Turkey Regional Action Network
March 2011
(1) Turkey Blog
Amnesty USA website has two informative
blog articles on updated Turkey’s human
rights issues. They are written by two
Turkey Country Specialists: Dr. William
Jones and Dr. Howard Eissenstat.
Dr. Jones’ blog article is about the recent
imprisonment of journalists on charges of
“involvement in a conspiracy allegedly
designed to overthrow the Government”
(http://blog.amnestyusa.org/escr/freedom-
of-the-press-not-in-turkey/).
Dr. Eissenstat wrote about the recent
discovery of mass graves in the
Southeastern Turkey, and the Turkish
government’s unwillingness to bring justice
(http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-
east/mass-graves-and-state-silence-in-
turkey/).
tvw tvwtvw tvw
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(2) Halil Savda Faces Another
Imprisonment
In our previous February newsletter,
TURKRAN demanded the unconditional
release of conscientious objector, Halil
Savda. Unfortunately, Savda's 5-month
sentence under Article 318 of the Turkish
Penal Code for "alienating the public from
military service" has been confirmed by the
Supreme Court of Appeals. This is the end
of the process in Turkey, and he will serve
100 days in prison.
Amnesty International (AI) has long been
critical of Article 318, calling the Turkish
authority to immediately repeal. AI has long
concerned with the increasing pattern of
judicial harassment of human rights
defenders and journalists amongst others.
AI considers Article 318 a direct and
unlawful limitation of the right to freedom
of expression resulting in unfair
prosecutions in cases such as Savda’s.
Savda along with 18 others were arrested in
support of Enver Aydemir, a conscientious
objector, who has been detained since
December 24, 2010.
Furthermore, Article 318 is in breach of
Article 10 of the European Convention of
Human Rights (ECHR) and Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), which provide the right to
freedom of expression, conscience and
religion to which Turkey is a signatory.
Savda also faces another criminal charges
for publically supporting conscientious
objectors under Article 318. The other
incident took place in August 2006, when
Savda was arrested after he gave a public
statement in support of two Israeli
conscientious objectors, Itzik Shabbat and
Amir Paster, at a press conference outside
the Israeli embassy in Istanbul. Itzik
Shabbat and Amir Paster were refusing to
participate in the 34-day war between Israel
and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. The
indictment was issued against Savda in May
2007 and trial proceedings continued until
June 2008, when he was sentenced to five
months in prison under Article 318 of the
Turkish Penal Code. His case was reviewed
on January 24, 2011.
AI considers a conscientious objector to be
any person who, for reasons of conscience
or profound conviction, refuses to perform
service in the armed forces, or any other
direct or indirect participation in wars or
armed conflicts. This can include refusal to
participate in a war because one disagrees
with its aims or the manner in which it is
being waged, even if one does not oppose
taking part in all wars.
In 2004, aged 30, Halil Savda declared
himself a conscientious objector, because of
his strong commitment to human welfare
and dignity and his opposition to all wars
and compulsory military service. In an
interview with the UK newspaper the
Guardian in April 2009, he stated: “Through
my rejection to military service, I said ‘no’
to the conflict that has been going on
between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)
and the Turkish armed forces for the last 25
years. I sent the message to the people of
Turkey not to join the army or the guerrillas
through my conscientious objection. While
strengthening my search for freedom
through my conscientious objection, I gave
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the message that security of life can only be
realized through detaching violence from it.
I believe that we need to go beyond
violence and that a culture of non-violence
should flourish.”
Although Savda was already detained on
four occasions serving total of 17 months in
military prison over the last five years,
Savda repeatedly said that he would not
stop speaking out for the right to
conscientious objection to compulsory
military service in Turkey where there is no
civilian alternative.
Amnesty International considers Halil
Savda to be a Prisoner of Conscience;
as soon as we learn more campaign
details, we will be asking you to take
action on his behalf.
Other resources:
Public Statement. Turkey: Human Rights
Defender Halil Savda Faces Imprisonment
Again in Turkey (March 14, 2011. AI Index:
EUR44/002/2011)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EU
R44/002/2011/en
Public Statement. Peaceful Protesters
Convicted for ‘Alienating the Public from
Military Service’ in Turkey (June 21, 2010.
AI Index: EUR 44/016/2010)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EU
R44/016/2010/en
Public Statement. Conscientious Objection is
a Human Right not a Personal Disorder
(June 10, 2010. AI Index: EUR
44/013/2010)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EU
R44/013/2010/en
A Conscientious Objector in Turkey (April
16, 2009. The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/
16/turkey-human-rights