‘Precautions Need to be Taken to Prevent Recurrence of Such Attacks’

* Photo: Hikmet Adal / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Human Rights Joint Platform (İHOP) has released a statement regarding the recent threats and attacks targeting Rakel Dink, the wife of late journalist Hrant Dink, and the Hrant Dink Foundation.

The joint statement has been signed by the Association for Monitoring Equal Rights, Rights Initiative, Human Rights Association (İHD), Human Rights Agenda Association, Amnesty International and Citizens Assembly.

Underlining that no one has the right to ostracize others, depict them as enemies or usurp their right to life, the statement has stressed that the state is obligated to protect the citizens' right to life.

CLICK - 'Attacks are Not Isolated, Another Threatening Message Sent to Hrant Dink Foundation'

"Hrant Dink Foundation is not alone," the statement of the platform has read and briefly indicated the following:

'Identifying the assaulters is not enough'

"Today, the indispensable raison d'etre of a state is that it does not only have the law, but it also safeguards the right to life, the most fundamental human right, for everyone without any differentiation and establishes justice.

"The threats and hate speech targeting the right to life of Hrant Dink Foundation's founders, legists and all workers need to be condemned urgently and resolutely. In addition to identifying the ones who made these threats, their backgrounds need to be brought into light and they need to be penalized. It needs to be ensured that necessary precautions that would prevent the recurrence of such initiatives are taken as soon as possible.

"No one has the right to ostracize others for holding different beliefs, having different ethnic origins, thoughts or attitudes, to depict them as enemies and, most importantly, to usurp their right to life.

"We announce it to the public that we will stand by the founders, legists and all workers of Hrant Dink Foundation and will sensitively follow the related process to ensure that this incident and similar other incidents can be brought to light and justice can be served."

What happened?

On May 29, Hrant Dink Foundation released a written statement for the press and announced that Rakel Dink, the wife of late journalist Hrant Dink, and the attorneys of the foundation received death threats via email on May 27 and 28. The foundation indicated that it notified Şişli District Security Directorate and İstanbul Governor's Office of the threats.

"The email included the phrase 'We may turn up one night, when you least expect it', a slogan used boastfully in certain circles, and the very same slogan we were well used to hearing before Hrant Dink was so publicly assassinated, and with the knowledge of official bodies, on 19 January 2007. The threat accuses the Hrant Dink Foundation of telling 'tales of fraternity', demands us to leave the country and threatens Rakel Dink and the foundation's lawyer with death," the statement read.

Süleyman Soylu, the Minister of Interior, made a brief statement about the issue on his Twitter account one day later, on May 30, and announced that the suspect who sent the threatening mails in question was caught. 

Later in the day, it was announced that H.A. (25) was taken into custody in the district of Selçuk in Turkey's central anatolian province of Konya.

Taken to İstanbul by the Security Department teams, H.A. has been arrested on charge of "repetitive threats with anonymous letters or special signs."

After the incident, Fethiye Çetin, an attorney of Hrant Dink Foundation, spoke to bianet about the issue and said that the foundation received another threatening message at the night of May 31.

As part of an ex officio investigation launched by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, suspect E.B. was detained in İstanbul on June 1 for having allegedly sent the second threatening message to the foundation. (HA/SD)