Many individuals, including European Parliament (EP) members, representatives of international human rights organizations, lawyers, writers, and academics, have declared their solidarity with HDP Kocaeli Deputy and Turkish Grand National Assembly Human Rights Commission Member Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who has been targeted for raising the issue of “strip searches”.
EP members, representatives of international human rights organizations, lawyers, writers, and academics have written a letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who has been conducting human rights advocacy work and has been targeted by some state officials, particularly Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, for raising the issue of “strip searches”.
The statement, titled “Open Letter to President Erdoğan” and signed by figures such as Dietmar Köster (Member of the European Parliament), Sevim Dağdelen (Head of the “Die Linke” Group in the German Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee), Gyde Jensen (Chair of the German Federal Parliament’s Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid Committee), and Andrej Hunko (Member of the German Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), stated, “We expect an end to the threats directed at human rights defenders, especially Gergerlioğlu, by public officials, politicians, and prosecutors.”
The statement, which expressed concern about the pressure on individuals and institutions working on human rights issues, included the following remarks:
“As human rights organizations, activists, lawyers, writers, journalists, politicians, and academics, we are writing this letter to express our concerns about the ongoing pressure against individuals and institutions working towards this goal, especially Mr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who demonstrates tireless effort on human rights issues in Turkey.
As known, Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and deputy, has been threatened and accused of being a “terrorist” first by the Uşak Police Chief and then by AKP Group Deputy Chair Özlem Zengin and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.
The news that “23 female students studying at Uşak University were subjected to strip searches twice during the 5 days following their detention on August 31, 2020, has appeared on social media as a shocking incident for society. Mr. Gergerlioğlu called for an end to this unlawful practice of strip searches by raising this issue in the Parliament”.
After the strip search practice became a topic on social media, the women who were victims of this practice shared their experiences in detail with the public through videos they recorded. Following these shares, many human rights defenders supported the victims by reacting to this unlawfulness that is in no way compatible with human dignity.
The strip search practice, carried out twice under the guise of a “security search” by the Uşak Police, violates the prohibition of treatment incompatible with human dignity. Despite the necessity for an effective investigation into this matter, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who brought the issue to Parliament, has been subjected to accusations.
AKP Group Deputy Chair Özlem Zengin targeted Gergerlioğlu by saying, ‘I have never seen another deputy who terrorizes the Parliament as much as Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu.’
Shortly after this statement, Uşak Police Chief Mesut Gezer made the following statement targeting Deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu: “We came here to fight justly before the law against these treacherous slanderers, these bloodshedders, these liars from whose mouths nothing flows but blood… We will not let them breathe in this country. Whether it’s FETO ‘, PKK’, or whoever comes, the Turkish Police is here!”
Following this statement, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also targeted Gergerlioğlu by saying, ‘He’s just wearing the guise of a deputy. He expresses this with FETO’s words. His mind is confused, his reason is gone. He is a FETO terrorist… I’m saying this openly. I’m also calling on the judiciary from here. This man is truly a terrorist, we have filed criminal complaints numerous times. Let the necessary be done.’
Immediately after this, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that an investigation had been initiated against Gergerlioğlu and those who expressed their reactions regarding the strip search issue.
We would like to express our serious concern about the ongoing mass detentions and human rights violations due to the ease with which public officials can accuse human rights defenders and deputies of being “terrorists”.
As individuals and institutions that believe in and fight for human rights and freedoms, we stand with Mr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu and expect an end to the threats directed at human rights defenders, especially Gergerlioğlu, by public officials, politicians, and prosecutors.
The names of those who made solidarity statements with Gergerlioğlu are as follows:
Dietmar KÖSTER, Member of the European Parliament
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament
Sophie ROHONYI, Member of the Federal Parliament (Belgium)
Christophe LACROIX, Member of the Federal Parliament (Belgium)
Gokay AKBULUT, Federal Member of Parliament (Germany)
Gyde JENSEN, Chairwoman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag (Germany)
Sevim DAĞDELEN, Chairwoman of the “Die Linke” Group in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament (Germany)
Simone SUSSKIND, Member of the Brussels Parliament and Senate (Belgium)
Andrej HUNKO, Member of the German Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Germany)
Bianca DEBAETS, Member of the Brussels Parliament (Belgium)
Victoria AUSTRAET, Member of the Brussels Parliament (Belgium)
Joris NACHTERGAELE, Member of the Flemish Parliament (Belgium)
Hannelore GOEMAN, Member of the Flemish Parliament (Belgium)
Karl VANLOUWE, Member of the Flemish Parliament (Belgium)
Kai GEHRING, Member of the German Parliament (Germany)
Berivan ASLAN, Member of the Austrian Parliament (Austria)
Philippe COURARD, Member of the Walloon Parliament and Senator (Belgium)
Ulla JELPKE, Member of the German Parliament (Germany)
Dr. Peter PILZ, Former Member of the Austrian Parliament (Austria)
Johan VANDE LANOTTE, Professor at Ghent University, Former Deputy Prime Minister (Belgium)
Sophia PANDYA, Professor at California State University, Long Beach
Ramiro Jesús SANDOVAL, Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico-UNAM (Mexico)
Juan Manuel PORTILLA GÓMEZ, Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico-UNAM (Mexico)
Valentin STELIAN BĂDESCU – Scientific Assistant Researcher, Lawyer at the Bucharest Bar (Romania)
Felix KAIZA, Independent Media Consultant (Tanzania)
Constantin IONUT COJOCARU, University Lecturer, Journalist, History Researcher, President of the Glasul Istoriei Association (Romania)
Isaac LONGWE, Human Rights Defender, Amnesty International (East Africa)
Habib MIRADJI, Director of Azaniapost newspaper operating in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
Aaron COHEN (United States of America)
International Observatory of Human Rights (England)
International Association of People’s Lawyers (France)
Open Dialogue (Poland)
Lawyers’ Rights Watch (Canada)
Australasian Muslim Times (Australia)
Human Rights Foundation (America)
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (Canada)
Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Germany)
Ori Z Soltes, Georgetown University
Human Rights Monitoring Institute/ Žmogaus teisių stebėjimo institutas (Lithuania)
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (Source: t24)
