We are here to release “The Report on the Human Rights Violation in the Eastern and South-eastern Anatolian Regions during the first half of 2017” by the Human Rights Association.
As can be concluded from the recent military coups in Turkey, they are clear threats and assault to the efforts of democratisation. Unfortunately, last year, Turkey went through an attempted coup on 15th and 16th of July, mainly based in Ankara and İstanbul and which failed in the end. We remember with respect those who lost their lives and got wounded, and would like to emphasize that we, human rights defenders, are completely against military coups at all times. However, determining the correct methods of tackling military coup threats are as vital as being against them. Whereas coups aim at democracy, people should intend to protect democracy, human rights and rule of law while struggling against that threat. We would like to state that the practices the government has been implementing against the threat are as hazardous as probable results of a successful one. It has been a year since the state of emergency was declared country-wide right after the attempted coup, and there have been irreparable damages in terms of democracy and human rights.
Similarly, armed conflict has been continuing increasingly throughout our region. People have lost their lives in conflicts and blasts on a daily basis. There are violations of human rights which go beyond the ones in the 1990s,
Also, we have been facing an authoritarian tendency against human rights struggle which treat us as criminals. Our reporting on human rights violations are seen as a crime and targeted by the government; human rights defenders and activists are subject to unjust detention and were sued over absurd reasons. On July 5th, on Büyükada Island in İstanbul, human rights defenders, who were at a meeting then, were detained over the counts beyond belief. Following a 12-day detention, 6 of 10 fellow defenders were arrested.
As a result of persistence in problem solving practices apart from dialogue, we have been facing a painful and horrible battled conflict that influenced the social life deeply. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the government’s discriminatory attitude that blocks political solution attempts, hope for a peaceful life and a political solution almost disappeared. Tried and tested since the 1990s but remaining without a solution, the violence-and-conflict based policy unfortunately leaves death tolls behind and irreparable damages in the society.
Just as experienced worldwide, the only way to end such conflicts and violence, in other words to establish peace, is to negotiate the problem. To do that, political channels must be open and used properly. Such a policy was developed between 2013 and 2015, which was quite didactic. On this wise, we would like to call on PKK to declare ceasefire and end their assaults and on the government to stop military operations immediately. Political channels must be open and civil society should not be ignored for solution.
There have been a variety of violations in different categories in our region throughout the first six months of 2017. We would like to share them here briefly.
As mentioned above shortly, the state of emergency has caused many violations in various categories. By means of decree-laws, there happened to be unjust treatment in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, economical and social rights, personal security and freedom. There is a serious oppression against the media; and 170 journalist/press employees are in prison at present. In Turkey, where over 200 journalists have been trialled in court and imprisoned, media is being prevented from making news. Detention, arrests and closing down media outlets have caused thousands of journalists to lose their jobs. The freedom of demonstration is restricted by provincial governors or district governors. In some cities such as Diyarbakır, Van, Urfa, and Batman, open-air meetings, demonstrations, rallies, and other activities are banned for “security reasons” either by delaying indefinitely or by 30-day periods each month. People who demand to use their rights as mentioned in the constitution’s 34th article are responded violently by security officers, taken under custody or wounded.
In this setting, where the idea that Turkish judicial mechanisms are under the influence of political discourse and lost their objectivity is so common, illegal detentions and arrests have increasingly continued. We would like to emphasize that it is a clear violation of personal security and freedom to detain and arrest people over membership of illegal organisation, helping illegal organisations, propaganda in favour of illegal organizations, mostly using their social media posts as evidence
There are 12 MPs (one from CHP, 11 from HDP) in prison including HDP’s former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş. Only because of speeches they made, these MPs are sued over tens of years, some of whom were sentenced and some others’ parliamentary immunities were lifted and ousted from the parliament. Undoubtedly, we cannot dissociate the MPs’ imprisonment from the government’s conflict-based policies, and we can say that this blocks the ways of democratic policy channels and disrupts democratisation efforts.
Moreover, mostly BDP mayors were replaced with government trustees, which we consider as an intervention in the public will. The government has continued to lay off the mayors and the members of local municipal councils and appointed trustees instead. As of today, 86 BDP mayors (of 103 mayors in total) were replaced with government trustees, and 85 of them are under arrest now. These practices are anti-democratic and unjust interventions in free will and free elections. Following the appointment of trustees, employees in the municipalities were exposed to personnel security investigation, and were suspended or discharged from their posts, which has resulted in direct violation of right to work and job security laws.
o, following the appointment of trustees, employees in the municipalities were exposed to personnel security investigation, and were suspended or discharged from their posts, which has resulted in direct violation of right to work and job security laws. Many public centres involved in educational and social services were shut down without a satisfactory reason. Especially, the instructors at a kindergarten in Diyarbakır called Zarokistan (Children’s Land), which served in the Kurdish Language, were discharged from work and the language used there was replaced with Turkish, which shows the intolerance against Kurdish in public realm. Parents and children suffered much afterwards. Monuments in and around the squares were demolished and place names were changed into Turkish, which is considered as an intervention in the public’s common memory, and is definitely unacceptable.
Another example for violations during the state of emergency and armed conflict is the declaration of curfews and special security zones. Hundreds of areas covering rural settlements were declared security zones on the grounds of military operations and curfews were imposed a lot of times. Residents of rural areas could not maintain their routines and experienced unjust suffering. During the raids by security forces in military operations, civilians were tortured, ill-treated, and detained unlawfully. There were allegations of village evacuations and villagers were forced to leave their homes. Graves of PKK militants were damaged and demolished by security officials.
There has been an increase in torture and ill-treatment inside and outside detention centres. People’s being subject to physical and psychological torture is definitely unacceptable. We would like to remind that torture is absolutely forbidden according to the Constitution and the international agreements signed by Turkey. These inhumane practices must be stopped immediately; whoever employed these methods must be discharged from their positions and taken to court. Another place where torture is widespread and systematic is prisons. Along with the state of emergency, there have been violations in prisons such as banishment, violation of right to health, torture and ill-treatment, disciplinary proceedings, solitary confinement, limitation of communication and family visits, restrictions on the use of their mother tongues. Prisoners have stated, via letter or family members visiting our offices, that they were exposed to naked strip search and physical torture during transportation, being forced to stand during inspections, solitary cells, medical treatment while handcuffed, and lack of medical treatment in infirmary or hospitals. We would also like to underline that prisoners are subject to aggravated solitary cell punishment. It is clear that the prison managements arbitrarily give solitary punishment following disciplinary proceedings, which is inhumane. Furthermore, in political circles, there has been some plans to launch prison uniforms and this is intended to be done for isolating prisoners from social life, which is a deep trouble.
Violence against women continued increasingly in January-June 2017 in our region. Due to the male-dominant society’s attempts to suppress women’s speech and lifestyle, violence by men and courts’ verdicts as if awarding the violence with very little punishment deepen gender inequality. The attitude of authorities, which is indifferent to violence against women, and the members of the government, who have used a discriminatory and threatening discourse all along, contributes much to the intensifying problem.
Also, violence of rights that children face increasingly continued. Apart from children losing their lives as a result of violence, the number of children exposed to abuse indoors such as at dormitories and schools has increased remarkably. Unclaimed bombs in conflict zones have killed and wounded so many children. It is striking that the preventive regulations are insufficient. We call on the government and other authorities to make regulations to develop the rights of children and perform the legal obligations put forward by international conventions.
Another significant issue we would like to mention is the accidents caused by military and police vehicles and involving death and personal injury. During the first half of 2017, 12 people, 4 of whom were children, were killed and over 20 were injured. Especially by the declaration of the state of emergency and armed conflict, the number of armoured vehicles remarkably increased in the rural and urban areas of the region; also, high speed and carelessness increased this number. It can be assumed that, responsible for the accidents, the drivers of these vehicles have not been investigated efficiently, which leads to more accidents.
As known, around Alipaşa and Lalebey neighbourhoods of Sur District in Diyarbakır started an urban renewal program, which included the demolition of 850 non-registered buildings. The owners of those taken properties refused to leave their neighbourhoods for their just compensation demands were not covered. However, the demolition process started. During the clearing of the area, electricity and water lines were cut by the authorities. Together with the Diyarbakır Medical Chambers, on 1 June 2017 we made an examine-on-site, where we warned that forced evacuation would be likely to cause life-threatening violations of human rights. For that reason, we would like to state that authorities and property owners ought to maintain a dialogue and that the area’s historical and demographical structure needed to be preserved.
On this basis, we demand that state of emergency be lifted; the clash environment be ended, and finally a permanent de-escalation and peace talks be maintained. We wish an honourable life for all under all circumstances, without discrimination in terms of language, faith, ethnicity, nationality, gender and culture and we want to emphasize right to live is unquestionable.
HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION
Diyarbakır Branch