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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH URGES TURKEY TO RECONSIDER OMBUDSMAN APPOINTMENT
http://www.armradio.am/en/2012/12/11/human-rights-watch-urges-turkey-to-reconsider-ombudsman-appointment/
12:30 11.12.2012
The judge recently appointed as the chief ombudsman of Turkey's newly
created ombudsman institution has a history of failing to respect
human rights standards, and his appointment risks the effectiveness
of the new institution.
Mehmet Nihat Omeroglu was sworn in by Parliament as head of the
ombudsman institution on December 5, 2012. The body was approved by
parliament in June but has not yet been established. Omeroglu was
among the judges in the Court of Cassation, Turkey's highest court,
who in 2006 upheld the conviction of the Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink for "insulting Turkishness" under the notorious article
301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Over the past week he has publicly
stated to the newspaper Yeni Safak that Dink's writing "constituted
a clear violation of article 301" and to the newspaper Radikal that
"[we] made our decision on this case on the basis of our conscience."
"The newly appointed ombudsman continues to stand behind a court
decision that the European Court of Human Rights strongly condemned as
a violation of free speech," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher
for Turkey at Human Rights Watch. "If the government is serious about
creating an ombudsman institution that champions citizens' rights,
it should reconsider this appointment."
Omeroglu was sworn in a week after the majority of members of
parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) voted
for his appointment over two other candidates.
The decision to convict Dink targeted his writing on the impact
on Armenians of the mass killings in 1915. Dink was assassinated
in January 2007. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found
Turkey to have violated Dink's right to freedom of expression with the
article 301 conviction, and to have failed to protect Dink's life in
the face of evidence known to the authorities that Dink faced a real
and imminent threat in the form of plots to kill him.
The ombudsman will be separate from the National Human Rights
Institution, which the government has also made a commitment to
establish. While the ombudsman can provide an important mechanism
to investigate citizens' complaints against state officials and
institutions, its effectiveness will depend on the person leading
it and the way its powers are used, Human Rights Watch said. The
ombudsman law provides for the creation of an "independent and
effective complaints mechanism" to scrutinize "all kinds of activities
by the authorities and their conduct" and to investigate, research, and
make recommendations in conformity with "an understanding of justice
based on human rights." The law provides for five ombudsmen to work
under the chief ombudsman, a general secretary, and other personnel.
However, the law also states that the ombudsman institution is excluded
from scrutiny over "solely military activities of the Turkish Armed
Forces." Following his visit to Turkey from November 26 to 30, Christof
Heyns, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary,
or arbitrary executions, spoke of the risk that the provision could
exclude the military from "human rights scrutiny."
"The concern is that the ombudsman will not be allowed to scrutinize
the military, even when they are implicated in serious human rights
abuses," Sinclair-Webb said. "Given the track record of the military
in Turkey, it is vital not to use this provision to shield the military
from being investigated."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2012/12/11/human-rights-watch-urges-turkey-to-reconsider-ombudsman-appointment/
12:30 11.12.2012
The judge recently appointed as the chief ombudsman of Turkey's newly
created ombudsman institution has a history of failing to respect
human rights standards, and his appointment risks the effectiveness
of the new institution.
Mehmet Nihat Omeroglu was sworn in by Parliament as head of the
ombudsman institution on December 5, 2012. The body was approved by
parliament in June but has not yet been established. Omeroglu was
among the judges in the Court of Cassation, Turkey's highest court,
who in 2006 upheld the conviction of the Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink for "insulting Turkishness" under the notorious article
301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Over the past week he has publicly
stated to the newspaper Yeni Safak that Dink's writing "constituted
a clear violation of article 301" and to the newspaper Radikal that
"[we] made our decision on this case on the basis of our conscience."
"The newly appointed ombudsman continues to stand behind a court
decision that the European Court of Human Rights strongly condemned as
a violation of free speech," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher
for Turkey at Human Rights Watch. "If the government is serious about
creating an ombudsman institution that champions citizens' rights,
it should reconsider this appointment."
Omeroglu was sworn in a week after the majority of members of
parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) voted
for his appointment over two other candidates.
The decision to convict Dink targeted his writing on the impact
on Armenians of the mass killings in 1915. Dink was assassinated
in January 2007. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found
Turkey to have violated Dink's right to freedom of expression with the
article 301 conviction, and to have failed to protect Dink's life in
the face of evidence known to the authorities that Dink faced a real
and imminent threat in the form of plots to kill him.
The ombudsman will be separate from the National Human Rights
Institution, which the government has also made a commitment to
establish. While the ombudsman can provide an important mechanism
to investigate citizens' complaints against state officials and
institutions, its effectiveness will depend on the person leading
it and the way its powers are used, Human Rights Watch said. The
ombudsman law provides for the creation of an "independent and
effective complaints mechanism" to scrutinize "all kinds of activities
by the authorities and their conduct" and to investigate, research, and
make recommendations in conformity with "an understanding of justice
based on human rights." The law provides for five ombudsmen to work
under the chief ombudsman, a general secretary, and other personnel.
However, the law also states that the ombudsman institution is excluded
from scrutiny over "solely military activities of the Turkish Armed
Forces." Following his visit to Turkey from November 26 to 30, Christof
Heyns, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary,
or arbitrary executions, spoke of the risk that the provision could
exclude the military from "human rights scrutiny."
"The concern is that the ombudsman will not be allowed to scrutinize
the military, even when they are implicated in serious human rights
abuses," Sinclair-Webb said. "Given the track record of the military
in Turkey, it is vital not to use this provision to shield the military
from being investigated."