Today, we mark the 69th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We would like to state that the declaration proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitle to as a human being. Also we would like to call on the State Parties to prevent violations against right to life and prohibition of torture in particular and fulfil every one of the obligations issued by the declaration.
Firstly, we are remembering Tahir Elçi, our jewel fellow lawyer and human rights defender, who was murdered right beside the four-legged minaret located in Sur District on 28 November 2015. We sadly state that despite the past two years, a thorough investigation has not been conducted and the perpetrators were not caught. He spent almost all the years of his career fighting against enforced disappearance and for solving unknown murders, but the attitude towards his murder case makes us think it is aimed to be left unsolved, which manifests a culture of impunity. We do not approve of the attempts aimed at leaving the case unsolved. As human rights defenders we would like to give a promise to Tahir Elçi that the perpetrators will be identified and brought to court.
We have experienced for the past five years how difficult it is to bring peace, whereas how easily wars can be started and how high a death toll they can cause. While enjoying the positive atmosphere brought by the peace talks process commenced in 2013 (lasting till 2015), we also witnessed the shift to clashes beginning from the late 2015, and subsequently how the hope for peace was demolished. Sadly, increasing violence and armed conflicts since 2015 in Turkey and throughout our region in particular have caused more than 3000 people to die including security personnel, militants and civilians.
The state of emergency (SoE), which was declared following the attempted coup taking place on 15 July 2016 and extended by three months repeatedly, has been continuing despite gross reactions from the society. Lacking the legal security, the 17-month-long SoE has turned into a means of authoritarian oppression against opposition, and has led to severe violations of human rights. To make it clear, the summary of what has happened for those 17 months is as follows:
With decree-laws over 100 thousand public servants and academicians were dismissed from their posts. 160 media outlets were closed down until an indefinite time, and their property was confiscated. 166 journalists are still under arrest. Tens of them were sued, while some were sentenced to imprisonment.
Freedom of expression and right to assembly and organisation were abused and restricted by provincial governorates or district governorates. Open-air meetings, demonstrations, rallies, and other activities are banned for “security reasons” unjustly. These bans are still in use. Hundreds of associations and foundations working for the sake of human rights, justice, women, children, and against poverty were closed down on accounts of “relation to illegal organisations” without proper legal investigation.
The mayors 101 municipalities (94 from BDP) were dismissed from office and replaced with government trustees. A total of 110 co-mayors of BDP were arrested after being dismissed from posts (68 of them are still under arrest). 15 MPs were arrested including the co-president to HDP, the second biggest opposition party; as of today 10 MPs are still under arrest (9 HDP and 1 CHP). Parliamentary immunities of 5 MPs of HDP were lifted. And some of them were sentenced to imprisonment. Free elections, indispensable part of democracy and secured by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, were ignored as were the voters’ wills.
The SoE, which was advocated by the Government who claimed that it is not harmful to anyone, has caused numerous violations against human rights and the table it brought about has no place in a democratic system. Therefore, there is no reasonable way to explain the SoE with principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. In contrast, there is a picture of suffering where the rights of thousands were violated and which has been maintained in order to serve the Government’s interests. Herewith, we emphasise that it is absurd to sustain the SoE, and demand that it be lifted at once and all suffering be relieved.
In 2017, systematic violations have occurred within Turkey mostly against right to life and prohibition of torture. If we are to categorize those other violations, we can count the following : interventions in the right to assembly and demonstrate, arbitrary detentions and arrests, violations due to military operations, violations of freedom of thought and free press, violation of right to reside; violence against women and children, losses in economic and social rights.
Where there is the idea that judicial mechanisms in Turkey are under the influence of political discourse and have lost their objectivity, illegal detention and arrest 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, and propaganda in favour of illegal organizations just on accounts of their social media posts.
It can be understood clearly that there has been an increase in torture and ill-treatment in and outside detention settings. It is completely unacceptable to torture people physically and psychologically. We would like to remind that torture is absolutely forbidden according to the Constitution and the international agreements signed by Turkey. These non-humane 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 declaration of 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. Prisoners have stated, via letter or family members visiting our offices, that they were exposed to naked strip search during transportation and physical torture, being forced to stand during inspections, solitary confinement, medical treatment while handcuffed, limitations in getting medical treatment in infirmaries or hospitals.
Another example for violations during the state of emergency 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. There were economical and ecological losses due to wildfires in rural areas and forests. During the raids by security forces in military operations, civilians were tortured, exposed to ill-treatment, and taken into custody unlawfully.
Another significant issue we would like to mention is the accidents caused by military and police vehicles and involving death and personal injury. In 2017, 19 people, 7 of whom were children, were killed and over 30 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. The drivers of these vehicles who were responsible for the accidents have not been investigated thoroughly, which leads to more accidents. The persons in charge of the vehicles and the weapons attached to the vehicles must be brought before the court following a prompt investigation, pursuant to using the equipment carelessly despite foreseeing probable consequences, and eventual intent.
Violence against women continued increasingly in 2017. The violence by men, manifesting itself as oppression on women’s speech and lifestyle, and courts’ verdicts (as if awarding the violence with very little punishment) deepen the gender inequality issue in Turkey. The attitudes of authorities, which is indifferent to violence against women, and of some members of the government, who have used a discriminatory and threatening discourse all along, contribute much to the intensifying problem.
Also, violation 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 at indoor settings such as dormitories and schools has increased remarkably. Unclaimed bombs in conflict zones have killed and wounded so many children.
The violations we mentioned hereby take place in an extent that cannot be fitted in a press release. That is because violations have become widespread and systematic.
We demand that the state of emergency resulting in countless violations be lifted, and peace talks be maintained again in order to solve the Kurdish matter. 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. We call on State Parties to fulfil their obligations as enacted by the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Diyarbakır Bar Association
Diyarbakır Medical Chambers
Human Rights Association, Diyarbakır Branch-İHD
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey-Diyarbakir Office- TİHV
Rihts Initiative of Diyarbakır