CCS has received a number of complaints concerning imprisonment and prosecution of Turkish academics that seem to lack due process and regard for freedom of expression in each case. Professors Haberal and Hilmioglu. still in jail and in ill health, have been threatened with life sentences. Pinar Selek, a writer and scholar, was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced in absentia to aggravated life imprisonment, based on charges that had been found to have been recanted by one court and reinstated by another. We are continuing to monitor other individual cases of academics in Turkey being penalized for expressing their opinion, while Amnesty reviews the totality of human rights situation in reports cited below and finds that Turkey is failing to live up to its obligations under international law.
- Click here to read our most recent letter about Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu.
- Click here for our letter about Pinar Selek
Learn More and Take Action
Turkey: Decriminalize Dissent: Time to Deliver on The Right to Freedom Of Expression, Amnesty International
Turkey’s War on Its Intellectuals, Amnesty International
Have you taken action yet? The time is now! Amnesty International
Our Previous Activities
His Excellency Abdullah Gül
President, Republic of Turkey
Office of the President
Cumhurbaşkanlığı 06689
Çankaya, Ankara , Republic of TurkeyMarch 11, 2013
Your Excellency:
We are an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
Last March 2011, we wrote in concern for Drs. Mehmet Haberal, the former rector of Baskent University in Ankara, who pioneered transplant surgery in Turkey, and Fatih Hilmioglu, former rector of Inönü University in Malatya. They had been indicted on allegations of attempting to violently overthrow the government. Neither of these highly-respected academics are known to have been involved in any violent activity. In November of 2011 we transmitted a petition on their behalf signed by academics around the world.
Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu have now been detained for almost four years, since their arrests in April 2009. Dr. Haberal has angina, cardiac arrhythmia, and severe anxiety and depression. Dr. Hilmioglu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and reportedly is gravely ill.
We are concerned that these highly-respected academics appear to be held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, which is expressly prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a party. Furthermore, we understand that severely limiting their access to their attorneys and subjecting them to extremely lengthy legal proceedings have violated their rights to a fair trial under Turkish and international law.
In view of the fact that they were arrested for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, that their legal proceedings have been conducted in an improper manner, depriving them of fair trials, and that they are both seriously ill, we respectively request that Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu be released and permitted to continue their work in medical science for the benefit of the Turkish people to whom they have dedicated their lives.
Sincerely yours,
Eugene Chudnovsky
Alexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul PlotzCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Basbakanlik 06573
Ankara, Republic of TurkeyHis Excellency Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara,Republic of Turkey
(Fax: 90-312-419-33-70)His Excellency Besir Atalay
Minister of Interior
Ministry of Interior
T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı, Bakanlıklar
Ankara, Republic of TurkeyHis Excellency Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Disisleri Bakanligi
Dr. Sadik Ahmed Cad. No. 8
Balgat Ankara 06100His Excellency Nabi Şensoy
Ambassador of Turkey to the United States
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
2525 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008The Honorable James F. Jeffrey
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey
Embassy of the United States of America/Ankara
110 Atatürk Blvd.
Kavaklidere, 06100
Ankara, Republic of Turkey
His Excellency Abdullah Gül,
President
Office of the President
Cumhurbaşkanlığı 06689
Çankaya, Ankara , Republic of TurkeyMarch 27 , 2013
Your Excellency:
We are an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. We are writing now in concern for Ms. Pinar Selek, a Turkish citizen who is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Strasbourg. We have been informed that Ms. Selek was convicted in absentia on January 24, 2013, and sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for her alleged role in a 1998 explosion at an Istanbul market.Ms. Pınar Selek is a writer and scholar whose research and writing focuses on women in disadvantaged or marginalized groups, including street children, prostitutes, transgendered individuals, and Kurdish communities. We understand that because of her work with Kurdish populations, Ms. Selek was charged with “membership in an illegal organization” under Turkey’s Anti Terror Law, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization. Ms. Selek disavows the allegation that she is a member or otherwise associated with the PKK. We also have learned that the allegation linking Ms. Selek to the PKK was seriously discredited when the accuser recanted his statement in court, stating that he gave Ms. Selek’s name after being tortured.
Apparently, Ms. Selek was accused of acting as an accomplice in a 1998 explosion at the Istanbul Spice Bazaar due to her alleged ties to the PKK. After being detained in an Istanbul prison for more than two years and enduring torture, she was released following forensic testing that determined the blast was likely caused by a gas leak. The prosecution of Ms. Selek has continued, however, even though she was tried and acquitted of all charges on three occasions and all the prosecution’s witnesses have recanted their statements. It is our understanding that in November 2012, during the presiding judge’s leave of absence, the Istanbul 12th Heavy Criminal Court decided to review the case for a fourth time, found Ms. Selek guilty, and on January 24, 2013, sentenced her in absentia to aggravated life imprisonment. We have learned that an arrest warrant has since been issued for Ms. Selek and sent to Interpol.
We are concerned that Ms. Selek was charged as a result of her nonviolent activities as well as the associations she has made in the course of her academic research. These activities and associations are expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory, and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is party.
Therefore, we respectfully urge you to ensure that Ms. Selek receives a fair opportunity to appeal this recent sentence before an impartial tribunal, that any charges or convictions related to her academic activities are lifted, and that in the interim, her case is addressed in a manner consistent with internationally recognized standards of due process, fair trial and detention, in accordance with Turkey’s obligations under international law.
Sincerely yours,
Eugene Chudnovsky
Alexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul PlotzCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
High Representative Catherine Ashton
European Union EEAS
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.euHis Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Basbakanlik 06573
Ankara , Republic of TurkeyHis Excellency Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice 06669
Kizilay, Ankara ,Republic of Turkey
(Fax: 90-312-419-33-70)His Excellency Besir Atalay
Minister of Interior
Ministry of Interior
T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı, Bakanlıklar
Ankara, Republic of TurkeyHis Excellency Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Disisleri Bakanligi
Dr. Sadik Ahmed Cad. No. 8
Balgat Ankara 06100His Excellency Nabi Şensoy
Ambassador of Turkey to the United States
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
2525 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008The Honorable Francis J. Ricciardone Jr.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey
Embassy of the United States of America/
Ankara 110 Atatürk Blvd. Kavaklidere, 06100
Ankara, Republic of Turkey
