Sunday, March 20, 2016

Academics for Peace: The Court's Arrest Decision

Three academics who signed the "Peace Petition" are in prison under the allegation that they conducted terrorism propaganda. In our March 18, 2016 blog entry, we have exposed a conspiracy-theory-like article published in a pro-government website that the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office has taken as a criminal complaint, which eventually led to the arrest of Muzaffer Kaya (Nisantasi University--terminated for having signed the Peace Petition), Esra Mungan (Bogazici University) and Kıvanç Ersoy (Mimar Sinan University). A closer look at the court's decision to arrest the academics suffices to show how the court appears to have taken this decision because the academics did not criticize PKK in the "Peace Petition" and called their government for accountability on the escalating violence instead.

The court decision asserts that the Turkish "state acts in self-defense when it undertakes operations to end armed attacks by terrorists [...]. To describe these operations as 'massacres' while making no mention of the terrorists who are in fact responsible for the violence is evidence that the signatories share the views and support the actions of the terrorist organization. The court concludes that the petition must be understood in this light as a form of support for terrorist activities. As a consequence, there is substantial evidence that the suspects committed the crime of which they are accused." 

Apparently, according to the court, the fact that the ruling party AKP (together with the Turkish nationalist party MHP) blocked a parliamentary investigation of the ISIS-led suicide bombing in Suruc on July 20, 2015, and that instead of conducting an investigation, it chose to bomb PKK camps--and thus unilaterally ending the peace process, is not reason enough to call AKP for accountability. Neither does it seem to matter that had the AKP not block the investigation, perhaps the bloody Ankara bombing in October 2015 (that resulted in the loss of 102 lives) might have been prevented. The October Ankara bombing was apparently instigated by the same ISIS cell as the Suruc bombing. The bombing target there was a Peace Rally in Ankara asking for a return to the peace negotiations. Further, it also doesn't seem to matter that such state policies should be accounted for, especially considering the images that demonstrate the scale of destruction as a result of what the court calls a self-defense, in addition to the loss of lives of civilians and kids.

The Arrest Decision Ruled by the Court

Overall, as the Human Rights Watch has noted, the fact of the matter is that three academics are in prison for having signed a petition calling their government for accountability, for maintaining a critical stance against their government's Kurdish policies and asking for peace.

Academics for Peace--The Arrest Decision Ordered by the Court in English Translation:

1. Concerning the allegations against suspects Muzaffer Kaya, Esra Mungan and Kıvanç Ersoy of committing the crime of Engaging in Propaganda for a Terrorist Organization: a request has been submitted for the detention of each of the suspects. According to the investigative file in this case, following the shooting of two police officers in the back by the PKK terrorist organization on 22 July 2015, in the town of Ceylanpınar in the province of Şanlıurfa, the PKK increased its activities and attacks. To facilitate the continuation of its activities, the PKK has blocked security services’ access to whole neighborhoods by digging trenches at the entrance of neighborhoods and streets and building barricades; terrorists have attacked security forces with rocket launchers and automatic rifles; and PKK affiliates have proclaimed different localities to be self-governing on different dates. In this context, BESE HOZAT, a co-chair of the executive committee of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization issued a public call through the media that “Enlightened and democratic circles should support these self-governments.” Following this declaration, security services’ access to those areas that had been declared so-called “self-governments” was blocked by the building of barricades, the digging of trenches and booby-trapping the streets with explosives. In its effort to re-establish security in these zones, the government imposed a curfew and initiated military operations. During these operations a large number of members of terrorist organizations were eliminated, barricades were removed, trenches were covered, large numbers of explosives were disposed of, and large numbers of guns and munitions were seized. While these operations were ongoing, on 11 January 2016, “1128” persons, including the suspects, published a statement under the heading “We will not be party to this crime!” The statement included the following claims: “The Turkish state has effectively condemned its citizens in Sur, Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and many other towns and neighborhoods in the Kurdish provinces to hunger through its use of curfews that have been ongoing for weeks. It has attacked these settlements with heavy weapons and equipment that would only be mobilized in wartime. As a result, the right to life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have been violated. Describing the commission of deliberate and planned massacre … the adoption of policies of massacre and deliberate deportation, the commission by the state against its own citizens of violence and massacre, as academics and researchers we will not be a party to this massacre.” This statement constitutes support for the PKK terrorist organization and its timing suggests that it was undertaken in parallel to PKK member Bese Hozat’s public demand [for support of self-governments]. The PKK’s continuing armed attacks, which were the cause of the violence in this period, were a matter of public record yet the statement does not mention, criticize or condemn the PKK, a fact that underscores the degree to which this statement appears designed to support the activities of the terrorist organization. After the publication of the statement, the suspects convened a press conference to read aloud the text again and use the media to repeat the claims in the statement, which under the pretext of supposedly calling for peace was in fact a form of propaganda for a terrorist organization. Following this statement, all terrorist organizations and the PKK terrorist organization have continued their activities, accelerating assaults against the lives and property of all citizens without regard to whether their targets are soldiers, police officers or civilians. These attacks represent a grave threat to peace and security in the country. However much the suspects and their supporters defend the statement under the rubric of freedom of expression, it is clear that similar activities are addressed through counter-terrorism measures in Europe. European states have responded to similar terrorist threats by taking all necessary measures against those who commit attacks and anyone that has the slightest relationship to such attackers including armed operations against terrorists and those affiliated with terrorists until such individuals are neutralized. The state’s most basic obligation is to protect the rights of life and security for all of its citizens. The state is acting in self-defense when it undertakes operations to end armed attacks by terrorists who threaten these rights. To describe these operations as “massacres” while making no mention of the terrorists who are in fact responsible for the violence is evidence that the signatories share the views and support the actions of the terrorist organization. The court concludes that the petition must be understood in this light as a form of support for terrorist activities. As a consequence, there is substantial evidence that the suspects committed the crime of which they are accused. In light of the importance and seriousness of the alleged crime, the minimum and maximum punishment prescribed by law, the absence of any grounds precluding arrest or trial under Article 100 et seq. of the Turkish Criminal Code, and the risk that the suspects might try to escape in light of the seriousness of the punishment they face, and giving due consideration to principles of “proportionality,” the suspects are ordered arrested on the grounds that the investigation is continuing and that the suspects represent a flight risk.

The court orders that: The suspects Muzaffer Kaya, Esra Mungan, and Kıvanç Ersoy be arrested in keeping with Article 100 et seq. of the Turkish Criminal Code on suspicion of Engaging in Propaganda on behalf of a Terrorist Organization.