Osman Isci
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2017-082-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2017
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 38.963745
Longitude: 35.243322
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Turkey
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 23 January 2017
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
an academic researcher and human rights defender; research position at Agri Ibrahim Cecen University; In January 2016, Osman Isci, together with more than 180 other academic and university researchers signed the “Peace Petition”, which was published by Academics for Peace.
- Type of rights defended
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression during his official visit to Turkey in November 2016
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- November 2016
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 15 December 2016
- Reprisal information
On 15 December 2016, approximately one month after he participated in a meeting with the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Isci received a document notifying him that, according to Emergency Decree nos. 667, 668 and 675, and Articles 137 and 138 of the Law on Public Officers, he had been placed under administrative investigation and suspended until its completion.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Profession-related reprisal
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 11 April 2017
- Government response content
In its reply of 11 April 2017, the Government responded that a disciplinary investigation was initiated against Mr. Isci on suspicion that he might be linked to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a suspected terrorist organization. The Government further submitted that under Decree Law 667, public officials who are deemed to be members or have links to terrorist organizations be dismissed from public service. The Government stated that the investigation against Mr. Isci is ongoing, and it has no relevance to his meeting with the Special Rapporteur, nor to his assumed work as a human rights defender.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0