Advance unedited version CCPR/C/129/D/3106/2018-3122/2018
1.2
The authors allege that their return to Turkey would violate their rights under articles
7, 13 and 14 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Angola on 10
April 1992. The authors are unrepresented.
1.3
On 9 February 2018, pursuant to rule 92 of its rules of procedure (now rule 94),1 the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteurs on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party to refrain from extraditing the authors and their families
to Turkey while their cases were under consideration by the Committee.
The facts as presented by the authors
2.1
The authors are followers of the teachings of Fethullah Gülen and travelled to Angola
between 2011 and 2016, after getting positions as teachers 2 in the Colégio Esperança
Internacional,3 one of the hundreds of schools supported by the movement worldwide and
following the Gülen ideals. The school operated for many years without any problems and
became one of the best and well-respected schools in Angola.
2.2
However, following the attempted coup d’état of July 2016, the Turkish Government
has been putting pressure on governments worldwide to close Turkish international schools
associated with the Gülen movement, and expel teachers and other Turkish nationals living
abroad who are perceived as followers of the movement. The Angolan Government has not
been immune to the Turkish pressure.
2.3
After several visits from Turkish governmental officials, on 3 October 2016, the
Angolan President issued a Decree ordering the closure of the Turkish school Colégio
Esperança Internacional and the expulsion of all Turkish citizens affiliated with the school. 4
The decree itself was neither presented to any of the concerned asylum-seekers in Angola,
nor to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Angola. On 5 October 2016, three members of the Ministry of Interior went to the school to
inform the Director and the Deputy-Principal that the school was to be closed following a
high-level decision by the President of Angola. No written document was presented by the
government officials.
2.4
On 10 February 2017, the Colégio Esperança Internacional was officially closed by
the Ministry of Education. Several police officers came to the school and brutally took all the
Turkish teachers and other family members present – including children – into two vehicles,
a bus with tinted windows and bars, and a police van. The authors who were present at the
school that day5 and their families were threatened and screamed at by the police officers,
and “treated as common criminals.” After driving for around 20 minutes, the authors were
taken back to the school. Upon arrival at the school, they were informed that they were not
going to be deported that day, but would be allowed five days to leave the country with their
families. Their passports were collected by the police officers. No information or reasons
were given to them for being ordered to leave the country.
2.5
The authors present at the school on 10 February 2017 were allowed to remain in the
school dorms until they would leave the country. However, after contacting some high
ranking police officers whose children also attended the school, the police officers allowed
them to leave the school’s premises.6
2.6
The school remained closed from 10 February to 20 March 2017, and the ownership
was transferred free of charge to an Angolan businessperson. This was part of a provisional
1
2
3
4
5
6
This is the rule under the Committee’s former rules of procedure (CCPR/C/3/Rev.10). The equivalent
provision under the current rules of procedure (CCPR/C/3/Rev.11) is rule 94.
I.Y. came to work as an accountant for the school.
The school accounts for some 747 students.
Copy to the file.
B.K., H.A., A.K. and A.D. were not at the school when the police came. According to B.K. and A.K.,
when hearing about what happened with their colleagues, a group of 10 persons drove in two cars to
the UNHCR office in Luanda to ask for help. No other information was presented to the Committee
on the identity of the 10 persons.
The authors do not specify the exact number of days during which they were forced to stay in the
school’s dorms.
3