CEYLAN v. TURKEY

• ECLI: ECLI:CE:ECHR:1997:1211REP002355694
• Respondent State: Turquia
• Date: 15 April 1996
• Application Number: 23556/94
• Court: Commission. Plenary (European Commission of Human Rights)
• Counsel: KAPLAN ; H. ; BAYRAM ; S. ; BAS ; M. ; lawyers ; istanbul
• Applied Rules: 10;10-1;14



EUROPEAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Application No. 23556/94

Münir Ceylan

against

Turkey

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

(adopted on 11 December 1997)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION

(paras. 1-17). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

A. The application

(paras. 2-5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

B. The proceedings

(paras. 6-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

C. The present Report

(paras. 13-17). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

II. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FACTS

(paras. 18-27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

A. The particular circumstances of the case

(paras. 18-25). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

B. Relevant domestic law

(paras. 26-27). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

III. OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

(paras. 28-54) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

A. Complaints declared admissible

(para. 28). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

B. Points at issue

(para. 29). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

C. As regards Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention

(paras. 30-47). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

CONCLUSION

(para. 48). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

D. As regards Article 14 of the Convention

(paras. 49-51). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

CONCLUSION

(para. 52). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

E. Recapitulation

(paras. 53-54). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

DISSENTING OPINION OF MR A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK . . . . . . . . . . 12

APPENDIX : DECISION OF THE COMMISSION AS TO THE

ADMISSIBILITY OF THE APPLICATION . . . . . . 13

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The following is an outline of the case as submitted to the

European Commission of Human Rights by the parties, and of the

procedure before the Commission.

A. The application

2. The applicant is a Turkish national. He was born in 1951 and

lives in istanbul. He was represented before the Commission by

Mr. Hasip Kaplan, Mr. Süleyman Bayram and Ms. Müesser Bas, all lawyers

practising in istanbul.

3. The application is directed against Turkey. The respondent

Government were represented by Mr. Bakir Çaglar, Professor at istanbul

University.

4. The case concerns the applicant's conviction by the State

Security Court for having had published a newspaper article entitled

"Söz isçinin, yarin çok geç olacaktir" ("Now is the time for workers

to speak, tomorrow will be too late").

5. The applicant complains under Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention

that his conviction for publishing his article in a newspaper

constituted an unjustified interference with his freedom of thought and

freedom of expression, in particular, with his right to receive and

impart information and ideas. He also complains under Article 14 of the

Convention that his conviction for expressing his views in an article

constituted discrimination on the ground of political opinion.

B. The proceedings

6. The application was introduced on 10 February 1994 and registered

on 2 March 1994.

7. On 20 February 1995, the Commission decided, pursuant to Rule 48

para. 2(b) of its Rules of Procedure, to give notice of the application

to the Turkish Government and to invite the parties to submit written

observations on the admissibility and merits of the applicant's

complaints based (under Article 10 of the Convention) on the alleged

violation of his freedom of expression and (under Article 14 in

conjunction with Article 10 of the Convention) on the alleged

discrimination against the applicant on the ground of political

opinion.

8. The Government did not submit any observations.

9. On 15 April 1996 the Commission declared the application

admissible.

10. The text of the Commission's decision on admissibility was sent

to the parties on 24 April 1996 and they were invited to submit such

further information or observations on the merits as they wished.

11. On 6 June 1996 the Government submitted observations, to which

the applicant did not reply.

12. After declaring the case admissible, the Commission, acting in

accordance with Article 28 para. 1 (b) of the Convention, placed itself

at the disposal of the parties with a view to securing a friendly

settlement. In the light of the parties' reaction, the Commission now

finds that there is no basis on which such a settlement can be

effected.

C. The present Report

13. The present Report has been drawn up by the Commission in

pursuance of Article 31 of the Convention and after deliberations and

votes, the following members being present:

Mr. S. TRECHSEL, President

Mrs. G.H. THUNE

Mrs. J. LIDDY

MM. E. BUSUTTIL

G. JÖRUNDSSON

A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK

A. WEITZEL

J.-C. SOYER

H. DANELIUS

F. MARTINEZ

C.L. ROZAKIS

L. LOUCAIDES

J.-C. GEUS

M.P. PELLONPÄÄ

M.A. NOWICKI

I. CABRAL BARRETO

B. CONFORTI

N. BRATZA

I. BÉKÉS

J. MUCHA

D. SVÁBY

G. RESS

A. PERENIC

C. BÎRSAN

P. LORENZEN

K. HERNDL

E. BIELIUNAS

E.A. ALKEMA

M. VILA AMIGÓ

Mrs. M. HION

MM. R. NICOLINI

A. ARABADJIEV

14. The text of this Report was adopted by the Commission on

11 December 1997 and is now transmitted to the Committee of Ministers

of the Council of Europe, in accordance with Article 31 para. 2 of the

Convention.

15. The purpose of the Report, pursuant to Article 31 of the

Convention, is:

(i) to establish the facts, and

(ii) to state an opinion as to whether the facts found disclose

a breach by the respondent Government of their obligations

under the Convention.

16. The Commission's decision on the admissibility of the application

is appended to this Report.

17. The full text of the parties' submissions, together with the

documents lodged as exhibits, are held in the archives of the

Commission.

II. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FACTS

A. The particular circumstances of the case

18. In issue No. 29/1991 of "Yeni Ülke" ("New Land"), a weekly

newspaper published in istanbul, an article written by the applicant,

the president of Petrol-is Sendikasi (the Petroleum Workers' Union),

was published under the title "Söz isçinin, yarin çok geç olacaktir"

("Now is the time to speak, tomorrow will be too late").

19. A translation of this article is as follows:

"The State Terrorism which is steadily intensifying in Eastern

and South-Eastern Anatolia is nothing other than the reflection

of the policies controlled by imperialism which are being applied

to the Kurdish people in the international plan.

In order to destroy the Kurdish movement in Iraq, U.S.

imperialism first stirred up the Kurds against Saddam's regime

and then sent the Saddam administration, which it had left strong

enough to crush that movement, after the Kurds.

As a result, the world has seen the heart-breaking sight of tens

of thousands of Kurds dying of hunger, exposure and epidemics,

as many again wiped out by the Iraqi army, and hundreds of

thousands forced to leave their homes and their country.

And imperialism shed crocodile tears at the sight of its own

creation, for all the world to see.

And it is just sitting back with its arms folded as it watches

the genocide that is intensifying in Turkey.

The steadily increasing summary executions, collective detentions

and disappearances of detainees, particularly since the recent

Anti-Terror Act, virtually herald how difficult the days that lie

ahead will be.

The recent killing of the President of the Diyarbakir Section of

the H.E.P. (People's Labour Party), most probably by counter-

guerillas, while he was being detained in police custody, and the

further killings that took place (3 according to the police, 10

according to the local people) at the subsequent funeral, when

the police opened fire on the crowd, hundreds of people were

also-injured and more than a thousand people were taken into

custody, are the latest examples of state terrorism.

For anyone who examines the Anti-Terror Act closely it is easy

to see that that act is aimed at defeating not only the Kurdish

people's struggle, but the struggle of the entire working class

and proletariat for a livelihood and for freedom and democracy.

It is consequently not only the Kurdish people but our entire

proletariat as a whole which must counter those laws and the

current «state terrorism».

And, also from the trade union point of view, the problem is too

important and too vital to be eliminated simply by a few

statements and declarations.

Political power and monopolistic capital which finds an

opportunity to present every action as a terrorist act and every

organisation as a terrorist organisation in a few complex

concepts will not hesitate, when the moment is opportune, to turn

that weapon against our working class.

As we have always said, our working class and its economic and

democratic organisations must bring not only their economic

demands, but also their political and democratic demands, to the

fore and must play an effective role in this struggle.

Despite all of the hindrances contained in the laws, united

action must therefore be achieved with the democratic masses and

their organisations, with the political parties and with all

persons and bodies with whom an alliance can be formed; we must

oppose these massacres and bloodshed and this state terrorism

with maximum organisation and coordination.

Otherwise, for the monopolistic capitalist circles, which,

directed by imperialism, are aiming to silence the Kurdish

people, the turn of the working class and proletariat will

inevitably come.

Tomorrow will be too late. We call on all our people and all our

democratic forces to take an active part in this struggle."

20. In an...