October, 17 2008, 11:41am EDT
Turkey: Conspiracy Trial Should Probe Military's Role
Historic Opportunity to Tackle Violence by Security Forces
LONDON
The prosecution of an alleged ultranationalist conspiracy aimed at the overthrow of Turkey's democratic government should investigate whether current members of the military, intelligence services and state bureaucracy were involved, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial of 86 people accused of being members of the so-called Ergenekon gang, some of them senior retired military officers, begins on October 20, 2008.
"This case gives Turkey a chance to make clear that it will hold security forces accountable for abuse," said Benjamin Ward, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But that can only happen if the investigation follows the evidence wherever - and to whomever - it leads."
The 2,455-page indictment alleges that an ultranationalist gang calling themselves Ergenekon (the name of a mythical homeland of the Turks in Central Asia) conspired to create the climate in Turkey for a military coup in 2009 through a campaign of planned assassinations of politicians, journalists, judges and others, as well as civil disturbance and incitement to violence against minorities.
The 86 defendants include senior retired military personnel, convicted and alleged members of the criminal underworld, leading figures from the media, academics, lawyers, and activists from civil society organizations. Two retired top generals (the former head of the gendarmerie and the commander of the First Army) will stand trial later for their alleged involvement in the gang. The case is being prosecuted before Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 13.
Turkey has a poor record of bringing to justice members of the military, state bodies and the government implicated in grave human rights abuses. Most suspected of these crimes have escaped prosecution.
The indictment in the case contains evidence linking the Ergenekon gang to bomb attacks on the premises of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet in May 2006, and an armed attack in April 2006 on judges at the Council of State, in which judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin was killed. The alleged gang members will also be tried on suspicion of plotting assassinations of figures in public life, including the prime minister, and numerous other crimes. Among those facing trial are former senior members of the gendarmerie associated in the past with covert networks established within the state apparatus and military in the name of counterterrorism in the conflict between the military and the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In previous investigations, these networks were alleged to have resorted to unlawful and extrajudicial tactics, including arbitrary killings and enforced disappearances.
While the indictment concludes that, through these actions, the gang demonstrated its intention to foment the conditions for the Turkish military to attempt a coup to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, it also explicitly notes that the General Chief of Staff's office and the National Intelligence Agency (MYT) have denied that the military and intelligence services were involved in the conspiracy.
However, a diary of the retired Naval Commander, Admiral Ozden Ornek, which was leaked and published in April 2007, included descriptions of two separate plans in 2004 to carry out coups. The current indictment makes no reference to the diary, although the Ergenekon gang was allegedly active at the time of the planned coups.
"To get to the bottom of the conspiracy, it is essential that the Istanbul court fully investigate the allegations of military involvement in coup plots, including those in the Ornek diaries, and probe possible connections between alleged coup-plotters and the Ergenekon gang," said Ward.
Critics of the Ergenekon gang investigation have suggested that some of the evidence in the indictment is flimsy and that the arrest of some individuals has been motivated by the government's desire to muzzle its most outspoken critics and opponents.
However, the prosecution and judicial authorities still mostly fail to deal with crimes allegedly committed by state officials and the security forces. They are notoriously lenient toward members of the security forces, and have in the past repeatedly demonstrated insufficient will or independence to investigate the military and intelligence services or to pursue evidence that could lead to the identification and prosecution of members of these institutions who are alleged to have committed crimes.
In hearing the case against the Ergenekon gang, the judges of Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 13 must demonstrate its independence and capacity to uphold the rule of law by thoroughly examining all the evidence against the defendants and providing them with a fair trial, Human Rights Watch said.
Background
The Turkish public learned of the so-called Ergenekon gang on January 22, 2008, when 33 individuals, including retired senior military personnel, lawyers and individuals associated with criminal gangs, were taken into custody. The investigation had started seven months earlier with the discovery on June 12, 2007 of 27 hand grenades and explosives in an Istanbul house belonging to a retired noncommissioned officer in the Turkish military.
The evidence suggests that the grenades were similar to those used in attacks on the Istanbul offices of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet in May 2006 and the armed attack on judges at the Council of State in April 2006. The investigation that followed uncovered evidence pointing to a much larger conspiracy, including evidence of plans to assassinate the prime minister, the former chief of staff, several members of Parliament from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, the writer Orhan Pamuk, and others.
On July 25, 2008, the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No.13 formally accepted the prosecutor's 2,455-page public indictment. The charges against those alleged to be in the leadership of Ergenekon include "attempting by force or violence to remove the government or obstruct it partially or wholly from carrying out its duties" (Turkish Penal Code, article 312), punishable with aggravated life imprisonment; "leading an armed uprising against the government," "inciting the population to armed uprising against the government," "participating in such an uprising" (article 313), punishable with aggravated life imprisonment for those in the leadership and to prison terms ranging from six years to 25 years for others involved; "establishing or being a member of an armed organization" (article 314), punishable with prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years for membership and from 10 to 15 years for leadership of an armed group, and "providing weapons" (article 315).
Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
LATEST NEWS
UN Chief Warns of Israel's Syria Invasion and Land Seizures
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the "urgent need" for Israel to "de-escalate violence on all fronts."
Dec 12, 2024
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
While Israel argues that its invasion of Syria does not violate a 1974 armistice agreement between the two countries because the Assad dynasty no longer rules the neighboring nation, Dujarric said Guterres maintains that Israel must uphold its obligations under the deal, "including by ending all unauthorized presence in the area of separation and refraining from any action that would undermine the cease-fire and stability in Golan."
Israel conquered the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights in 1967 and has illegally occupied it ever since, annexing the seized lands in 1981.
Other countries including France, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have criticized Israel's invasion, while the United States defended the move.
"The Syrian army abandoned its positions in the area... which potentially creates a vacuum that could have been filled by terrorist organizations," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing earlier this week. "Israel has said that these actions are temporary to defend its borders. These are not permanent actions... We support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Sanders Says 'Political Movement,' Not Murder, Is the Path to Medicare for All
"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," he said. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together."
Dec 12, 2024
Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
"Look, when we talk about the healthcare crisis, in my view, and I think the view of a majority of Americans, the current system is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is cruel, and it is wildly inefficient—far too expensive," said Sanders (I-Vt.), whose position is backed up by various polls.
"The reason we have not joined virtually every other major country on Earth in guaranteeing healthcare to all people as a human right is the political power and financial power of the insurance industry and drug companies," he told Jacobin. "It will take a political revolution in this country to get Congress to say, 'You know what, we're here to represent ordinary people, to provide quality care to ordinary people as a human right,' and not to worry about the profits of insurance and drug companies."
Asked about Thompson's alleged killer—26-year-old Luigi Mangione, whose reported manifesto railed against the nation's expensive healthcare system and low life expectancy—Sanders said: "You don't kill people. It's abhorrent. I condemn it wholeheartedly. It was a terrible act. But what it did show online is that many, many people are furious at the health insurance companies who make huge profits denying them and their families the healthcare that they desperately need."
"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system."
"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system," he continued, noting the tens of thousands of Americans who die each year because they can't get to a doctor.
"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," Sanders added. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together and understanding that it is the right of every American to be able to walk into a doctor's office when they need to and not have to take out their wallet."
"The way we're going to bring about the kind of fundamental changes we need in healthcare is, in fact, by a political movement which understands the government has got to represent all of us, not just the 1%," the senator told Jacobin.
The 83-year-old Vermonter, who was just reelected to what he says is likely his last six-year term, is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats and sought their presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He has urged the Democratic Party to recognize why some working-class voters have abandoned it since Republicans won the White House and both chambers of Congress last month. A refusal to take on insurance and drug companies and overhaul the healthcare system, he argues, is one reason.
Sanders—one of the few members of Congress who regularly talks about Medicare for All—isn't alone in suggesting that unsympathetic responses to Thompson's murder can be explained by a privatized healthcare system that fails so many people.
In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
Khanna—a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act, led in the House of Representatives by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)—made the case that you can recognize those stories without accepting the assassination.
"You condemn the murder of an insurance executive who was a father of two kids," he said. "At the same time, you say there's obviously an outpouring behavior of people whose claims are being denied, and we need to reform the system."
Two other Medicare for All advocates, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), also made clear to Business Insider that they oppose Thompson's murder but understand some of the responses to it.
"Of course, we don't want to see the chaos that vigilantism presents," said Ocasio-Cortez. "We also don't want to see the extreme suffering that millions of Americans confront when your life changes overnight from a horrific diagnosis, and people are led to just some of the worst, not just health events, but the worst financial events of their and their family's lives."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
"Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far," she continued. "This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the healthcare to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone."
After facing some criticism for those comments, Warren added Wednesday: "Violence is never the answer. Period... I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Reports Target Israeli Army for 'Unprecedented Massacre' of Gaza Journalists
"In Gaza, the scale of the tragedy is incomprehensible," wrote Thibaut Bruttin, director general of Reporters Without Borders.
Dec 12, 2024
Reports released this week from two organizations that advocate for journalists underscore just how deadly Gaza has become for media workers.
Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
"In Gaza, the scale of the tragedy is incomprehensible," wrote Thibaut Bruttin, director general of RSF, in the introduction to the report. Since October 2023, 145 journalists have been killed in Gaza, "including at least 35 who were very likely targeted or killed while working."
Bruttin added that "many of these reporters were clearly identifiable as journalists and protected by this status, yet they were shot or killed in Israeli strikes that blatantly disregarded international law. This was compounded by a deliberate media blackout and a block on foreign journalists entering the strip."
When counting the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army since October 2023 in both Gaza and Lebanon, the tally comes to 155—"an unprecedented massacre," according to the roundup.
Multiple journalists were also killed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Sudan, Myanmar, Colombia, and Ukraine, according to the report, and hundreds more were detained and are now behind bars in countries including Israel, China, and Russia.
Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced that at least 139 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and in a statement released Wednesday, IFJ announced that 104 journalists had perished worldwide this year (which includes deaths from January 1 through December 10). IFJ's number for all of 2024 appears to be higher than RSF because RSF is only counting deaths that occurred "on the job or in connection with their work."
IFJ lists out each of the slain journalists in its 139 count, which includes the journalist Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, who was killed with journalist Mustafa Thuraya when Israeli forces targeted their car while they were in northern Rafah in January 2024.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular