Posted on

Statement regarding the attack on the lawyer Günay Dag

The member of the Istanbul branch of ÇHD, lawyer Günay Dag, was subjected to torture a few days ago by guards of Maltepe juvenile’s prison acting under the orders of the prison governor while visiting one of his clients. His head was rammed against the wall and on the ground and as a result his fingers and head were injured. Afterwards he was dragged out of the prison on the floor.

It is worth remembering that Lawyer Günay Dag had gone to the prison to investigate the alleged torture of child detainees.

Obviously, even if there is a state of emergency (Decree having force of Law concerning the emergency measures – Decree Decision Number: KHK /667) the individuals’ rights must be inviolable (As amended on May 7, 2004; act 5170: Even under these circumstances the individual’s right to life, the integrity of his/her physical and mental existence shall be inviolable….) and the Article 17 of the Turkish Constitution says:

……No one shall be subjected to torture or mal-treatment; no one shall be subjected to penalties or treatment incompatible with human dignity.

It is evident that if lawyers cannot do their jobs in Turkey, it means that more children and more young people will be arrested because of their speech and thoughts and many people will be faced with torture. So this is not just a fight for the lawyers’ rights but is a fight for democracy and freedom, as defined by the case law of the ECHR. Nowadays we are facing a long-running attempt by the Turkish government to stifle human rights activism.

Our organisations work on the base of The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers which have been adopted by the 8th congress of the United Nations in Havana (Cuba) between 27 August and 7 September 1990, which principles contain the following:

Whereas adequate protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms to which all persons are entitled, be they economic, social and cultural, or civil and political, requires that all persons have effective access to legal services provided by an independent legal profession,

Whereas professional associations of lawyers have a vital role to play in upholding professional standards and ethics, protecting their members from persecution and improper restrictions and infringements, providing legal services to all in need of them, and cooperating with governmental and other institutions in furthering the ends of justice and public interest,

The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, set forth below, which have been formulated to assist Member States in their task of promoting and ensuring the proper role of lawyers, should be respected and taken into account by Governments within the framework of their national legislation and practice and should be brought to the attention of lawyers as well as other persons, such as judges, prosecutors, members of the executive and the legislature, and the public in general. These principles shall also apply, as appropriate, to persons who exercise the functions of lawyers without having the formal status of lawyers.

And establish the following guarantees:

  1. Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.
  2. Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Likewise the Recommendation (Council of Europe) No. R(2000)21 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the freedom of exercise of the profession of lawyer sets the minimums of protection that are not being followed by the Turkish State.

As jurists we cannot accept this harassment of our colleague. Sadly, there is a long tradition of attacking the defence in Turkey. We must prevent the development of intimidation against lawyers and humans rights defenders.

This is why, in this situation the AED-EDL, the ELDH and the Foundation of the Day of the Endangered Lawyer condemn the actions against the civil and political rights of its citizens and lawyers occurring in Turkey by way of the use of state powers. And so:

I.- We call on our colleagues, friends, democrats, the chairman of the Turkish Union of Bar Associations and all chairmen and board members of the Bar Associations throughout Turkey to show solidarity with the lawyer Günay Dag.

II.- We demand that the governor and the prison guards must be investigated concerning these facts and prosecuted if necessary.

III.- We call upon the Turkish government to stop these practices against human rights defenders and lawyers.

IV.- Finally, we invite the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey to break its silence regarding the increasing attacks on lawyers and we invite the Istanbul Bar Association to support its member.

Harlem, Créteil, London, 16th October 2016.

 

schermata-2016-10-21-alle-18-04-45

Posted on

European Lawyers demand: release MUNİP ERMIS immediately!

The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) and the European Democratic Lawyers (AED-EDL) are gravely concerned about the news that the Vice President of CHD – Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği – (Progressive Lawyers Association), lawyer Münip Ermiş was taken into custody this morning. His house and his office were searched. His is the one of the names in a search warrant,which includes 26 lawyers.

For many years ÇHD is a member organisation of ELDH and AED and we know Mr. Münip Ermiş very well as an admirable lawyer who has defended many victims of human rights violations in Turkey.

This arrest is part of a pattern of terrorist persecutions that the Turkish government is bringing against its citizens- journalists, trade union members, human rights activists, members of parliament, academics and students who are committed to a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question and to freedom of speech.

Since the government started operations under the reason of their fights against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), it is clear that they are using this as a pretext of oppression of organisations and individuals who have definitely no connection with FETÖ.

ÇHD is an association, which since 1974 has campaigned for the respect and defence of human rights and the defence of oppressed people in Turkey since 1974. ÇHD is an example of the principled and courageous advocacy in Turkey. This is not the first case of government attacks against ÇHD. The trial against 46 other high ranking ÇHD members is pending since 2013. ELDH is utmost concerned that the arrest of lawyer Münip Ermiş is another case against lawyers because they fulfil their professional functions.

ELDH and AED strongly condemn this operation against ÇHD’s Vice president, Münip Ermiş. ELDH and AED demand his immediate release and the end of all unjustified persecution. ELDH and AED demand furthermore that the Turkish government respects the professional work and role of lawyers in particular Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as Art. 16 and 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. ELDH and AED offer their solidarity to the Turkish lawyers in their fight human rights and justice under the present Turkish regime.

 

London/Dusseldorf/Barcelona, 8th of September 2016

 

 

 

Posted on

Migrants outlawed- International Conference

International Conference SAF / AED on the 23rd and 24th of September 2016

​​Free movement within Europe … this ideal seems to be receding day by day, European governments are unable to implement a common policy for the accommodation of migrants and are taking instead increasingly hard and inhumane measures of expulsion and repression.

Faced with the Europeanization of restrictive migration policies, lawyers from different countries of the European Union need to discuss the situation in different areas in Europe as well as to exchange on their strategies and reflect on common European defence of migrants so that solutions may actually emerge, which are respectful of the rights and freedoms of migrants.

Every year, the SAF (Union of French Lawyers) organizes a symposium on a theme regarding migrants’ rights. Faced with the accelerated degradation of the situation of migrants in Europe, this year a major European conference has been organized in collaboration with the Association of European Democratic Lawyers.

What are the rights of migrants? What are the legal and social conditions at the gates of Europe? How to ensure that they can effectively assert their rights, file asylum applications or receive respectful conditions of accommodation, which conform to European standards of minimum guarantees for hosting asylum seekers?

The interventions of European lawyers, and the discussions that follow, will attempt to answer these questions while analysing various situations in Europe, particularly in Calais, Spain, Greece, Italy and, of course, in Turkey. This will enable participants to acquire the legal tools and knowledge of the concrete situations of migrants with the aim of improving their defence.

Posted on

Update on Trials in Turkey

A colleague in Istanbul, the lawyer Elvan Olkun, has sent us an update of the trials taking place in Turkey at the moment:

1. Trial of the members of  ÖHD (ÖZGÜRLÜKÇÜ HUKUKÇULAR DERNEĞI – ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS FOR FREEDOM)

12 lawyers, members of ÖHD (Özgürlükçü Hukukçular Derneği – Association of Lawyers for Freedom) are being tried in front of the 14th Penal Court of Istanbul 14th.

Two of the accused lawyers, Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli are detained since the 6th of April 2016. There also 38 other accused who are not lawyers. The accused lawyers are : Ramazan Demir, Ayşe Acinikli, Hüseyin Boğatekin, İrfan Araslan, Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu, Tamer Doğan, Mustafa Rüzgar, Sinan Zincir, Raziye Turgut, Ruhşen Mahmutoğlu, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalişci.

They are accused of being members of the terrorist organization and/or making propaganda for a terrorist organization. The lawyers are accused because of the way they have been conducting their profession.

The next hearing will be heard before 14th Istanbul Penal Court on June 22nd, 2016 at 11.00, at Caglayan Courthouse situated in Sisli District of Istanbul.

It will be the first hearing since the prosecutor submitted his indictment. The purpose of the hearing will be to hear the initial defence of the defendants and submission of their representatives and to determine whether to release the detainees or not.

Ayse Acinikli and Ramazan Demir have been shown as nominees for number of international human rights awards. There have been several international campaigns inviting the authorities to release them but unfortunately they are still imprisoned.

demir&ayse

II) The so-called  KCK Lawyers’ trial

This is one of the biggest trials against lawyers: 46 lawyers are being tried. Some of the lawyers had been detained for long time. During the trials detained lawyers have been released.

Lawyers are accused of being members of terrorist organization. The common point amongst these accused lawyers is that they have all been lawyers of Abdullah Öcalan.

The hearing will take place on the 28th of June 2016 in front of the 19th Istanbul Criminal Court.

The prosecutor and the court seem to be willing to come to an end as soon as possible You can find the summary of the indictment and some previous notes on the trial enclosed to this message.

 

III) ÇHD LAWYERS TRIAL

The president of ÇHD, Selçuk Kozağaçlı, as well as other 8 members of the association are on trial. Nine of the accused lawyers had been detained for long time and then released.

The next hearing of this case will take place on the 5th October 2016 in front of the 23rd Istanbul Criminal Court.

The defence argues that the evidence presented is simply illegal and that the accusation is only based on political grounds. The defence asks the court to follow the origins of this illegal evidence and to remove it from the case file. The defence also asks the Court to interrogate all the witnesses itself, and not authorize different local courts to hear the witnesses.

 

These three trials against lawyers are based on political grounds. The accused lawyers are well known for representing the members of oppositional groups, representing the oppressed, women under threat, workers, students etc. Their work as lawyers disturbs the governing authorities.

 

 

Posted on

On the current situation for asylum seekers in Greece

Last summer about 800.000 asylum seekers arrived in Greece. Until that moment most aslym seekers arrived through the land borders. After the fence has been build and other measures were taken (f.i. push backs) the stream of refugees started to arrived over sea. Most arrived on Lesbos or Chios. In the summer there was a new development in the form of the Balkan-route. From summer until October about 10.000 people per day arrived through the Greek-Macedonian border. Slowly different countries started to take measure to block this stream of people. First only Afghans and Syrians were allowed to pass, then only the people that had passports. After December the people got stuck in Greece. With 10.000 people arriving per day, the number accumulated quickly. Now more than 50.000 people are stuck on the Greek mainland and more on the islands.

There are two categories: people that are stuck because of the blockage of the Balkan-route and people who arrived on the islands (black status) who can’t be registered because of the EU-Turkey deal. In 2010 there was a new migration plan in Greece with the follow pillars: (1) a better organization of examination of the claims; (2) a civil organization where asylum seekers would be helped throughout the registration process.

While the stream of asylum seekers got bigger, the running centers could no longer function as detention centers. These centers have now been transferred into hotspots. The centers were first focused on detention and return procedures, but should now be used for registration and eventually return. Just on Lesbos there are 3000-4000 asylum seekers. They are being held without any procedure. They do not have access to legal aid or the asylum procedure itself.

Normally, according to Greek law, people cannot be detained for more than 25 days for the purpose of registration. Once they are registered, they should be freed from detention. Many people are now detained for much longer than those 25 days without being registered. About 7000 people are currently detained since the EU-Turkey deal.

The Afghans have sometimes gotten documents for legal stay for 30 days and the Syrians and Iraqis have gotten those documents for 6 months (a document that just says that they are being tolerated). They have not gotten any legal assistance nor access to social services during this period. These people don’t know whether they will be allowed to travel on to the mainland.

Possibly all asylum requests will be denied because Turkey will be designated as a safe third country (the applications will them be declared inadmissible). The first judgments from the courts about Turkey being a safe third country are expected soon. These decisions should have been taken within two days, but it has now already taken 15 days without any news. The persons whom it concerns are all being detained. The decisions in first instance have been taken by an EASO expert from Germany (probably from Frankfurt, it has been said that there had been a lot of complaints against this person in Germany). It all concerns people that have not been registered in Turkey, but have just traveled through there.

It is possible to give legal assistance, but this needs to be organized well. When the interviews are being held by EASO officers, why not have international lawyers for legal assistance? At the courts, this wouldn’t be possible, because the appeals need to be signed by a Greek lawyer. The decisions are now taken in English, the interviews are also being held in English. If you want to get a ‘power of attorney’ from a client, this sometimes takes a full day to arrange. There are hundreds of asylum seekers, so there are way too little lawyers available.

During the procedures in second instance, there is suspensive effect to the legal remedies. When there is a judgment from the Greek court, the lawyers will go to the ECHR to ask for a Rule 39 as soon as possible. Pro Asyl is currently paying for legal assistance for some people that are being detained right now. There are about 3 to 4 lawyers working on Lesbos for a total of 3000 people. Nobody wants to put money to legal assistance, all the money currently goes to accommodation etc.

The Procedures Directive has not been implemented correctly in Greece, as there is no compensation for legal aid in the second instance. The procedure itself costs about 600 euro. The lawyers who are working in Lesbos belong to different NGO’s. The procedure is mainly a written procedure, there are usually no hearings. In a detention procedure where someone was being held in detention without a decision underlying the detention, the case was being dismissed as inadmissible, because there was no decision and the court ruled that the criteria for lodging a case hadn’t been met.

In the decisions that are being taken now no legal arguments are being given whatsoever. For detention it is, for instance, necessary that advice has been asked from the Asylum Service, but in practice this never happens.

A lot of people find themselves ‘in limbo’ à in detention without any rights, without any access to legal assistance.

Legal aid for asylum seekers

The main problem is not only the lack of lawyers, but also the lack of information. The volunteers in Greece are able and willing to distribute information (on internet, through flyers). In Piraeus many people were being threatened with detention. This was fought against by providing the information that the asylum seekers should apply for asylum, so that they couldn’t be detained or deported. Unfortunately, the next day the access to these people for lawyers was not granted anymore.

Social groups have functioned as a mediator. Appointments for asylum applications need to be made through Skype, but there is no one behind the computer to answer. There are certain time slots for each language and country of origin. This has to be done from the camps / hotspots and this is being used as an excuse to lure people into the camps. A group of Afghans was told that they would get a paper granting legal stay in Greece for 30 days if they would go to the camp. This paper was just written by a police officer and stamped by him. People that were convinced got into the bus and were transported to the camps without any security or guarantee.

Legal aid for helpers of the asylum seekers

A man that helped asylum seekers to arrive safely from sea to Greece is being prosecuted for the help to illegals. The same counts for many people that have offered help to asylum seekers in Greece (that helped with squatting, getting medical care for asylum seekers, etc.).

The profile of the asylum seekers has changed: only a third are Syrians. There are a lot of women and children coming, including many unaccompanied minors (it is totally unclear what happens to them; it concerns f.i. 13-year old girls from Iraq).

Posted on

On Migration

The Bureau of the association of European Democratic Lawyers (AED-EDL), meeting in Athens on May 7th, 2016, in view of the flagrant violation of fundamental rights by member states of the EU as well as by the Greek state and of the constant influx of people in need of International Protection, has decided to release the following statement:

 

  1. The closure of EU borders, which encourages all types of mafia and forces people to risk their lives to reach Europe, is absolutely contrary to the fundamental principles recognized in the Declaration of Human Rights and Right to Asylum and the Geneva Convention signed by all member states. Similarly, the closure of European Borders is contrary to European norms.
  1. The absence of a humanitarian corridor to enable the safe passage of those forced into migration as well as the absence of application of legal remedies to this situation demonstrates absolute disregard for human life and respect of international law.
  1. The lack of foresight and the foot-dragging in the implementation of the Schengen visa norms means that thousands of people must entrust their destinies to the mafia while risking their lives and integrity to access the European territory. Meanwhile current regulations already exist to ensure access to the protection of asylum.
  1. The stasis of the EU institutions and the passivity of Member states are unsustainable. They constitute a direct attack to the founding principles of European solidarity and mutual support amongst Member States.
  1. The declaration of Turkey as the first safe country for asylum means the bankruptcy of the right to asylum. The asylum procedure in Greece is currently inexistent; people are kept in detention while their request is pending. They are deprived of their liberty while in most cases their application cannot be filed. And if applications are submitted, they are systematically denied on the grounds that Turkey is considered a safe haven. Expulsions are being made without the slightest guarantee: legal counselling, interpreters, a suspensive procedure ensuring the thorough study of the case, without any guarantees that Turkey will not push them back …
  1. The European Agenda for Migration created by the Commission in May 2015, continues to focus on policies of expulsion, detention and criminalization of displaced people. The common European system is still based on the application of the Dublin III Regulation, and is currently in the process of further modification. This set of mechanisms of European policy has already shown its ineffectiveness.
  1. As an association of European lawyers’ associations, involved in defending the rights of all people and thus in the same way of forced migrants who reach the external borders of the EU, we demand:

  • The scrupulous respect for the right of asylum enshrined in international law.

  • The opening of safe transit routes for people fleeing.

  • Unlocking the granting of visas for humanitarian reasons and as well as diplomatic asylum.

  • The revocation of the EU-Turkey agreement, which is expulsing displaced people outside European borders to a State that does not fully respect human rights.

  • The formulation of a European immigration policy on the basis of integration, the recognition of the right to migration and the gradual European integration hubs, recognition of the right to migrate and gradual equal rights and duties with other EU citizens.

 

Athens, May 7, 2016

Posted on

Letters to Turkey

The AED has sent some letters and is now waiting for an answer!

Here is the text of the letter, addressed to the minister of Justice, the President of the Bar association, the ambassador of France in Turkey and the French minister of foreign affairs:

Le 16 mars 2016, à l’aube, neuf avocats turcs ont été interpellés à Istanbul et placés en garde à vue par la police qui a perquisitionné leurs domiciles ou leurs bureaux.

Il s’agit de Ramazan DEMIR, Iffan ARASAN, Ayse ACINIKLI, Hüsein BOGATEKIN, Sefik CELIK, Adem CALISCI, Ayse BASAR, Tamer DOGAN et Mustafa RÜZGAR.

Ces neuf avocats sont tous membres de l’équipe de Défense de 46 autres avocats turcs poursuivis depuis 2012 dans le cadre d’un procès dit KCK2, pour avoir participé à la défense d’un opposant notoire.

Leur interpellation a eu lieu, sans que les motifs en soient connus, la veille de l’audience du procès KCK2 fixée au 17 mars 2016 et à laquelle ils devaient plaider pour leurs confrères.

Leur maintien en garde à vue les a empêchés de remplir leur mission de défense et le procès a dû être renvoyé au 28 juin 2016.

A l’issue du délai de garde à vue et après 13 heures d’interrogatoires et de plaidoiries, ils ont été relâchés le samedi 19 mars, par décision du tribunal mais contre l’avis du Procureur.

Sur appel du Procureur, le 23 mars un autre juge a estimé fondée leur détention provisoire et décerné un mandat d’arrêt contre 4 d’entre eux.

Deux d’entre eux, Hüssein BOGATEKIN et Ayse BASAR ont été immédiatement interpellés et mis en détention.

Ils ont été libérés par la Cour d’Appel le 1er Avril suivant.

Mais le 6 avril, deux autres avocats étaient interpellés et mis en détention : Ramazan DEMIR et Ayse ACINIKLI.

Nous apprenons que leur appel vient d’être rejeté.

Il semble que les principaux griefs invoqués à l’encontre de ces avocats pour justifier ces mesures, soient liés à leur participation à la défense d’opposants notamment de manifestants du parc de GEZI, au dépôt de requêtes auprès de la CEDH, et à la participation à des conférences internationales, ces agissements constituant le dénigrement de l’Etat et la Nation turcs.

Il apparaît donc que ces avocats sont poursuivis, en totale violation des règles et accords internationaux qui régissent la Profession, pour avoir exercé leur mission de défense et leur liberté de parole et qu’ils sont assimilés à leurs clients, ce qui est inacceptable.

Nous vous rappelons que les pouvoirs publics doivent veiller à ce que les avocats ne soient pas assimilés à leurs clients, ou à la cause de leurs clients, du fait de l’exercice de leurs fonctions.

C’est pourquoi nous vous demandons d’intervenir de toute urgence pour que Ramazan DEMIR et Ayse ACINIKLI soient remis immédiatement en liberté et que soit reconnu et protégé, en TURQUIE, le Droit à la Défense pour tous, fondement d’un procès équitable.

Nous vous remercions de votre réponse à notre demande et vous prions d’agréer, Monsieur le Ministre, l’expression de notre respectueuse considération.

Posted on

Report: Lawyer’s Delegation to Kurdistan (jan.2016)

From 21 to 24 of January 2016, a delegation of 10 lawyers from Austria, Belgium, Germany and Italy visited Diyarbakır, Turkey. The mission was coordinated by two European lawyers’ organizations—the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) and European Democratic Lawyers (EDL)—and the Unione delle Camere Penali Italiane. It was supported by the ÇHD (Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği) (Contemporary) Progressive Lawyers Association.

Here is their account of the situation.

The delegation submits that there is strong evidence that the Turkish authorities who order(ed) and implement(ed) the curfews may have committed offences against humanity pursuant to Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code.

 

Further, the committed crimes amount to a collective punishment39 against all inhabitants of the areas under curfew and the security zones. Civilians are to be protected under all circumstances.

 

The delegation concludes that further investigations must be conducted to hold those accountable for the crimes committed.

Posted on

Titiriteros- Puppeteers

The AED fully sustains ALA in its work- it has denounced the Judge Ismael Moreno who ordered the detention of three puppeteers as preventive measure.

titiriteros

Read the news article in Diagonal here

and

titiriteros2

read the opinion of ALA here