Discrimination based on sexual orientation

32 Hate Crimes Directed at LGBTI People Appeared in the Press in 2015

According to Kaos GL’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-based Human Rights Observation Report, in the year 2015 there were 5 hate crime-murders, 32 hate crimes, 2 cyber-attacks and 3 suicides appeared in the press.

Source: Kaos GL, “2015’te LGBTİ’lere yönelik 32 nefret saldırısı basına yansıdı!” (“32 Hate Crimes Directed at LGBTI People Reflected in the Press in 2015”), kaosgl.org, May 25 2016, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=21730

The Kaos GL Association has published its 2015 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-based Human Rights Observation Report. The report, which the association has published regularly since 2006 to monitor the human rights violations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, contains striking conclusions about this past year.

5 hate crime-murders, 32 attacks!

General findings are listed in the introduction of the report as follows:

“2015 was a year in which bombs exploded, massacres occurred, systematic attacks were carried out against social groups at the government’s hand, surveillance and detentions were carried out, and the most basic right, the right to life, was not protected. From the perspective of LGBT rights, alongside positive developments it was a year in which generally the routine was not broken;

“Throughout the year of 2015, there were 5 hate crime murders, 32 hate crime attacks (with more than 15 committed by more than one person, 2 at the hands of the police, 12 with a sharp object, 2 with a firearm, and 1 with arson), 2 cyber-attacks, and 3 cases of suicide that were reported to the media;

3 instances of discrimination were reflected in the media. Of these instances, 2 occurred in prison and 1 occurred in the workplace. Out of 9 cases of hate speech, 4 were produced by political figures and 3 appeared in newspapers known to be close to the ruling government.”

Call for killing of LGBTI people

“The societal reflection of hate speech can be [a] hate crime. The attacks by police at the Pride March and ensuing instigation of hate at the hands of politicians turned into a call for murder. A group calling themselves the Young Islamic Defense hung posters on the streets of Ankara calling for the killing of LGBT people.”

Censorship for the internet

“Administrative measures were taken by Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate (Telekomünikasyon İletişim Başkanlığı, or TIB) against 7 LGBT websites. Of these decisions, 1 was lifted by TIB after making its way into the press and another after being appealed to TİB. However, 5 sites still cannot be accessed. In 2 cases students were attacked because of LGBT banners and a rainbow flag at a university. Bafra Penitentiary denied prisoners access to Kaos GL publications on the grounds of its “obscene” content.”

“The police attacked the Pride March with plastic bullets, teargas, and water cannons; a number of people were injured.”

“The Constitutional Court identified the state’s official relationship format by using the expression ‘unnatural relation,’ in clear violation of the Constitution.”

The report only contains cases reflected in the media

While emphasizing that only cases reflected in the media were reported, problems experienced in the reporting process are outlined in the report as follows:

“The violations found in the report are cases reflected in the media only. For this reason this report does not display all of the human rights violations experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Turkey

“We have presented this report as the 2015 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-based Human Rights Violation Observation Report. However, our struggle continues in reaching the problems of gay and bisexual women and the discrimination and human rights violations suffered by transgender men.”

The report contains separate sections on ‘hate crimes and violations of the right to life,’ ‘discrimination and hate speech,’ ‘freedom of expression,’ and ‘lawsuits taking place and ending in 2015.’ Violations reflected in the media over the course of a year are listed.

What should be done?

The conclusion of the report lists the necessary steps for getting ahead of human rights violations as follows:

  • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals should be granted equal civil rights in the Constitution and “sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status”(CYCKİD) should be protected categories in the Constitution’s discrimination article
  • Adjustments should be made to the Turkey Human Rights and Equality Foundation Law to include protections for CYCKİD; the law should be rewritten to take into account Civil Society recommendations about the impartiality of the foundation
  • LGBTI people should be included in public social policy
  • Effective campaigns should be led against the homophobic and transphobic hate speech of politicians, public authorities, and opinion leaders
  • All relevant public institutions, especially the Directorate General of Migration Management, should develop sensitivity towards and policies related to the various problems of LGBTI refugees
  • The Turkey Human Rights and Equality Foundation and the Ombudsman Institution should handle all violations of human rights, democracy, and law that come under its jurisdiction with an approach based on sexual orientation and gender identity
  • Clauses on sexual orientation and gender identity should be added to articles regulating discrimination law in the judicial system
  • Regulation regarding hate crimes should be expanded to cover basic rights such as the right to life, bodily integrity, education, and shelter alongside hate speech, and clauses on CYCKİD should be included in hate crime regulation. The necessary punitive measures should be taken for hate crimes directed at LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) individuals; modifications in the law should be made to prevent reduced sentences for “grievous provocation” following hate crimes
  • Ambiguous phrases such as “general morality,” “public decency,” “obscenity,” “immodesty,” and “infamous crimes” used in the Turkish Republic Constitution, the Turkish Penal Code, Civil Code, Law of Misdemeanor and various other foundations and institutions should be taken out of regulation or readjusted in a way that cannot be interpreted as against LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) people.
  • Turkey should immediately take all necessary legal and political steps to fully comply with the 2010 Combating Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Recommendations from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, of which Turkey was a founding member
  • In the investigation and prosecution stages following rights violations such as hate crimes, discrimination, and police violence suffered by LGBTI people, precautions should be taken to eliminate the discriminatory and/or prejudiced attitudes of law enforcement officers and forensic units, which heighten the victims’ suffering
  • The classification of homosexuality and transsexualism in the Turkish Armed Forces Health Code as “sexual identity and behavior disorders” and practices suffered by homosexual, bisexual, or transgender individuals that damage their honor and dignity should be eliminated
  • The Turkish Armed Forces Discipline Code, which punishes homosexuality by stigmatizing it as an “unnatural relation” and leaves the homosexual officers in question to fall victim to discrimination in the workplace and lose their jobs, should change and homosexuality should no longer be considered a crime.
  • The government should regulate CYCKİD discrimination in work life. Regulations directed at LGBT workers should be made in job announcements, hiring, continued work relationships, and termination. Sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status should become protected categories under the discrimination article in the Labor Law
  • Societal and institutional educational programs to eliminate the rights violations experienced by LGBTI people in education, employment, and health in the public sector and private institutions, as well as in access to services, should be applied and followed as a positive obligation of the state.
  • On every subject relevant to human rights and especially when making changes related to the prevention of discrimination, opinions from the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union, and related units should be taken into account. Human rights organization, organizations that work in the field of women’s human rights, and LGBTI organizations should work in collaboration to accomplish all of these endeavors.
  • Statistical studies to aid in bringing discrimination to light should be completed.
  • To ensure fair trials, human rights education based on homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination should be designed for law enforcement officers and members of the judicial branch. This education should be carried out in collaboration with civil society organizations.
  • Prison schemes should be designed with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity; an end should be put to isolation.
  • Pursuant to all of these endeavors, dialogue and collaboration should be established between LGBTI organizations and public establishments and Parliament.

Access report here [Turkish]

Security officer at Bosphorous University insults an LGBTI Studies Club member, the university initiates disciplinary investigation into the student

A member of the Bosphorus University LGBTI Studies Club was subject to insult and degradation by the university’s security staff. The university opened an investigation into the student on the grounds that they refused to present an identification card and disputed with the security staff.

Source:  “Boğaziçi LGBTİ üyesine güvenlik hakaret etti, okul soruşturma açtı!” (“Security officer at Bosphorus University insults an LGBTI Studies Club member, the university initiates disciplinary investigation into the student!”), kaosGL.org, 15 January 2016, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=20909

Bosphorus University initiated a disciplinary investigation into a member of the university’s LGBTI Studies Club. “Declining to present an identification card to the security staff” and “entering into dispute with the security staff” were given as reasons for the investigation.

bogaziciyuruyus

The student member stated that the security staff assaulted them. They sent the following e-mail to the Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Assault:

This is my complaint about the assault I endured today around noon by the university’s security staff. I am sharing related notes about my experience:

I was not alone during the incident.There were students around. I know a few of them. They are also students at the university.

The incident happened three or four meters away from the stairs at the main entrance at North Campus after entering through the gate.

Some of the students who witnessed the incident stopped the security guard who walked up to me and said: ‘What do you think you are doing? You cannot act like this!’

Others said, ‘you cannot address people however you want. You cannot treat a student in this manner just for not showing their ID.’

Others tried to console me: ‘You are right. We know you are right, but if you continue to shout you will be blamed when you are in fact not guilty of anything.’ They were about 15-20 students who came to my support. I only know two of them in person.

I had come to school for my 13:55pm class.

“What should we call you? Are you an animal? Shall we call you animal?”

I came to school, went through the main gate at North Campus. As I was passing by, the security asked for ID: ‘Sir, can you show your ID?’ I did not respond [to being addressed as ‘sir’], and walked on. They said behind me, ‘Hey, sir, hey, ID, ID, we are talking to you!’

I again did not respond and continued walking to the building where my class was being held. At this time, the students who were there said, ‘they are calling you.’

I turned around. They said, ‘We called for you sir, and you do not respond. What are we supposed to call you?’ I said, ‘you can say ‘student,’ ‘or, excuse me’, or ‘friend.’

‘What shall we call you? Are you an animal? Shall we call you animal?’ they said. Meanwhile, a middle-aged security staff about 170 m tall, took out their cell phone and began recording me.

‘Go on, report this,’ they said. I thought about the previous report filed by the club I am a member of. I thought they might have heard about it. I said, ‘Of course, we will report it. You did the same to another student who is not from this university.’

I turned my back and continued walking. As I took a few steps, the security guard who was trying to record me on their cell phone cut in front of me. When that happened, people gathered around us, and other security guards gathered around me. Then another group with an acquaintance of mine among them intervened. The security staff said: ‘Your power reaches us. Go on, deal with it downstairs! You don’t have the heart to back down. We dare you!’

I did not want to hear more, I wanted to get away. I was scared, my nerves were shaking. At that moment, the security staff yelled at me: ‘Do not fuck with us!’ My friends took me away from the scene. I explained the situation to the club members. I was 15 minutes late to class. I had a terrible day after the incident. I was very agitated, wanted to cry, and could not focus on the class. I am considering getting therapy.

(more…)

The Case of S.Ç.:Discrimination in Employment

Source: Sosyal Politikalar, Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği. (Social Policies, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association) LGBT Hak İhlalleri: Emsal Dava Analizleri (The Rights Violations Against LGBT People: Selected Case Analyses.) Istanbul: Punto Baskı Çözümleri, 2013. Available at: http://www.spod.org.tr/turkce/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/emsal-dava-analizleri-son1.pdf   

Subject of Investigation:

The stages of the investigation and whether these stages have been conducted according to the law and justice.

Scope of Investigation:

Istanbul Governorship Human Rights Commission Presidency investigation and Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office Investigation No: 2011/6553.

Summary of the Event Before Investigation:

S.Ç. applied for a job at an institution named Media Monitoring Center and was called in for an interview by the responsible human resources department.

When the interview was completed, S.Ç. was told that he had all the necessary qualifications for the position. The authorized person at the human resources department representing the company congratulated him and gave him the list of necessary documents for employment.

While handing over the list, the authorized person asked S.Ç. why he had been exempted from his military service and S.Ç. told him that his sexual orientation exempted him.

The following day, the same person called him and told him that one of the managers of the company, Ms. Sevil, thought S.Ç.’s sexual orientation would cause problems among employees and therefore had to cancel his recruitment.

(more…)

The Case of F.E.:Termination of State Employment Based on Sexual Orientation

Source: Sosyal Politikalar, Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği. (Social Policies, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association) LGBT Hak İhlalleri: Emsal Dava Analizleri (The Rights Violations Against LGBT People: Selected Case Analyses.) Istanbul: Punto Baskı Çözümleri, 2013. Available at: http://www.spod.org.tr/turkce/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/emsal-dava-analizleri-son1.pdf   

Subject of Investigation:

The case filed at the administrative court to annul the illegal decision by the Ministry of the Interior to terminate state employment and whether the trial was conducted according to the law and justice.

Scope of Investigation:

Istanbul Eighth Administrative Court 2009/476 E and Decision No: 2009/2242.

Summary of the Event Before Investigation:

F.E. passed his police exams in June 2006 and started working at the Security Branch Directorship of the Istanbul Police Department.

There was a tip off that he sexually abused children and committed obscenities and the investigation conducted led to a decision of non-prosecution.

In this period, he was psychologically pressured to resign but the discipline investigation within the institution continued. F.E. withdrew his resignation but it was not processed and the discipline investigation concluded with a decision to terminate his state employment. A suit was filed to annul this illegal decision with a motion to stay the implementation.

Pre-Trial Investigation and Prosecutorial Processes:

F.E.’s house was searched on 24.09.2007 after the tip that he sexually abused children and committed obscenities.

Though there was no warrant for the confiscation of his computer, it was confiscated instead of obtaining a back up. There is no record in the file that F.E. was reminded of his rights. Neither was there a person or a neighbor to sit with him during the search, which is against the laws of confiscation.

Though there was no evidence of child pornography during the search, the investigation of the crime of obscenity continued. In File No: 2007/167515 E., the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office made a decision of non-prosecution on 04.12.2008, Decision No: 2008/41285. The confiscated belongings were returned after the decision.

The Discipline Investigation by the Ministry of Interior’s High Discipline Board:

The process that started with the tip against F.E. continued with the discipline investigation by the Ministry of Interior’s High Discipline Board. The illegal search and confiscation were taken as grounds for this investigation.

The inspectors of the Ministry of Interior recommended that F.E. be punished with termination of state employment based the State Personnel Law No: 657 Article 125/E-g that states “engaging in shameful and embarrassing behaviors that are not befitting of someone within state employment.”

The discipline investigation claimed that during his employment at the Security Branch Directorship of the Istanbul Police Department, F.E. engaged in homosexual relations, had close relations with former sergeant, went to gay bars frequented by homosexuals, took part in gay/homosexual chats online, and sexual images and videos were found on his personal computer. His defense was requested in light of the State Personnel Law No: 657 Article 125/E-g that states engaging in shameful and embarrassing behaviors that are not befitting of someone with the title state employee, which is punishable by termination of state employment.

The discipline investigation concluded on 17.07.2008 with the Ministry of Interior’s High Discipline Board Decision No: 2008/44 giving a decision of termination of state employment.

F.E.’s Resignation During the Discipline Investigation: 

F.E. was psychologically pressured to resign on 24.09.2007 as it became impossible for him to work in the institution during the ongoing prosecutorial and discipline investigations.

On 05.10.2007, F.E. submitted a new petition to withdraw his resignation. With File No: B.05.1.EGM.0.71.02.04/173708 dated 23.10.2007, the Ministry of Interior’s Police Department remarked on the petition that his resignation and termination from 26.06.2007 onwards was accepted on 24.09.2007 on the basis of State Personnel Law No: 657 Article 94 (resignation).

The Case Filed at the Administrative Court to Annul the Termination of State Employment:

Following the conclusion of the discipline investigation and the decision to terminate F.E.’s state employment, a case was filed at the Istanbul Eighth Administrative Court under File No: 2009/476 E to annul this illegal termination with a motion to stay the implementation that would cause irrevocable damage.

The trial petition stated that the decision to expel from F.E from his profession violated Articles 8, 9, and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The punishment would prevent F.E., a master’s student at the Istanbul University Science Institute, from starting an academic career. Termination of state employment would also prevent him from going back to the  job he was going before passing the police exams, when he was working as a chemistry teacher.

The petition stated that the continuation of the discipline investigation despite his resignation and the decision to expel from him from the profession was against the law.

The Court first assessed the request for a stay motion but rejected it without providing reasoning. The objection to the rejection was also not accepted by the Court, again without providing reasoning.

Following the proceedings, the Istanbul Administrative Court rejected the suit by stating that no violation of regulations had been found under File No: 2009/476 and Decision No: 2009/2242.

In its reasoned decision, the Court stated, “…the plaintiff lived with two men who are deemed to be homosexual from time to time, went to a bar frequented by homosexuals with his boyfriends, unnatural pictures, texts, and photographs were stored in his computer along with natural pornographic images, the ceased computer revealed that using a nickname, he chatted online with people with homosexual tendencies and these chats had homosexual content, lived with a woman who left her home without permission even though she is an adult. Further, the sexual photographs from the ceased computer were analyzed and showed resemblances to a female police officer who was his colleague, and he had close relations with a sergeant who left the military in the Office of the Commander of Chief Air Force Command with a letter that expressed his homosexuality on 23 October 2007.

The Court stated, “…Given the investigation report and its addendum, the candidate police officer lived periodically with two homosexual persons documented by the health institute, possessed homosexual materials at home, frequented clubs where homosexuality continued, and at different times and locations met, talked with, and befriended people online and in person. These qualified actions are not befitting of someone within state employment and therefore, the punishment given to the plaintiff does not violate regulations,” and rejected the case.

The decision by the Administrative Court was appealed with a stay motion request.

The Council of State Twelfth Chamber File No: 2010/3201 discussed the request for a stay motion; despite the chamber president’s caveat, the request for a stay motion was denied with four members’ nay votes. The file is still at the Council of State and its appeal investigation has not been completed.

Conclusions on the Investigation and Observations

Both the defendant administration and the Court have arbitrarily interpreted the State Personnel Law No:  657 Article 125.

Homosexuality is not considered a crime in the Turkish Penal Code or in our other laws. When the administration chose to terminate F.E.’s state employment after the discipline investigation, it acted arbitrarily, illegally, and unjustly. The decision clearly violates the principle of proportionality.

The High Discipline Board and the Court’s definition of homosexuality as unnatural sexual intercourse, as an act that is shameful and embarrassing is against science, law, and justice.

The inspectors of the Ministry of Interior who led the discipline investigation and the Court judges who ruled in contradiction with the law have clearly violated the Constitution’s Article on Equality.

The discipline investigation against F.E. also violates the basic penal law principle of no punishment without law. Neither the State Personnel Law No: 657 nor any legal regulation define homosexuality as a disciplinary crime. Yet the High Discipline Board regarded homosexual relations as a shameful and embarrassing behavior not befitting of someone within state employment. The Court’s ratification of the punishment of termination of state employment shows that homosexuality is a shameful and embarrassing behavior not befitting of someone within state employment.

The punishment of termination of state employment and the ratification of this illegal decision by the Court also violated the international agreements Turkey is party to.

The European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 is the right to, and respect for, private and family life and private life includes a person’s sexual life and sexual orientation. The police and the Discipline Board’s investigation into F.E.’s sexual orientation and activities as well as the details of his encounters is a clear violation of the right to respect of his private life.

Even though our national law includes regulations on the prevention of discrimination, albeit insufficient and lacking in monitoring mechanisms, there are still plenty of regulations that can lead to discrimination. The expressions in  State Personnel Law No: 657 Article 125 that include, “behaviors and attitudes that are not befitting of someone within state employment,” “behaviors outside the bounds of general morality and manners,” “shameful and embarrassing behaviors,” and “dignity” are only a few examples of discriminatory regulations.

Discriminatory regulations must be determined through a comprehensive survey and must be amended to be consistent with international agreements.

Lawyer Özlem AYATA

Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ’s Press Statement at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ was working as a football referee in Trabzon, Turkey for 14 years. After many ordeals in the military system, he finally got his “unfit to serve in the military” report based on his sexual orientation. The Turkish Military deems homosexuality a “psychosexual disorder.” He submitted this report to the Turkish Football Federation in Febraury 2009. This report was leaked to the press and his sexual orientation was outed. From that moment on, he was no longer assigned matches, barred from exams, and targeted by homophobia. In November 2010, Dinçdağ filed a suit against the Turkish Football Federation for the violation of his right to privacy and discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation. The 10th hearing of the case will be heard on 10 December 2013 on Human Rights Day.

Dinçdağ explained the process and the rights violations in a press statement with Republican People’s Party MP Melda Onur. Please turn the captions on for English subtitles.