Human Rights of Lgbti+ People in Turkey: 2019 Report

HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTI+ PEOPLE IN TURKEY: 2019 REPORT Prepared by Attorney Yasemİn Öz HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTI+ PEOPLE IN TURKEY: 2019 REPORT Prepared by Attorney Yasemin Öz Published by Kaos GL Kültürel Araştırmalar ve Dayanışma Derneği First Edition May 2020, Ankara Kaos GL Associaton PK 12 Tunus PTT Kavaklıdere Çankaya - Ankara Phone: +90 312 230 0358 Fax: +90 312 230 6277 E-mail: [email protected] www.kaosgl.org www.kaosgldernegi.org Design Ceket Medya This report is published by the support of the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA). This does not mean the content of the report reflects SIDA’s official views. INDEX Introduction ....................................................................................................................5 Right to Life and Hate Murders Against LGBTI+ People .................................. 8 Hate Crimes ...................................................................................................................11 Hate Speech ................................................................................................................ 22 Gender-Based Violance ..........................................................................................24 Ban on Torture and Maltreatment ........................................................................ 25 Personal Liberty and Security ................................................................................26 Freedom of Speech ...................................................................................................29 Right to Assembly and Demonstration ............................................................... 32 Right to Work ............................................................................................................. 37 Right to Education .................................................................................................... 55 Right to Health .......................................................................................................... 57 Freedom of Residence and Travel – Right to Property ..................................59 Access to Goods and Services ...............................................................................62 Right to Reproduce – Legal Status for Intersex People .................................63 Right to Marry and Found a Family .....................................................................64 Right to Social Security ...........................................................................................65 Rights of Prisoners ....................................................................................................66 Rights of Foreigners, Refugees and Migrants ...................................................68 Right to Political Participation ................................................................................ 71 Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress ........................................................... 73 Right to Information ................................................................................................. 74 Compulsory Military Service ................................................................................... 76 Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey ............................................ 77 The Ombudsman ........................................................................................................81 Conclusion and Recommendations ......................................................................82 INTRODUCTION While preparing the Human Rights Report of LGBTI+ People in Turkey for 2019, as Kaos GL Association, we have chosen an approach aiming to address the categories of rights and freedoms under different headings and to address general profile of positive and negative incidents about the related right-freedom that occurred in 2019 or took place in prior years which still have a judicial process in 2019. In our 2018 report, we also addressed national and international legislation on the relevant right/ freedom categories. Detailed information about the appli- cable legislation can be obtained from our 2018 report.1 In our 2019 report, unlike previous years, we preferred to examine the decisions and practices of the Turkish Human Rights and Equality Institution and the Om- budsman Institution in detail under separate headings. Although both institutions were established and assigned directly to monitor human rights violations, discrimination and unlawful public practices, we have seen that both institutions implemented discriminatory decisions and practices when it comes to LGBTI+s and that public institutions tasked with addressing rights violations could take LGBTI+ exclusionary approaches in practice. The cases featured in the report were compiled within the framework of information brought to the judiciary authorities or the press or directly submitted to the Kaos GL Association. LGBTI+s, who are under severe pressure to conceal their identity, may not be able to initiate any process with the concern that their identity will be revealed even when their rights are violated. In this regard, it is clear that many violations were not featured in public or submitted to our association, and we were not able to access the knowledge of many breaches and incidents that occurred in 2019. Therefore, the report reflects only the violations and events that we could access. Additionally, in categories where the number of violations such as hate speech is very high, we featured a limited number of violations in the report that could reflect the overall situation, while noting the total number of violations we iden- tified numerically and cited the thematic reports we prepared in the relevant areas in 2019. 1 http://www.kaosgldernegi.org/resim/yayin/dl/insan_haklari_raporu_2018_web.pdf | 5 | HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTI+ PEOPLE IN TURKEY: 2019 REPORT A total of 72 cases has been reviewed regarding the violations against LGBTI+ people’s human rights to the extent of this report. In the report, the cases have arisen mostly in the form of violations, but cases that have ended up with positive judicial results have also been included. The report is not only limited to the right violations, but any advancements regarding LGBTI+ people’s human rights in 2019 were tried to be included. Since multiple human rights violations can occur in a single case, or multiple people’s rights can be violated within the same case, it will be seen that the number of violations reflected in the report is much higher than the number of cases we have addressed. In the context of the terminology used in the report, we prefer using “case” term when we directly reference the incident itself or if the event had started as a violation, but ended up with a positive result. On the other hand, we prefer using the “violation” term if the incident occurred as a human rights violation. To look at the distribution of cases and violations according to their relevant categorization; there are five hate murders, thirteen hate crimes, six hate speech cases, two cases of sexual violence, ten cases of violation of the prohibition of torture and maltreatment, thirty-four on violations of human freedom and security, two cases regarding the violation of the right to private life, sixteen cases of violation of freedom of expression, thirteen cases of violation of the right to assembly and demonstration, five cases related to discrimination in working life, four discrimination in the field of education, thirteen in the field of freedom of residence and travel – the right to property, three cases of discrimination in the field of healthcare, four cases of discrimination related to access to goods and services, two cases of rights violations against the LGBTI+ prisoners, and a report on rights violations against refugees that are covered in the scope of this report. The total number of violations/cases addressed in the report is 134. When the cases covered in the report are examined, it will be seen that in 2019, the intensity of rights violations against LGBTI+s was retained. Violations against LGBTI+s have become more visible and there was an increase in the legal actions against violations. Positive developments were still limited in 2019. There was an increase in violations that originated directly from authorities and law enforce- ment. Meanwhile, the number of violations from the public continued to inten- sify. However, while there have been significant improvements in the access of LGBTI+s whose rights were violated to justice and compensatory mechanisms, it is undisputed that they are far from the required level. One of the critical developments in this regard was the decisions made by the Administrative Courts for the indefinite ban on LGBTI+ activities imposed by the Governorship of Ankara. | 6 | INTRODUCTION However, the process still needs to be observed during its implementation. The number of positive decisions on preventing violations by the judiciary authorities has also been limited in 2019. Again, another judicial decision that we may call as remarkable is the verdict of acquittal for the six persons who were charged with opposition to the Law on Meetings and Demonstration Marches because they participated in the Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride March in 2018. Still, it is impossible to say that the equity of the freedom of assembly and demonstrations is being protected with a mere justifi- cation of the verdict of acquittal. We would like

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