IFEX Members Urge Abolishment of Article 301
34 non-governmental organizations signed the petition upto date.
This law makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness" and under it, scores of writers, journalists, publishers and intellectuals have been sued for what they have written and published.
It was under this code that Hrant Dink himself was condemned to a six-month suspended sentence last year
IPA and PEN compiled a joint action urging Turksih authorities to abolish article 301 of the Penal Code.
Below is the text of appeal that two organizations revealed to International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) members:
"We, the undersigned,
* Saddened by the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist and founder of the "Agos" newspaper, Hrant Dink, on 19 January 2007;
* Recalling that Hrant Dink had been condemned to a six-month suspended sentence for having "insulted Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code;
* Observing that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code is used to suppress the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Turkey is a party;
* Considering that defamation and/or insult laws cannot be justified if their purpose or effect is to protect the "reputations" of entities other than those which have the right to sue and to be sued;
* Supporting the ECHR case law according to which defamation laws cannot be justified if their effect or purpose is to prevent legitimate criticism of officials or the exposure of official wrongdoing or corruption;
* Pointing out that those charged for "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 have become targets for extremists, many of whom have suffered verbal and physical attacks outside court rooms, culminating in the tragic events of 19 January;
* Welcoming that the authorities have now offered police protection for others who have been charged under these laws;
* Believing that the discontinuance of the court hearings and the dropping of the offence of "insulting Turkishness" will serve to reduce the likelihood of any further tragedies.
Urge the Turkish authorities to:
* Abolish Article 301 of the Penal Code entirely;
* Remove once and for all any articles that can be used to suppress the rights as enshrined under Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 10 of the ECHR (e.g. Law 5816).
The following IFEX members and others NGO's have endorsed the above statement:
ARTICLE 19
Association for Promotion and Education of Human Rights
Association of American Publishers (AAP)
BIANET
Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR)
Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)
Danish PEN
Dutch Association of Journalists
English PEN
Freedom House
Freedom of Expression Association
Freemuse (Freedom of Musical Expression)
Greek Helsinki Group
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Hong Kong Journalists Association (HJKA)
Independent Journalism Center-Moldova
Index on Censorship
Initiative for Freedom of Expression
International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN)
International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
International Press Institute (IPI)
International Publishers Association (IPA)
Observatoire pour la Liberté de Presse, d'édition et de création (OLPEC)
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN Flanders
PEN Norway
Russian PEN
San Miguel de Allende PEN
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC)
Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN
For further information, contact IPA, 3, avenue de Miremont, Ch-1206, Geneva, Switzerland, tel: +41 22 346 30 18, fax: +41 22 347 57 17, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], Internet: www.ipa-uie.org (EÜ)