Hate Crime

Supreme Electoral Council

10
Apr

INFORMATION OF INCIDENT

ANALYSIS OF HATE CRIME

  • FACTS

The Supreme Electoral Council has announced that those who were dismissed from the public sector under a state of emergency decree and were elected as mayors on March 31 will not be given a mandate.  Mandates will be given to those who finished second in the election.

–     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 Supreme Electoral Council has announced that those who were dismissed from the public sector under a state of emergency decree and were elected as mayors on March 31 will not be given a mandate.  Mandates will be given to those who finished second in the election. The motif beyond the announcement of the Supreme Electoral Counsil is the victims’ political ideology. As a matter of fact, the victims were 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, the Supreme Electoral Council has announced that those who were dismissed from the public sector under a state of emergency decree and were elected as mayors on March 31 will not be given a mandate. 

According to the definition of hate crime by ODIHR, there is a crime of discrimination motivated by hatred of victims’ 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.

[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 economic 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/