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TURKEY: ARRESTS EXPOSE FLAWED JUSTICE SYSTEM
Armenian Weekly
Thu, Nov 3 2011
Academic, Publisher Held in Crackdown on Pro-Kurdish Party
ISTANBUL (Human Rights Watch)-An Istanbul court's decision on Nov. 1
to imprison a publisher and a political science professor pending
their trial on terrorism charges exposes the huge deficiencies of
Turkey's criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch said on Nov. 2.
Ragip Zarakolu The arrests are part of a crackdown on people engaged
in legal political activity with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy
Party.
Ragip Zarakolu, the publisher, and Busra Ersanli, the professor,
are among 50 people who have been arrested in Istanbul since Oct. 27.
Three were released by the prosecutor and 47 brought before Istanbul
Heavy Penal Court No. 14, which remanded 44 to prison and released
3 pending trial.
"The arrests of Ragip Zarakolu and Busra Ersanli represent a new low
in the misuse of terrorism laws to crush freedom of expression and
association in Turkey," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, a Turkey researcher
at Human Rights Watch.
All 47 suspects will be charged for alleged links to the Turkish
Assembly of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK/TM), a body
connected with the leadership of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). Under a widening police operation over the past two and a half
years, thousands of people associated with the Peace and Democracy
Party or related political circles have been charged for alleged
links to the KCK/TM or PKK.
Zarakolu is the owner and chief editor of the Belge publishing house, a
champion of freedom of expression and human rights, and vocal proponent
of Kurdish rights. He has faced prosecution many times for the books
he has published and his own writings, none of which have advocated
violence. Ersanli has a chair in political science and international
relations at Marmara University, Istanbul, is a member of the Peace
and Democracy Party's Party Assembly, and is part of the commission
advising the party on its input for the new constitution.
Most of those arrested were involved in the Peace and Democracy
Party's Politics Academy, which provides courses and training to party
activists and officials. The arrests appear to be the continuation of
the Oct. 4 police operation in Istanbul, when about 100 people were
arrested for alleged KCK links, with 96 in pretrial detention. Among
those arrested and imprisoned was Zarakolu's son, Deniz Zarakolu.
"We are seeing the Turkish police casting the net ever wider in the
crackdown on legal pro-Kurdish politics," Sinclair-Webb said. "Unless
there is clear evidence of people plotting violence or providing
logistical support to armed groups, prosecutors and courts should
throw these cases out."
Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Law contains a vague and overbroad
definition of terrorism, Human Rights Watch said. Furthermore,
court interpretations of the law make its misuse more likely. The UN
special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights
and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin,
has criticized the definition and called for its reform, saying that
such crimes should be confined to "acts of deadly or otherwise grave
violence against persons or the taking of hostages."
The European Commission has also repeatedly drawn attention to the
misuse of terrorism charges in Turkey and has said the definition of
terrorism in Turkish law is too wide, most recently in its October
2011 progress report on Turkey.
"These prosecutions demonstrate that the problems identified by the
UN and European Commission have not gone away," Sinclair-Webb said.
"Turkey urgently needs to amend its vague and widely drawn terrorism
laws and stop using them to clamp down on legitimate and peaceful
political activity."
Trials of Peace and Democracy Party members and activists for alleged
links to the KCK and PKK are being carried out across the Turkey.
After waves of arrests that began in April 2009, the first, and main,
trial began at Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 in October 2010.
Among its 152 defendants are a large number of public and well-known
figures, including serving mayors and a human rights defender. In a
7,578-page indictment, they are charged with crimes such as "aiming to
destroy the unity and integrity of the state" (separatism), being a
"member or leading member of the PKK," and "aiding and abetting the
PKK," If convicted, they face penalties of between 15-years and life
in prison.
The investigation that led to the Diyarbakir trial was initiated
after a court order four years ago authorized police surveillance of
suspects and wiretaps. The investigation was the first into alleged
links between activists and officials of both the Democratic Society
Party and the successor Peace and Democracy Party with the PKK, via
the KCK. It led to similar investigations in provinces throughout
southeast, eastern and western Turkey.
Human Rights Watch knows of many other related trials in the courts
of Diyarbakir, Adana, Van, Erzurum, and Izmir, for alleged offenses
in the many provinces over which those courts have jurisdiction. In
each case, the indictments allege that the defendants belong to the
KCK's Turkey Assembly, and that this assembly operates in cities
throughout Turkey under the control of the PKK.
The evidence against the defendants is largely based on wiretaps,
surveillance of an office some of the accused frequented, intercepted
email correspondence, and testimony from secret witnesses. However,
there is scant evidence to suggest the defendants engaged in any acts
that could be defined as terrorism as it is understood in international
law-namely, violent activities such as bombings and hostage-taking
targeting civilians, or the plotting of such activities. The indictment
in the main Diyarbakir trial also lacks compelling evidence of
logistical or material support for an outlawed armed group, nor is
there evidence that the accused directly incited violence.
The widespread and dispersed nature of the ongoing investigations
and arrests, and a lack of available official statistics on the
investigations and trials, make it impossible to produce accurate
up-to-date estimates of the numbers currently in pretrial detention
and the total number on trial, though it certainly runs to several
thousand on trial, Human Rights Watch said. An October Interior
Ministry statement put the number in pre-trial detention on KCK-related
charges at 605, although the figure has fluctuated considerably over
the past two years.
For more information, visit www.hrw.org.
Armenian Weekly
Thu, Nov 3 2011
Academic, Publisher Held in Crackdown on Pro-Kurdish Party
ISTANBUL (Human Rights Watch)-An Istanbul court's decision on Nov. 1
to imprison a publisher and a political science professor pending
their trial on terrorism charges exposes the huge deficiencies of
Turkey's criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch said on Nov. 2.
Ragip Zarakolu The arrests are part of a crackdown on people engaged
in legal political activity with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy
Party.
Ragip Zarakolu, the publisher, and Busra Ersanli, the professor,
are among 50 people who have been arrested in Istanbul since Oct. 27.
Three were released by the prosecutor and 47 brought before Istanbul
Heavy Penal Court No. 14, which remanded 44 to prison and released
3 pending trial.
"The arrests of Ragip Zarakolu and Busra Ersanli represent a new low
in the misuse of terrorism laws to crush freedom of expression and
association in Turkey," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, a Turkey researcher
at Human Rights Watch.
All 47 suspects will be charged for alleged links to the Turkish
Assembly of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK/TM), a body
connected with the leadership of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). Under a widening police operation over the past two and a half
years, thousands of people associated with the Peace and Democracy
Party or related political circles have been charged for alleged
links to the KCK/TM or PKK.
Zarakolu is the owner and chief editor of the Belge publishing house, a
champion of freedom of expression and human rights, and vocal proponent
of Kurdish rights. He has faced prosecution many times for the books
he has published and his own writings, none of which have advocated
violence. Ersanli has a chair in political science and international
relations at Marmara University, Istanbul, is a member of the Peace
and Democracy Party's Party Assembly, and is part of the commission
advising the party on its input for the new constitution.
Most of those arrested were involved in the Peace and Democracy
Party's Politics Academy, which provides courses and training to party
activists and officials. The arrests appear to be the continuation of
the Oct. 4 police operation in Istanbul, when about 100 people were
arrested for alleged KCK links, with 96 in pretrial detention. Among
those arrested and imprisoned was Zarakolu's son, Deniz Zarakolu.
"We are seeing the Turkish police casting the net ever wider in the
crackdown on legal pro-Kurdish politics," Sinclair-Webb said. "Unless
there is clear evidence of people plotting violence or providing
logistical support to armed groups, prosecutors and courts should
throw these cases out."
Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Law contains a vague and overbroad
definition of terrorism, Human Rights Watch said. Furthermore,
court interpretations of the law make its misuse more likely. The UN
special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights
and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin,
has criticized the definition and called for its reform, saying that
such crimes should be confined to "acts of deadly or otherwise grave
violence against persons or the taking of hostages."
The European Commission has also repeatedly drawn attention to the
misuse of terrorism charges in Turkey and has said the definition of
terrorism in Turkish law is too wide, most recently in its October
2011 progress report on Turkey.
"These prosecutions demonstrate that the problems identified by the
UN and European Commission have not gone away," Sinclair-Webb said.
"Turkey urgently needs to amend its vague and widely drawn terrorism
laws and stop using them to clamp down on legitimate and peaceful
political activity."
Trials of Peace and Democracy Party members and activists for alleged
links to the KCK and PKK are being carried out across the Turkey.
After waves of arrests that began in April 2009, the first, and main,
trial began at Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 in October 2010.
Among its 152 defendants are a large number of public and well-known
figures, including serving mayors and a human rights defender. In a
7,578-page indictment, they are charged with crimes such as "aiming to
destroy the unity and integrity of the state" (separatism), being a
"member or leading member of the PKK," and "aiding and abetting the
PKK," If convicted, they face penalties of between 15-years and life
in prison.
The investigation that led to the Diyarbakir trial was initiated
after a court order four years ago authorized police surveillance of
suspects and wiretaps. The investigation was the first into alleged
links between activists and officials of both the Democratic Society
Party and the successor Peace and Democracy Party with the PKK, via
the KCK. It led to similar investigations in provinces throughout
southeast, eastern and western Turkey.
Human Rights Watch knows of many other related trials in the courts
of Diyarbakir, Adana, Van, Erzurum, and Izmir, for alleged offenses
in the many provinces over which those courts have jurisdiction. In
each case, the indictments allege that the defendants belong to the
KCK's Turkey Assembly, and that this assembly operates in cities
throughout Turkey under the control of the PKK.
The evidence against the defendants is largely based on wiretaps,
surveillance of an office some of the accused frequented, intercepted
email correspondence, and testimony from secret witnesses. However,
there is scant evidence to suggest the defendants engaged in any acts
that could be defined as terrorism as it is understood in international
law-namely, violent activities such as bombings and hostage-taking
targeting civilians, or the plotting of such activities. The indictment
in the main Diyarbakir trial also lacks compelling evidence of
logistical or material support for an outlawed armed group, nor is
there evidence that the accused directly incited violence.
The widespread and dispersed nature of the ongoing investigations
and arrests, and a lack of available official statistics on the
investigations and trials, make it impossible to produce accurate
up-to-date estimates of the numbers currently in pretrial detention
and the total number on trial, though it certainly runs to several
thousand on trial, Human Rights Watch said. An October Interior
Ministry statement put the number in pre-trial detention on KCK-related
charges at 605, although the figure has fluctuated considerably over
the past two years.
For more information, visit www.hrw.org.