assets in the bank, the cancellation of your passport and work permit, the branding as a traitor. If you, as an ordinary citizen, experienced it all overnight, at first glance you would think it must have been a nightmare.
About one million and five thousand people have had these nightmares for more than five years. These people are punished and labeled as members of an armed terrorist organization in Turkey. Really, who are they? Terrorists or victims? Turkey Tribunal seeks the truth with all its transparency.
The Turkish State is invited to Turkey Tribunal, but they neither responded nor participated in this invitation. It is not a surprise. The interlocutors are not the Turkish media, the blind executive, legislative and judicial powers in Turkey, or the police agencies dependent on the Erdogan regime. Instead of; previous member of the Scientific Committee at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, previous judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, vice-president of International Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, vice-president of the Administrative Court of the Council of Europe, associate professor at the Faculty of Law and Institute of Political Sciences at the University of Strasbourg and more are independent addressees. Unlike many judges and policies Erdogan has bought in Turkey, none of them will be paid for their contributions to the tribunal or five days, lawyers, judges, human activists, educators, academics, journalists, and more will be the voice of thousands of victims in Turkey and stand up against human rights violations. They will share how they were severely and illegally tortured. Electric shocks, Palestinian hanging, robbery, excessive beatings, and enforced disappearances in police custody… Johan Heymans, who is active in the League for Human Rights, Johan Heymans reveals the events in Turkey with evidence-based reports. These reports coincide with witness statements.
Johan Heymans
What if your government regime labels you as a member of an armed terrorist organization overnight? As evidence, they use not any weapons but your licensed books at home, your account in a bank named Bank Asya, the name of the school your children attend, and the newspaper you read. But what if you liked your country, spent most of your effort contributing to your country, and were associated with treason simply because you disagree with the opinions of politicians?
What if you were a prestigious worldwide academic, educator, journalist, or the like, stood up for human rights for all, and were imprisoned without any legal documents? What if your government regime sends its units to illegally smuggle its citizens abroad?
All this is discussed with evidence and witnesses. As stated, the Turkish Government is still invited, the authorities are silent. They are silent because they have committed crimes. What about us? We can stand up for rights. “Because silence is the greatest enemy of fundamental human rights.”
On the 20th of September started the first session of the Turkey Tribunal in Geneva. As recalled by Tulkens during the introduction, the Turkey Tribunal is an opinion tribunal. In other words, it does not fall within the judicial order of a state or from a court set up by an International Organization. The tribunal is an extraordinary court born of the determination of civil society. Even if its decisions are not binding, it is an instrument and a platform to give recognition, visibility, and a voice to people alleging violations of their fundamental rights. The tribunal is independent, respects the principle of a fair trial, and uses a judicial method to release decisions. The fundamental objective of the Turkey tribunal is to alert public opinion and policymakers and to contribute to the advancement of international and national law.
The tribunal will hear six rapporteurs about torture, abductions, press freedom, impunity, access to justice and judicial independence, and crimes against humanity in Turkey. 15 witnesses will also be heard, and the Turkish government received an invitation to attend the judgment and copies of the report but is not present.
In the end, the tribunal will formulate an opinion on the conformity of Turkey’s actions with International Human Rights law and International Humanitarian Law. The tribunal does not have investigative powers and will not engage in criminal or civil liability. The decision, although not binding, has a high moral authority and gives legal tools for victims, lawyers, or NGOs who want to take action afterward.
First rapporteur on torture:
The main legal text which enshrined the right not to be tortured is the Convention against Torture and the European Convention on Human Rights. The rapporteur recalled that those conventions establish the minimum that national laws should include in the criminal code and that the criminalization of torture by imprisonment sanctions is an obligation. In other words, an act that fulfills the criteria of torture according to the CAT cannot be considered a minor crime, such as ill-treatment for instance. The prohibition of torture is absolute, which means that no exception or derogation can justify the use of torture (terrorism). The responsibility of the state can be engaged if it failed to protect citizens from acts of torture perpetrated by private actors, and for failure to investigate and to prosecute. The burden of proof is on the victims, but if there is a reasonable suspicion of torture while they were deprived of their liberty, the government will have to provide evidence to the contrary.
The rapporteur relied on statistics released by the Turkish government. However, he pointed out discrepancies between figures provided by NGOs and by the government. The rapporteur alleged therefore that all allegations have not been investigated by the government. For instance, 2063 cases of people denunciated to the NGO Human rights in Turkey between 2000 and 2015. The rapporteur noted that the number of cases opened declined of 50% between 2013 and 2015. However, the indicators demonstrate that the number of cases increased and did not drop. The explanation would be the decrease of the will of the government to punish torture. The acts of torture documented in Turkey are mainly the excessive use of force in detention, beatings, humiliations, sexual assault, electrics chocs.
Torture has been a spreading practice in Turkey for decades, especially after the coup d’Etat in 1980. In the 2000s, zero-tolerance towards torture has been applied, which lead to some improvements. However, over the last 10 years, a resurgence of torture can be noted, in almost total impunity. Currently, 441 cases before the ECtHR for violations of art3 are examined, which represent more cases than those investigated by Turkey.
The targeted groups are members of the Kurdish movement, of the Gulen movement, juvenile, and ordinary criminals. In addition, The way they are repressed depends on the necessity of the police to turn them into informants. Members of the PKK, extreme left wings organization, or Gulen movement are more likely to be abducted, and wives of the suspicious men detained.
The Rapporteur concluded that the use of torture is systematic and organized, without investigations, punishment, and due diligence. In response to that, the Turkish government argued that victims do not provide any medical proof, they are political opponents, and that the convictions rate for acts of torture is very low.
Witness 1: Mehmet Alp
Mehmet Alp, Chemistry Teacher
The first witness is a chemistry teacher and an administrator in a school in a Turkish region in southeastern turkey. On the 18th of April 2018, he was forcibly abducted after taking his child to school. A car arrived behind him, and the men got him into the car. They told that they were policemen, and that one of his students was set to have joined the PKK, and that other students were attending meetings of the Gulen movements and joined the PKK as well. They finally released him and on the 20th of April, they came to his house and took his wife under custody for 4 days. This abduction can be explained by the end of the peace process between the PKK and the government and the beginning of armed conflict had begun again, They tried to warn the authorities, but nothing was done about it.
One month before the coup, he was arrested again and asked about the Gulen movement. In total, he was detained in 4 jails and 17 cells. For 2 months, they were not able to eat fruits or vegetables, neither to see a doctor. He started having internal problems such as internal bleeding. However, the guardians were told not to take care of him because he was considered a terrorist belonging to the Gulen movement. After those 2 months, he was finally brought to the hospital and detected intestinal cancer. In November, he was transferred again. On the 28th of May 2017, two people uncuffed him and brought him 200km away. They kept asking questions about the functions he fulfilled during the coup of the 15th of July. He answered that he did not participate in the coup, he had nothing to do with the Gullen group. He refused to sign the documents. He had a bag over his head, and he was in a dark room, underneath the prison. They beat him over his head and body with metallic things. He fainted, was bleeding from his nose. He was placed in a van and finally got to the hospital. In this prison, he met an academician tortured with electricity.
He managed to write down everything he has gone through thanks to toilet papers. He was not allowed to see his lawyer or his wife.
On the 6th of June, he was supposed to go before the courts, and the guardians threatened him and his family if he said anything about being a victim of torture. He was declared guilty.
He was accused in the first place of falsification, and then of being a member of an armed association, and finally of involvement in the coup. After being released, he went to the authorities, but nothing happened because police, prosecutors, and court work together. He was only able to fight for his rights in free countries, in Turkey it is impossible.
Witness 2: Erhan Dogan
Erhan Dogan, History Teacher
The second witness was a teacher of history in Ankara. When the coup happened, he was working at a school belonging to the Gulen group in Ankara. One week after, a lot of arrests starting to happen, and the schools closed to the Gulen group were pillaged, burned, destroyed. Ten days later, a teacher at his school called him because policemen were asking for him. He went to the school, and he saw people waiting for him. They held him from his collar and pushed him to the wall. They insulted him as a terrorist, beat him and they said that if he refused to obey their commands, his whole life will turn into misery, including his family. They asked Kim who he has had meetings with or discussed. They asked for ten names of the senior officials of the Gulen group. In addition, they wanted him to accept that he was a member of a terrorist organization and to sign the documents. The witness answered that he was not a terrorist so he was tortured for a while. An official policeman from Ankara came afterward, stole their computer, phone, and bring them to Ankara town, the anti-terrorist police station.
One there, he was escorted by 12 policemen who insulted them, called them dogs, and beat them up. He was separated from the others, and they told him that he could die and that a lot of people die here and nobody knows. They took him to a gym, with people in orange and cuffs. There was blood around him on the walls, which was proof that they tortured people here. He learned later that soldiers arrested after the coup were tortured here. He was given a small piece of bread, jam, a bottle of water. The other detainees were scholars. One had diabetics and all their demands for care were dismissed. He recalled several acts of torture, such as being undressed with cold water on him and beat with bludgeons or four officers who hit his head on the wall and kept asking questions about the Gulen group. One time, they tied him with his hands behind, and they left him up hanging from the selling one or two hours. After that, he recalled that he thought that all his buns were broken and he was not able to walk. They brought him to a person dressed up like a doctor, who asked him how he was. He answered that he had been tortured so the officials took him back and tortured him again. The second time he answered that he was fine, so he came back to the gym.
One of the most impactful events he went through was hearing the screams of women detainees in adjacent cells, who were begging the officials not to rape them. The officials threaten his wife and daughter, who might end up like those women. This event made him want to commit suicide during the toilet break, but because of religious beliefs he did not do it
When he was taken to court, the policeman who tortured him came with him, and the judge did not ask a question, because had been already heard when he got arrested. So the judge decided on his arrest and he was taken to the aggravated crime to prison. There, he suffered from the Palestinians’ anger, because they were presented as terrorist members.
They took them to a cell for 16 people, and they were about 50 people. Living conditions were very poor: they had to wait for 4o minutes to go to toilets, and they had hot water once a week for 30 minutes. In addition, the guardians constantly insulted them.
One day, they told them that a delegation from the European Human Rights Committee will come to inspect. They told them that if they said anything apart from the script they were given, they would not be able to see their family (who they can only see once every two months) or they will be sent to solitary confinement. The delegation finally came, but nobody said anything.
The witness recalled that they constantly heard the statement: “even if you go out your life will be hell”.
He was in total detained. 10months without any indictment. After he was released, he found that the grounds for his detention was he worked in a school belonging to the Gulen group, was a member of a trade union, had a bank account at bank Asia, and used the application called Bylock.
He went before court four times and was condemned for 7 years and 6 months of prison, without a fair trial. He presented a recourse before the administrative tribunal, and the highest course released him under judiciary control. The court finally confirmed the sentence and his case is currently reviewed by the cassation court. He escaped Turkey in the meantime. Given that his family saw him as a terrorist and the isolating pressure of the society because of the discourse of the government, he decided to flee Turkey. He crossed over from Turkey to Greece by the river, and he is located in Germany, where he is trying to rebuild his life with his family.
Witness 3: Eren Keskin, human rights lawyer
Eren Keskin, human rights lawyer
The lawyer recalled that not only police or soldiers are guilty, but prosecutors who do not lunch investing, judges who acquit the perpetrators, forensic doctors who do not document torture.
The witness pointed out that one of the main problems is the documentation of torture, because judges, only accept forensic reports as evidence for torture when the law does not establish an exhaustive list of acceptable proofs. However, forensic doctors are civil servants dependent on political authority and therefore linked to the government. They, therefore, do not release proof of acts of torture.
Turkey was already by the ECtHR in the Sukran Aydin case, because there was no report from an independent doctor or rehabilitation centers.
According to the witness, torture has always been a state policy, even if it is legally prohibited. Lawyers are kept outside of the system because they are defenders, and sometimes there are not allowed to visit their clients in prison. For instance, they release reports of people almost dead stating that they can remain in prison.
The witness has been sentenced as an armed terrorist, which is the first time after 30years of working as a lawyer. She expects to be detained every day, such as many politicians from HDP who are in jail only because of their thoughts.
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