Mehmet Tarhan win his demands and ends his hunger strike
Payday, 3 November 2005

We have just received news from Turkey that imprisoned gay conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan has won most of his demands and come off his hunger strike after 34 days.

Mehmet Tarhan had been on hunger strike since September 30, following the forcible and violent shaving of his hair and beard, to protest against the unjust and arbitrary practices of the prison authorities.

His supporters in Turkey, spearheaded by Initiative for solidarity with Mehmet Tarhan also tell us that the Military Court of Appeal has just overruled his 4-year sentence on procedural grounds.  It is now expected that he will be tried again by Sivas Military Court on charges of "insistent insubordination before the [military] unit, with the intent of evading military service altogether." 

Further information will follow.

Four years imprisonment
Historical punishment for Mehmet Tarhan
By Istanbul Initiative for Solidarity with Mehmet Tarhan, 11 August 2005

Conscientious Objector (CO) Mehmet Tarhan, whose trial has been going on for over 4,5 months already by the Military Court of Justice, has been imprisoned to a historical punishment. In the court hearing that joined two seperate claims that are namely "Insubordination before command" and "Insubordination before command for trying to escape from military service" pursuant Art. 88 of the Turkish Penal Military Code, Mehmet Tarhan was sentenced to a four (4) years of jail, 2 years from each claim.

Sivas Military Court of Justice has not yet declared the justification for the decision. Suna Coskun, attorney of Mehmet Tarhan, expressed that this is the toughest imprisonment decision taken in Turkey towards CO's and explained that right after the declaration of the justification for the sentence, they will appeal to The Supreme Court of military appeals for cassation. "Mehmet can not be deported from Sivas until the justification is declared" told Suna Coskun and expressed that Mehmet is in good health, good mood and received the decision in a dignified tone.

It is expressed that for Mehmet Tarhan, who has been in good health during the hearing, the execution of the jail sentence will last for 19 months in military prison.

Mehmet Tarhan’s statement at his trial
 

Payday Action Alert: 
Turkish conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan,
held illegally, wins rights in prison, 
on trial again 4 August 2005

Report: Protests in London, New York and Venice on 12 July 2005

Dear sisters and brothers,

We recently sent you Action Alerts urging support for Mehmet Tarhan, a conscientious objector and a gay man, detained since 8 April in the military prison of Sivas (Turkey), where he has been brutally attacked ( http://www.refusingtokill.net/Turkey/ReleaseMehmet.htm ).

When Mr Tarhan appeared before a military court on 9 June, the judge released him – a great victory, including for the international movement that is supporting him.  But the military immediately detained him again, in open violation of international law, and sent him back to Sivas military prison.  He now faces another trial on 4 August, so your support is urgently needed now, to insist that all the charges against Mr Tarhan be dropped and that he be released immediately from jail.

Mr Tarhan went on a 28-day hunger-strike in protest against his treatment in prison, and on 21 June won his demands: a cell of his own to protect him from abuse by other prisoners, to receive his mail regularly, access to books, to make his own tea, a TV, and an examination by civilian physicians who visited him and declared him in good health.  The necessary treatment following his hunger strike has now begun.¹

So far we have received copies of protest letters to the Turkish authorities from Argentina, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, UK and US.  Notably, Stephen Funk, a gay man who was the first US soldier to publicly refuse to serve in Iraq, wrote to the Turkish government (http://www.refusingtokill.net/Turkey/MehmetFunkLetter.htm ).  And there have been demonstrations in Frankfurt and Athens. On 12 July, day of a court hearing, Payday and Wages Due Lesbians organised protests in front of the Turkish embassy and consulates in London, New York and Venice.

We, and others, have lobbied Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), and many have declared their support.  Given the negotiations for Turkey’s entry into the European Union, MEPs’ intervention is crucial in securing Mr Tarhan’s safety. 

In Turkey there have been marches for Mr Tarhan on Harbiye military and Incirlik air bases; banners, flyers and chanting at May day rallies in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Malatya; readings from his prison letter at the Izmir anti-militarism festival; letter writing campaigns; press conferences/demonstrations; and support in the court itself.  Many organizations are involved: antimilitarists, lesbian & gay, women’s and human rights groups, anarchists.  We must not forget that behind the persecution of brother Tarhan are the immense, and hidden, number of draft evaders – 350,000 – many refusing to serve in Turkey’s war against Kurdish people.²

Mehmet Tarhan and his supporters in Turkey need to know that people are organising internationally to protect his life and have his right to conscientious objection upheld.  We urge you to write letters or postcards to:

Mehmet Tarhan, 5. Piyade Egitim Tugayi, Askeri Cezaevi, Temeltepe – Sivas, Turkey

Finally, we urge you to write (again) to the Turkish authorities, pressing for his immediate and unconditional release.  We rely on him continuing his determined campaign against war, free from restriction and persecution.

¹ War Resisters International, CO-alert, 22 June 2005
² Quaker Council for European Affairs: The Right to Conscientious Objection in Europe: A Review of the Current Situation, 2005.

MODEL LETTER

28 June 2005
To:
General Staff
Presidency of Turkey Republic
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Minister of the Interior Abdulkadir Aksu
Minister for Justice Cemil Çiçek 
Sivas Military Prison

Re: Conscientious Objector Mehmet Tarhan, illegally detained by Turkish army

We write to you about Mehmet Tarhan, a gay man and conscientious objector, detained since 8 April in the military prison of Sivas, Turkey.  Encouraged by prison staff, other prisoners have repeatedly beaten, humiliated and threatened Mr Tarhan with death, even in front of his lawyer. When Mr Tarhan went before the military court on June 9, he could not walk properly and his body was covered in bruises.

As you know, the judge released Mr Tarhan because he had ”already spent two months in prison, which is about the time he would have to serve in prison if finally sentenced”¹. However, he was returned to detention, first to Sivas military hospital, and then to Sivas military prison.

Mr Tarhan should never have been jailed in the first place.  It is a scandal that he had to go on hunger strike for 28 days in order to win elementary human rights like equal treatment with, and protection from, other prisoners, and examination and treatment by independent doctors.

The Turkish military and civilian authorities must guarantee his safety.  An independent inquiry must establish who is responsible for inciting and perpetrating violent acts against Mr Tarhan while in detention, and they must be brought to justice. 

We are outraged to hear that Mr Tarhan, having again refused to serve, is to be put on trial a second time, on 12 July(deferred to 4 August).

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in the case of another Turkish conscientious objector, Osman Murat Ulke, stated that any detention of a conscientious objector after an initial detention following a first act of refusal is "arbitrary, being contrary to article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"³.

Mr Tarhan is exercising his right to conscientious objection under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Turkey is a party.  And the Committee of Ministers to Member States of the Council of Europe Regarding Conscientious Objection to Compulsory Military Service states that, "Anyone liable to conscription for military service who, for compelling reasons of conscience, refuses to be involved in the use of arms, shall have the right to be released from the obligation to perform such service”⁴. 

This cycle of detention, torture, trial, mock release and detention is illegal and must be stopped.  The judge’s ruling of 9 June must be upheld.

Mr Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement Policy of the European Union, has pledged to take up Mr Tarhan’s case.  Other MEPs, including Michael Cashman, the President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights, Caroline Lucas from the Greens and Vittorio Agnoletto from the United Left have already made representations to the Turkish government.  Amnesty International considers Mehmet Tarhan to be a prisoner of conscience.

We demand the immediate recognition of conscientious objector status and unconditional release for Mehmet Tarhan and all other Turkish conscientious objectors, including Ersan Ugur Gor, Erdem Yalcinkaya, Mustafa Seyhoglu and Hasan Cimen who were arrested following Mr Tarhan’s trial.
 
Yours for refusing to kill,

Dean Kendall                     Michael Kalmanovitz
Payday US                        Payday UK

¹ War Resisters International, CO-alert, 10 June 2005
² Suna Coşkun, Mehmet Tarhan’s lawyer, at 17 June 2005 press conference
³ Opinion 36/1999
⁴ Recommendation No. R (87) 8

CC:
Olli Rehn, Commissioner for enlargement policy of the European Union
Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
Trevor Stevens, Executive Secretary, Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Council of Europe
Michael Cashman MEP, President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights
Adamos Adamou MEP, Vittorio Agnoletto MEP, Giovanni Berlinguer MEP, Fausto Bertinotti MEP, Emma Bonino MEP, Paulo Casaca MEP, Giulietto Chiesa MEP, Daniel Cohn-Bendit MEP, Richard Falbr MEP, Massimo D’Alema MEP, Antonio Di Pietro MEP, Hélène Flautre MEP, Monica Frassoni MEP, Lili Gruber MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Enrico Letta MEP, Caroline Lucas MEP , Helmuth Markov MEP, Erik Meijer MEP, Luisa Morgantini MEP, Roberto Musacchio MEP , Marco Pannella MEP, Dimitris Papadimoulis MEP, Miguel Portas MEP, Tobias Pflüger MEP, Miloslav Ransdorf MEP,  Raul Romeva MEP, Heide Ruehle MEP, Eva-Britt Svensson MEP, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides MEP, Gabi Zimmer MEP.