The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the conviction and sentencing of Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic and President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT). Since 1990, she has contributed to the access of more than 17,000 torture survivors and their relatives to treatment and rehabilitation services in Turkey and also in the most challenging contexts around the world.
According to the information received, on December 19, 2018, the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court, during its fifth hearing, convicted and sentenced in first instance Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı to two years and six months in prison for having signed a declaration entitled “We will not be a party to this crime” prepared by Academics for Peace. Other information related to her human rights work, including interviews and a report on human rights violations in Cizre [1] (in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey), were also added as criminal evidence against her in the case. This is one of the harshest sentences pronounced against signatories of the declaration.
Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı intends to appeal this decision as soon as the full ruling will be made public. Meanwhile the sentence will not be enforced.
On January 10, 2016, 1,128 academics published a declaration entitled "We will not be party to this crime", calling for peace and denouncing human rights violations in the country, on behalf of the Academics for Peace initiative. The number of signatories later reached the total of 2,212.
The declaration was followed by public comments from the authorities calling for the criminalisation of signatories and lawsuits were then filed against some of the academics on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per Article No. 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713.
As of December 27, 2018, 444 academics had stood trial. 69 of these academics were given sentences ranging between one year and three months to two years and six months in prison. All but eight sentences are suspended.
The Observatory recalls that Ms. Fincancı, together with others, is also being tried in another criminal case for taking part in a solidarity campaign in support of the right to freedom of the press, and more particularly for acting as symbolic co-editors of the daily Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.
The Observatory condemns in the strongest terms the sentencing of Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı which seems to be only aimed at punishing her for her legitimate human rights activities, and calls on the Turkish authorities to end any act of harassment, including at the judicial level against all the human rights defenders in Turkey.
How You Can Help
Please write to the authorities of Turkey asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı ;
ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı and against all human rights defenders in Turkey;
iii. Until all charges are dropped, ensure that all proceedings against Ms. Şebnem Korur Fincancı are carried out in compliance with her right to a fair trial, as protected under international law;
iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its Articles 1, 6(a), 9, 11 and 12.2;
vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Turkey.
