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UN experts urge Turkey to abide by human rights obligations tackling failed coup

Xinhua, July 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

A group of UN experts on Tuesday called on the Turkish government to abide by its international human rights obligations when dealing with the aftermath of the military coup attempt.

"In times of crisis, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is more essential than ever," they noted in a joint statement.

It was reported that within hours of the failed coup attempt, the Turkish High Council for Judges and Prosecutors suspended 2,745 judges and prosecutors of their functions.

Also hundreds of arrest warrants have allegedly been issued, resulting so far in the arrest of possibly up to 755 judges and prosecutors, including two judges of the Constitutional Court.

"We are particularly alarmed at the sheer number of judges and prosecutors who have reportedly been suspended and arrested since Saturday," the experts stressed in the statement.

"According to international law, judges can be suspended or removed only on serious grounds of misconduct or incompetence after fair proceedings," the statement added.

The experts, including UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, UN Special Rapporteur on summary or arbitrary executions, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion, and the Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, called on the authorities to release and reinstate these judges and prosecutors until credible allegations of wrong doing are properly investigated and evidenced.

The UN human rights experts also drew attention to the number of arrests carried out to date, some 7,500 according to official sources.

"We call on the Turkish government to fully respect the rights of the detainees, in particular their right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and to have effective access to a lawyer of their choice," they said.

Urging the Turkish authorities to investigate independently and thoroughly all deaths related to this event, the experts said that the country should prosecute the perpetrators in full compliance with guarantees of due process and fair trial.

They also expressed serious concerns regarding calls to re-introduce the capital punishment abolished in 2004, saying that re-introducing the death penalty is not legally permissible under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the European Convention on Human Rights. Endit