Hate Crime

Etimesgut District Governor’s Officer

23
Apr

INFORMATION OF INCIDENT

  • Date : 23 April,2020
  • Location : Etimesgut, Ankara/ TÜRKİYE
  • Perpetrator : District Governor’s Officer
  • Victim : G.S.
  • Source :  https://www.boldmedya.com/2020/04/23/khkliya-olum-1000-liralik-korona-yardimi-da-yok/

ANALYSIS OF HATE CRIME

  • FACTS

G.S, whose husband was dismissed by the State of Emergency Decree Law (OHAL-KHK) and who has a disabled child, applied online to Etimesgut District Governor’s Office to receive a thousand liras of aid announced by the government to be given to families in need due to coronavirus. Her application was refused by the district governorship. G.S was also refused in her previous applications for aid on different grounds.

              –     EVALUATION OF THE CASE UNDER THE TURKISH PENAL CODE

According to article 122[1] of Turkish Penal Code, anyone who prevents a person from benefiting from a certain service provided to the public due to hatred arising from differences in language, race, nationality, color, gender, disability, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion or sect shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one year to three years.

In the case, the application for coronavirus aid to Etimesgut District Governor’s Office of G.S. whose husband was dismissed by OHAL-KHK was refused. The mentioned application was refused on the ground of being a wife of someone dismissed by KHK. The motif beyond the refusal is the applicant’s husband’s political ideology. As a matter of fact, G.S.’s husband was dismissed by KHK which had been adopted to discharge the members of Gulen movement or allegedly members of movement from public service.

In conclusion, in the case, there is a hate and discrimination crime committed by public authority officials.

  • EVALUATION OF THE CASE UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

According to the Office for Human Rights and Democratic Institutions (ODIHR)[2] of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a hate crime is a criminal act motivated by bias against a group. Hate crimes comprise two elements: a criminal offence and a bias motivation.

In the case, G.S.’s application for coronavirus aid was rejected on the grounds that her husband had been dismissed by a state of emergency decree. According to the definition of hate crime by ODIHR, there is a crime of discrimination motivated by hatred of her husband’s affiliation with the Gülen movement.

  • CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION

What is a Decree Law (KHK)?

On July 20, 2016, a State of Emergency (OHAL) was declared across Turkey. Under the State of Emergency, the government was authorized to issue emergency decrees.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by President Erdoğan, accused the Gülen movement of instigating the alleged failed coup on July 15, 2016, and all these ordinary and extraordinary decrees were part of a broader hate campaign against the Gülen movement.

After July 2016, the government fired more than a hundred thousand people associated with the Gülen movement. Thousands of educational institutions were closed, more than a hundred media outlets were shut down and journalists arrested. More than a hundred people have died under torture. Dozens of people were kidnapped at home and abroad.

What is Corona Aid?

Corona aid is used to refer to the various forms of support and assistance made available to the citizens of the Republic of Turkey to combat the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This assistance was provided in different forms and under different names to address job losses, economic hardship and community needs caused by the pandemic. People on the list of beneficiaries of social assistance were eligible to apply for the assistance.

[1] ARTICLE 122-(1) Any person who makes discrimination between individuals because of their racial, lingual,

religious, sexual, political, philosophical belief or opinion, or for being supporters of different sects and therefore;

a) Prevents sale, transfer of movable or immovable property, or performance of a service, or benefiting from a

service, or bounds employment or unemployment of a person to above listed reasons,

b) Refuses to deliver nutriments or to render a public service,

c) Prevents a person to perform an ordinary economical activity,

d) Prevents a person being employed

is sentenced to imprisonment from six months to one year or imposed punitive fine.

[2] https://hatecrime.osce.org/