Rights groups call for unconditional release of arrested Boğaziçi University students

* Photo: Tolga Sütlü

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The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV-HRFT), Human Rights Association (İHD), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have released a joint statement ahead of the first hearing of Ersin Berke Gök and Caner Perit Özen, the students of Boğaziçi University who have been arrested after protesting Naci İnci, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University.

Recalling that on January 7, 2022 (tomorrow) Gök and Özen will "appear before the İstanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance after being arbitrarily detained for 92 days for participating in the Boğaziçi University protests," the organizations have called on the authorities in Turkey "to immediately and unconditionally release them and to drop all charges against all participants in the peaceful Boğaziçi University protests."

The joint statement briefly reads as follows:

'Solitary confinement for 51 days'

"Ersin Berke Gök and Caner Perit Özen, Boğaziçi University students, have been arbitrarily detained since 5 October 2021, for their participation in the 'Boğaziçi Resistance Movement', a student mobilisation that calls for academic freedom and peacefully protests against the appointment of rectors by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"For the first 51 days of their detention they were detained in solitary confinement. They currently remain detained in the high-security Silivri prison, in İstanbul, where they have been denied correspondence with their relatives, which violates the procedural rights of suspected or accused persons enshrined under international law, and are unable to attend university exams, which violates their right to education.

"Since the beginning of his detention, Ersin Berke Gök has also been denied food compatible with his diet.

'Release them immediately, unconditionally'

"Our organisations strongly condemn the ongoing arbitrary detention of Ersin Berke Gök and Caner Perit Özen and the judicial harassment of the 12 other participants to the Boğaziçi University protests, which take place in a context of an increased crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Turkey, as documented by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey as well as by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH) and the Human Rights Association.

"Our organisations are further deeply concerned about the ill-treatment that Ersin Berke Gök and Caner Perit Özen were subjected to prior to their arrest as well as their inhumane detention conditions, which may amount to torture, prohibited under the Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey is a party to.

Our organisations urge the authorities of Turkey to immediately and unconditionally release Ersin Berke Gök and Caner Perit Özen, to guarantee in all circumstances their physical integrity and psychological well-being, and to put an end to all acts of harassment - including at the judicial level - against them and all participants in the 'Boğaziçi Resistance Movement', which only aim at punishing them for their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

"We further call on the authorities to ensure in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Turkey are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance and fear of reprisals."

What happened?

10 students were taken into custody at Boğaziçi University in İstanbul on October 5, 2021 on the grounds that they had joined the ongoing protests against Naci İnci, the appointed rector of the university.

Three students were released from detention after giving their statements at the police station. Held in detention at night, seven students were referred to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan a day later after the related formalities had been completed at the police station.

Interrogated at the prosecutor's office, four students were released on probation while three were referred to judgeship to be arrested.

The İstanbul Penal Judgeship of Peace on Duty ruled that two students should be arrested and one should be released on probation.

Rector İnci had applied to the prosecutor's office against his 14 students on charges of "threat, insult, damage to property, resisting for preventing duty and violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations." (RT/SD)