Turkey: Law of 1930 on Absentee Conscripts, Draft Evaders, Persons Unregistered [For Military Service], and Deserters

CHAPTER THREE - Absentee conscripts, draft evaders, persons unregistered [for military service], and deserters

Article 63

1. 

A) (Amendment : 3970 - 16/02/1994)

Article 63: 1A) Amendment: 3970

Date of acceptance: 16.2.1994

Article 63, Paragraph 1 Section A of the Military Criminal Law Number 1632 of date 22.5.1930, which was amended by Law 4726 of 30.4.1945, has been amended as set out below:

A) Those who without an acceptable excuse are, during peacetime, absentee conscripts, draft evaders or unregistered [for military service] and of whom the first contingent of peers or friends with whom they have been processed have been sent off, and those reserve recruits who have been called up and [are absent] without excuse, and [in all the preceding cases] starting from the date of their peersbeing sent off...

- arrive within seven days shall be imprisoned for a term of up to one month;

- are arrested [within seven days] shall be imprisoned for a term of up to three months;

- arrive from between seven days to three months shall be imprisoned for a term ranging from three months to one year;

- are arrested from between seven days to three months shall be imprisoned for a term ranging from four months to one-and-a-half years;

- arrive after three months shall be imprisoned for a term ranging from four months to two years;

- are arrested after three months shall be punished with term of heavy imprisonment ranging from six months to three years.

Article 2 - This law shall be effective three months from the date of its publication.

Article 3 - The Council of Ministers shall implement this law's statutes.

Article 63 1-B) (Altered 4726- 30.4.1945)

Those recruits mentioned in section (A), who arrive or are arrested and then escape before arriving at the unit, shall be punished with a further term of imprisonment from between one month to one year.

2. During mobilization [for war], those persons mentioned in the first paragraph and those who are on leave who, from the day of transfer...

-arrive within seven days shall be liable to a term of imprisonment from between one month to one year, whilst those who are caught [shall face] a term of imprisonment from between four months to two years;

-arrive between seven days and three months shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than two years, whilst those who are caught [shall face] a term of imprisonment of not less than three years,

-arrive of their own accord more than three months later shall be liable to a term of heavy imprisonment of not less than five years, while those who are caught shall be condemned to death. In less serious cases, the capital penalty may be commuted to life imprisonment or a heavy imprisonment term of not less than ten years, and in other cases the other penalties set out shall be reduced by half.

Article 64 - Penalties for reserve officers and military officers who are called up but do not arrive [to do their military service] (Amendment : 4257 - 15/06/1942)

1. In accordance with Article 15 of Law No : 1076, in peace time, those reserve officers and military officers who do not arrive at their military branch-office within the period specified by the Ministry of National Defence after being called up, and who are arrested within 15 days after the expiration of the period, shall be punished with terms of one to six months'imprisonment; those who are arrested after 15 days and within three months shall be punished with terms of six months to one year; those who are arrested after three months shall be punished with terms of up to five years' heavy imprisonment. Penalties for those who arrive of their own accord within these [above-mentioned] periods shall be reduced by half.

2. In mobilization [for war], those reserve officers and military officers who are called up and do not arrive at their military branch-office within the specified period and from the end of this period...

- arrive within seven days shall be punished with a prison term from three months to two years, whilst those who are caught [shall be punished with a term of imprisonment] from between six months to three years,

- arrive from between seven days to three months [shall be punished] with a term of imprisonment of not less than three years and those who are caught [shall be punished] with a term of imprisonment of not less than three years,

- arrive after three months [shall be punished] with a heavy term of imprisonment of not less than five years, and those who are caught shall be punished with the death penalty.

3. Reserve officers and military personnel who upon a call-up to military service arrive at the branch-office but do not set out for their local place-assigned within 12 days in peace time or four days during mobilization [for war], and those who spend more than half of these periods en route not including the [necessary] travel time and thereby do not reach their duty or official station shall be imprisoned for a term of up to three months in peace time, and from between three months to five years during mobilization [for war]. The periods set down in this paragraph and in Article 65 may be extended or reduced by the Ministry of National Defence as the need arises.

In less serious cases, the provisions set out in the last paragraph of Article 63 shall be applied in respect of the penalties set down in this article.

4. The situations set out in Articles 13 and 15 of Law No : 1076 shall be taken into consideration when this article is applied.

Article 65 - Punishment of those who do not complete their duty or mission (Amendment : 6889 - 25/01/1967)

Those commissioned officers, government employees [working] for the military and non-commissioned officers who without justifiable excuse do not leave for their duty or official stations where they have been appointed within 15 days of receipt of such an order in peacetime or six days during mobilization [for war], who do not join up with their duty and official stations, or [having set out] spend more seven days en route in peacetime or three days en route during mobilization [for war], not including the time needed for the journey, shall be imprisoned withterms of up to three months [in peacetime] and terms of three months to five months during mobilization [for war]. In the event of a repeated offence, if the first instance occurs in peacetime, they shall be imprisoned with a term of six months, and if it occurs during mobilization [for war], then they shall be imprisoned with a term of eight months; if both instances occur during mobilization [for war], then they shall be imprisoned for a term of one year.

The provisions of Article 66 shall be implemented for those who do not join up with their unit in peacetime within six days, andduring mobilization [for war] within three days, of the end of the period allowed for them to set out and join up as detailed above.

Article 66 - Desertion and Punishment (Amendment : 3574 - 14/06/1989)

1. The below mentioned military personnel shall be punished with terms of one to three years' imprisonment:

A) Those who move away from their unit or place where they perform their duty for more than six days without leave;

B) Those who, having left their unit or place where they perform their duty to take leave, rest or a change of atmosphere, do not arrive within six days of the day when they are supposed to have returned, and have no excuse for so doing;

2) The penalty shall not be less than two years' imprisonment for the cases set down below:

A) If the offender takes away with him arms, ammunition, any item of equipment or means of transportation thereof, any animal or anything assigned to the army;

B) If the offender escapes while serving;

C) If the offender repeats the offence;

3. The permitted time periods set out in this article shall be reduced by half during mobilization [for war].

Article 67 -Punishment for those who flee abroad (Amendment : 3574 - 14/06/1989)

1) The below mentioned military persons shall be punished with terms of threeto five years' imprisonment on the assumption that they have fled abroad:

A) Those military persons who leave the country's borders without permission after they have been absent for three days;

B) Those whose prisoner of war status has ended, and who do not approach a unit or military authority, whether on purpose or through negligence;

C) Those who do not approach a Turkish warship, the nearest Turkish consulate or the office of an allied government, on purpose or through negligence, after having been separated from a ship or an airplane while abroad.

2. ) The permitted time period set out in paragraph (A) shall be reduced to one day during mobilization [for war].

3. ) Punishment for those who flee abroad shall not be less than five years' imprisonment, and shall be increased by up to ten years' imprisonment in the following cases:

A) (Amendment : 2632 - 22/12/1934) If the offender takes away with him arms, ammunition, any item of equipment or means of transportation thereof, any animal or anything assigned to the army;

B) If the offender escapes while serving,

C) If the offender repeats the offence,

D) If the offender escapes during mobilization [for war].

4. If the offender mentioned in Paragraph Three is a commissioned officer or government employee [working] for the military, he shall receive the maximum punishment [available].

Article 68 - Punishment for those arrested within the time period orthose who approach of their own accord

(The offender shall be punished in accordance with Article 50 of Law No: 477 dated 16.6.1964. This article is abrogated by Article 64 of LawNo: 477) - Please see under Turkey

Article 69 - Punishment for those who escape to the enemy from a position besieged by enemy forces

1. Whoever escapes to the opposing force shall be sentenced to death.

2. Whoever deserts while in confrontation with the enemy or from a besieged position shall be punished with life imprisonment or limited terms of heavy imprisonment. In serious cases, capital punishment may be implemented.

Article 70 - Conspiracy to desert and its punishment

1. If more than two military persons escape together, having previously decided and agreed [i.e. conspired] to do so, this shall be considered as desertion by agreement [i.e. desertion by conspiracy].

2. If the offenders escape abroad, the ringleaders shall be punished with terms of between five to seven years' imprisonment, if the ringleaders are commissioned officers or government employees [working] for the military, they shall be punished with terms of between five to ten years' heavy imprisonment.

3. If the offenders escape within the homeland, the ringleaders shall be punished with terms of between two to five years' imprisonment, if the ringleaders are commissioned officers or government employees [working] for the military, they shall be punished with terms of between five to seven years' heavy imprisonment.

4. Other offenders who escape by conspiracy shall be punished with terms of between one to three years' imprisonment; if the desertion is to a foreign country, the punishment shall be doubled.

5. During mobilization [for war], the ringleaders of the desertion by conspiracy shall be punished with the death penalty. Punishment of other offenders shall be increased by one half of the specified punishments.

6. (This paragraph is abrogated by Law No : 3574 dated 14/06/1989)

Article 71 - Demotion of non-commissioned officers

Non commissioned officers who are punished for crimes of desertion shall be sentenced to having their rank withdrawn.

Suspension of the punishment for desertion

Article 72 - 1(The first paragraph is abrogated by Article 259 of law No : 353 dated 25/10/1963)

Article 72 - (The first paragraph is abrogated by Article 353 of law No : 246)

2. If they [=deserters] escape again, while en route, from guest houses or the units or establishments where they are located while being transferred, the punishment to which they were previously sentenced shall be doubled.

Article 73 - Reducing punishment of returnees

If the deserter returns from desertion within six weeks, or within one week during mobilization [for war], punishments mentioned in the articles above shall be reduced by as much as a half. Heavy life imprisonment or not less than five years' heavy imprisonment shall be implemented instead of capital punishment.

Article 74 - Punishment of those who do not report those attempting desertion (This article is abrogated by Article 64 of Law No: 477)

(An offender in respect of Article 74 would be punished in accordance with Article 51 of Law No: 477 dated 16.6.1964)

Article 75 - Punishment of those who assist deserters (Amendment: 4726 - 30/04/1945)

Whoever...

-incites military persons to desert, or facilitates their desertion or the continuance of the desertion,

-knowingly takes on, for private or official service, deserters, those [absent] without leave, absentee conscripts, draft evaders or those unregistered [for military service], or reserve officers who are called up but do not arrive or reserve government employees [working] for the military,

-hides them, or

-in any way whatever causes them to work in any institution or body that is with the state, city or municipality or under the supervision of the state or bank or association or professional institutions that work for the benefit of the public, or

-on receipt of notification from the government does not remove them fromprivate business,

...shall be punished in peacetime with a term of heavy imprisonment of between three months to a year, and if he repeats the offence, a term from between one year to three years,

... shall be punished during mobilization [for war] or state of emergency with a term of heavy imprisonment from between six months to two years, and if he repeats this offence during mobilization [for war], or state of emergency, a term of up to seven years' heavy imprisonment

2. Whoever in any way intentionally issues documents that do not conform with real events, and that serve to cause deficiencies in military strength, shall in the first instance be punished with a term of heavy imprisonment from between two years and five years, and if he repeats the offence, shall be punished with the death penalty.

Article 76 - Punishment for escaped prisoners or detainees (Amendment : 2034 - 27/06/1932)

Those prisoners who escape by deceiving guards or those entrusted with guarding them or by taking advantage of their lack of attention or absence shall be punished with half of the rest of their sentence. In any event, this punishment shall not be less than one month.

Those detainees who escape in the same way shall be punished with up to six years' imprisonment.

Article 77 - Punishment for those who escape from the place of punishment in observation-confinement

Those commissioned officers and government employees [working] for the military, who, while undergoing observation-confinement punishment, leave the place of punishment, or receive visits, without receiving permission from authorised persons to do so shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of up to one month.

(Annexed Paragraph : 2034 - 27/06/1932)

The same punishment shall be applied to those commissioned officers and government employees [working] for the military, who, while undergoing confinement-to-quarters punishment, leave the place of punishment.

Article 78 - Fines and additional punishments for those who escape to the enemy side or foreign countries

A)

1. All existing assets and property of, or accruing in the future to, those who escape to the enemy side or who, intending to keep away from compulsory service during mobilization [for war], take refuge or remain in a foreign country, shall upon a decree be seized on the nation's behalf. When this decree is given, the rights of offender's relatives to assign counsel for the defence shall be reserved.

2. In the event of it being impossible to notify the accused, [the text of] the decree shall be sent to his last residence, hung on the door of the military court and published in newspapers. This notification shall be reissued within three months of the date of the order declaring the end of mobilization.

3. A summary of the seizure decree shall be sent, within eight days of the decree date, to deed registration offices and the office shall be empowered to administer absentees' assets.

4. The assets and property about which a seizure decree is taken shall remain impounded until they are sold off by the said administration. If, before these assets and property have been sold, the accused returns or is arrested, or court proceedings commence, the seizure shall be waived.

5. The livelihood of those persons whom the offender is legally obliged to maintain may be provided for from, and according to the value of, the assets that were seizedby order of the justice of the peace in the offender's last [district of] residence.

B)

1. According to the provisions of testamentary disposition (Civil Code: 452, 453), if the offender's descendants, father, mother, sisters, brothers or spouse are living, their legally guaranteed portion [of the assets] shall be given to them and that which remains shall be sold off for the benefit of nation. If none of the heirs can be found, then all of the assets shall be sold off for the benefit of the nation.

2. If official investigation does not establish a financial lack of means as being the reason for the offender's [non] return, or if this issue cannot be proven by relatives, in accordance with Paragraph number 2 of Section (A), the decree of seizure shall become absolute one year after the last notification to be made following the end of mobilization [for war].

3. Seized assets shall be sold off in accordance with the provisions and regulations governing the sale of state assets.

4. Objections to the sale and valuation of assets shall be submitted to the court at the last place where the offender's residence was situated or the court of the district where the offender was last located in Turkey.

5. The offender's debts shall be paid out from the portions left to the heirs. If there is no heir, three quarters of all the assets shall form recompense for the offender's debts.

6. If after the assets have been sold off and before the termination of the period set out in [section] (A) Paragraph number 2, it appears that the offender has died, the [aggregate] cost of the assets sold shall be given to the heirs.

7. After the sale of the seized assets, if the offender is acquitted following a court procedure in which he has been present, he shall have his civil rights restored as from the date of his return or arrest.He may seek or claim compensation from the state for actual loss or damage, caused to himself or his family.

C)

1. Upon a decree of seizure, all kinds of requests, applications and transactions made by the offender, intending to conceal, dispose of or reduce his personal assets during mobilization [for war], concerning both any that are current with living persons and anytestamentary contracts and dispositions, whether reciprocated or not, whether direct or through intermediaries, shall be ruled invalid.

2. A) Those government employees, heirs, commercial and financial institutions, companies or any third parties who knowingly assist the offender, directly or indirectly to smuggle out or decrease the whole or some parts of the offender's property before or after the seizure, as set out in Paragraph (A), shall be penalised with a heavy fine of not less than double, and not more than triple, the value of the property concealed or smuggled out.

D) The offender shall lose all his executor rights that are provided under the Civil Code.

E) The statutes of limitation for criminal procedure and civil procedure shall not be applied for the offences described in this article.

CHAPTER FOUR - Rendering oneself unfit for military serviceor resorting to fraud to evade military service

Article 79 - Punishment of those who deliberately injure themselves to avoid military service (Amendment - 2862 - 11/12/1935)

1. Whoever deliberately injures himself, or in any way renders himself unfit for military service or allows himself to become so shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of between one to five years.

2. If the action has destroyed his ability to work for all types of military purposes, the offender shall be punished with a term of up to seven years' heavy imprisonment.

3. If the action has been perpetrated during mobilization [for war], the offender shall be punished with a term of up to ten years' heavy imprisonment; if it has been perpetrated whilst in confrontation with the enemy, then the perpetrator shall be punished with the death penalty

Article 80 - Punishment of those who render others unfit for military service

Whoever also intentionally commits the offences indicated in Article 79 on another person shall also be punished with the same penalty.

Article 81 - Those who resort to fraud in order to evade their military service - (Amendment 2862 - 18/12/1935)

1. Those who, reaching military service age, change their name, send others in their place to medical examinations or military service, use another person's identity card or military documents, or use forged certificates or documents in the military service procedure, with the intention of evading the whole, or a part, of military service, and those who, having joined up with their detachment or establishment, commit fraud or deception in any way whatsoever with the intention of evading the whole, or a part, of military service, shall be punished with a term of up to ten years' heavy imprisonment.

2. Punishments set out in the first paragraph shall also be applied to the offenders' accomplices. In less serious cases, the punishments set out in these articles may be reduced to a term of five years' imprisonment.

Comments:
This is an unofficial translated consolidation transmitted to UNHCR on 23 May 1997. This Law is dated 22 May 1930. This document includes only selected provisions.
Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.