Arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial: UN experts
find Turkey violated human rights
GENEVA (29 May 2019) — Two
Turkish men living in Malaysia were arbitrarily detained and deprived of their
right to a fair trial after they were extradited to Turkey and held incommunicado,
the United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded in a decision published
today in Geneva. The finding came in response to a complaint submitted to the
Committee by the victims.
The full decision is available to read on-line.
In May 2017, Malaysian police detained
two men who the Turkish authorities considered to be connected to the Gülen
movement. The men were rendered to Turkey without an extradition hearing or a
judicial decision, and held in incommunicado detention at an unknown location.
They were transferred to Denizli prison in June 2017, where they remain under a
court order issued following their initial detention period.
The men claimed a violation of their
right to be free from arbitrary detention, as protected by article 9 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The victims submitted their complaints
to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, an independent expert body
composed of 18 international human rights experts. In 2006, Turkey ratified the Optional Protocol
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which gives the
Committee the mandate to examine individual allegations of human rights
violations.
The Committee considered, among other
factors, the length of time between the victims’ arrests and their appearance
before a judge, the lack of evidence demonstrating that the victims had been
informed of the charges against them, and the limited evidence submitted by the
Government of Turkey to justify their detention.
People detained in the context of a
state of emergency have a right to a fair trial. This includes the right to
know the reason for their detention, to be promptly brought before a judge, to
have access to a lawyer and for their families to know where they are and to be
able to see them. In addition, during pre-trial detention, people are entitled
to have their cases periodically re-examined by a judge or other judicial
authority.
In its decision, the Committee
requested Turkey to report back within 180 days detailing the measures the
country has taken to remedy the situation.
ENDS
Background
The Human Rights Committee monitors States parties’ adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, which to date has
172 States parties. The Committee is made up of 18 members who are independent human rights experts
drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as
representatives of States parties.
Its Optional Protocol, which to date
has 116 States parties,
establishes the right of individuals to complain to the Committee against
States which violated their human rights. The Optional Protocol imposes an
international legal obligation on State parties to comply in good faith with
the Committee’s Views. Further information on the individual complaints procedures before the Committees.
Learn more with our videos on the Treaty Body system and on the Human Rights Committee!
For media requests, please contact
Julia Grønnevet in Geneva at +41 22 917 9310/jgronnevet@ohchr.org.
Follow the UN human rights office on social media! We are on
Twitter @UNHumanRights,
Facebook @unitednationshumanrights
and
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar