ECHR Convicts Turkey On Rights Abuse In Military

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentenced Turkey to pay a fine in the amount of 17,500 euros on the charge of violating the rights of freedom and security in the case of four specialists sergeants who were placed under chamber arrest.

The ECHR ruled against the employment of chamber arrest as a form of penalty in the Turkish Armed Forces within the scope of the chain of command and without any oversight from judicial authorities.

The European Court consequently sentenced Turkey to pay a fine in the amount of 17,500 euros in connection with the case of four specialist sergeants who were on active duty in 2008 and 2009 and placed under chamber arrest during the same period on the charge of insubordination.

Court rejects all arguments

Necmi Tengilimoğlu, Mehmet Dutuklar, Emrah Çerezci and Salih Gazi filed the suit against Turkey in 2008 and 2009 on the grounds that the penalty of chamber arrest they had received for insubordination ran counter to the 5th article of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the rights of freedom and security and the 6th article of the convention regarding the right to a fair trial.

The Turkish government had argued, in turn, that internal legal processes had not yet been exhausted and that the European Convention on Human Rights was not applicable to procedures concerning military discipline.

The defendant side had further propounded that the plaintiffs had exceeded the grace period of six months granted by the ECHR to file their complaint and subsequently requested the closure of the case file.

The ECHR, however, rejected all the claims advanced by the Turkish government to conclude that the employment of disciplinary measures involving prison terms in the Turkish military by non-judicial authorities, or without any judicial supervision, violate the article of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the rights to freedom and security.

Turkey is set to pay a total of 17,500 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damages to the litigants parties. (EKN)