Appeal Made To EU Over Jailed Gay Turkish Conscript
365Gay.com
Turkish LGBT rights groups have appealed to the European Union to investigate the treatment of a gay pacifist jailed for refusing to serve in the military.
In a letter to the Members of the European Parliament the groups - Kaos, Lambda Istanbul, and Rainbow Antalya - say that Mehmet Tarhan is facing an anal examination to prove he is gay.
There are allegations that prison guards have encouraged other prisoners to repeatedly beat, humiliate and threaten Tarhan with death, even in front of his lawyer.
He was first jailed on April 8. When he appeared in court in June human rights observers said Tarhan could not walk properly and his body was covered in bruises.
Under Turkish military law homosexuality is considered a psychosexual disorder and those who have this “pathology” are considered “unfit to serve” in the Turkish Armed Forces.
But, exemption from military service on the grounds of homosexuality is an extremely difficult and humiliating.
One is required to submit photographs or videos graphically displaying sexual intercourse with another man and/or submit to an anal examination that supposedly yields proof of passive anal sex.
Even so there is no guarantee of being exempted from service.
Last month the Military Court of Appeals ruled that Tarhan’s homosexuality had not been established via “proper physical examination procedures.”
The three LGBT rights groups say that Tarhan will be likely subjected to physical examination to determine his sexuality.
In their letter the groups ask the European Parliament to "raise the issue of forced physical examinations with the Turkish government and Parliament."
Turkey has applied for full membership in the EU.
"Urgent action is needed so that Mehmet Tarhan is not subjected to a treatment contrary to the protection of private life and freedom form degrading treatments protected under the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights," the letter says.
Original Link:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/12/122905turkey.htm
Turkish LGBT rights groups have appealed to the European Union to investigate the treatment of a gay pacifist jailed for refusing to serve in the military.
In a letter to the Members of the European Parliament the groups - Kaos, Lambda Istanbul, and Rainbow Antalya - say that Mehmet Tarhan is facing an anal examination to prove he is gay.
There are allegations that prison guards have encouraged other prisoners to repeatedly beat, humiliate and threaten Tarhan with death, even in front of his lawyer.
He was first jailed on April 8. When he appeared in court in June human rights observers said Tarhan could not walk properly and his body was covered in bruises.
Under Turkish military law homosexuality is considered a psychosexual disorder and those who have this “pathology” are considered “unfit to serve” in the Turkish Armed Forces.
But, exemption from military service on the grounds of homosexuality is an extremely difficult and humiliating.
One is required to submit photographs or videos graphically displaying sexual intercourse with another man and/or submit to an anal examination that supposedly yields proof of passive anal sex.
Even so there is no guarantee of being exempted from service.
Last month the Military Court of Appeals ruled that Tarhan’s homosexuality had not been established via “proper physical examination procedures.”
The three LGBT rights groups say that Tarhan will be likely subjected to physical examination to determine his sexuality.
In their letter the groups ask the European Parliament to "raise the issue of forced physical examinations with the Turkish government and Parliament."
Turkey has applied for full membership in the EU.
"Urgent action is needed so that Mehmet Tarhan is not subjected to a treatment contrary to the protection of private life and freedom form degrading treatments protected under the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights," the letter says.
Original Link:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/12/122905turkey.htm
