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Turkey's human rights record deteriorates in 2012 with persistent problems
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-302471-turkeys-human-rights-record-deteriorates-in-2012-with-persistent-problems.html
28 December 2012 / SEVGI AKARÇEŞME, İSTANBUL,
Human rights activists in Turkey agree that serious problems are still
waiting to be addressed in the field of human rights despite positive
efforts having been made.
While steps such as facing the troubled history of the country's
civil-military relations, legislative changes to protect women and the
establishment of a commission to draft a new constitution are listed
among the most important achievements of 2012, the failure to
illuminate the complete background of the Uludere incident, the
controversial election of the first ombudsman of the country, the
lingering headscarf ban, the failure to abolish military courts,
torture under custody and the abuse of children in jails remain among
the serious issues Turkey will face in the next year.
Talking to Today's Zaman, Ahmet Faruk Ünsal, the president of the
Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples
(MAZLUM-DER), says he finds the will to draft a new constitution
important along with the start of a court case against the then-top
two military officers who staged the military coup on Sept. 12, 1980,
namely former President Kenan Evren and Gen. Şahinkaya. However, when
it comes to concerns remaining from 2012, Ünsal has a longer list. At
the top of his list is the Uludere incident in which a military
airstrike killed 34 smugglers, including 19 minors, claiming that it
mistook them for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in December
2011. According to him, the fact that an investigation into the
Uludere incident was not initiated by the government is a big failure
since "the perpetrators of the killings are not unknown unlike in
other cases." Ünsal says that "the parliamentary commission report is
not binding," as he urges the government to take legal action.
Similarly, he argues that the existence of military courts will remain
an obstacle before legal proceedings, questioning the increasing
number of suspicious death cases that occur during military service.
The Uludere incident remains on top of the Human Rights Watch (HRW)
list as well. Just one day before the anniversary of the killings, on
Thursday, Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher for Turkey at HRW,
said in a public statement, "One year on, no one has been held account
for ordering the F-16 jets to drop the bombs that killed the 34
villagers." She added that "the Turkish government, parliament and
Diyarbakır prosecutor have so far failed the families of the victims
in their search for justice."
The election of Turkey's first chief ombudsman led to great
disappointment among human rights organizations in 2012. A
controversial figure in terms of approach prioritizing the state over
the individual, Turkey's first ombudsman, Mehmet Nihat Ömeroğlu, is a
retired member of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Ömeroğlu was one of
the judges who approved a local court's ruling against
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink over charges of "insulting
Turkishness" according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
which was later amended.
On Dec. 10, Human Rights Day, Sinclair-Webb told Today's Zaman that
she was concerned about the choice of somebody who has not championed
the rights of citizens. "It is a very bad beginning for this
institution and a bad message," she said, describing the choice as
"unfortunate."
Öztürk Türkdoğan, the chairman of the Human Rights Association (İHD),
commented to Today's Zaman that "overall in 2012 there have not been
improvements in the human rights conditions of Turkey because the
country has failed to solve its main problems such as the Kurdish
issue." Although he praises the trial of the coup plots as a positive
step like the others, he criticizes Turkey for "not entirely facing
the past."
Arguing that "the government only wants to face the military coups,"
Türkdoğan says that "there is only limited development in the human
rights record of Turkey with no real process." Listing detention time
and the failure to enjoy the full freedom of expression as the
remaining problems, Türkdoğan says that there is an increasing trend
in human rights violations in 2009-11. While praising the efforts of
the Ministry of Family and Social Policies towards protecting women
from violence, Türkdoğan says that often laws remain insufficient
because the problem of domestic violence is also cultural.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin
Tanrıkulu criticizes the government, saying it has been the cause of
massive human rights violations in all areas this year. In his human
rights report that he shared with Today's Zaman, he argued that the
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government tolerated the
torture, turned a deaf ear to the outcry of women, violated the
dignity of people in prison and did nothing to prevent accidents in
factories.
The conditions in prisons and juvenile detention centers have also
been the subject of debate in 2012. Last May 200 juvenile offenders
were transferred from Adana's Pozantı juvenile detention center to
Ankara's Sincan juvenile detention center due to rape allegations.
Overcrowded prisons are a human rights violation per se, according to
lawyers, who said inmates suffer from many problems, including being
crowded in rooms that are too small. A fire that broke out after a
fight among prisoners in a Şanlıurfa prison last June claimed the
lives of 13 inmates. According to news reports, the prison had a
capacity of 600 but was holding some 1,000 prisoners.
With the current legislation concerning the country's prisons and
detention centers, it is almost impossible to punish abusers who
inflict violence on anyone who has been jailed, who remains at the
mercy of jail guards, the administration and police officers. Human
rights advocates emphasize the urgent need to open these facilities to
the supervision of civil society organizations.
For 2013 Ünsal expects the commanders of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup to be
brought into the courtroom as they testified from the hospital via
video conferencing in the first hearings in 2012.
As Türkdoğan states, "The advocates of human rights issues always tend
to draw attention to the glass half empty so that governments can fix
the problems." It seems that in 2013, the pressure of the human rights
groups on the government will continue in the face of serious
unresolved issues stemming from the major fault lines of Turkish
politics such as the Kurdish issue, freedom of expression and religion
and the role of the citizen vis-à-vis the state.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-302471-turkeys-human-rights-record-deteriorates-in-2012-with-persistent-problems.html
28 December 2012 / SEVGI AKARÇEŞME, İSTANBUL,
Human rights activists in Turkey agree that serious problems are still
waiting to be addressed in the field of human rights despite positive
efforts having been made.
While steps such as facing the troubled history of the country's
civil-military relations, legislative changes to protect women and the
establishment of a commission to draft a new constitution are listed
among the most important achievements of 2012, the failure to
illuminate the complete background of the Uludere incident, the
controversial election of the first ombudsman of the country, the
lingering headscarf ban, the failure to abolish military courts,
torture under custody and the abuse of children in jails remain among
the serious issues Turkey will face in the next year.
Talking to Today's Zaman, Ahmet Faruk Ünsal, the president of the
Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples
(MAZLUM-DER), says he finds the will to draft a new constitution
important along with the start of a court case against the then-top
two military officers who staged the military coup on Sept. 12, 1980,
namely former President Kenan Evren and Gen. Şahinkaya. However, when
it comes to concerns remaining from 2012, Ünsal has a longer list. At
the top of his list is the Uludere incident in which a military
airstrike killed 34 smugglers, including 19 minors, claiming that it
mistook them for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in December
2011. According to him, the fact that an investigation into the
Uludere incident was not initiated by the government is a big failure
since "the perpetrators of the killings are not unknown unlike in
other cases." Ünsal says that "the parliamentary commission report is
not binding," as he urges the government to take legal action.
Similarly, he argues that the existence of military courts will remain
an obstacle before legal proceedings, questioning the increasing
number of suspicious death cases that occur during military service.
The Uludere incident remains on top of the Human Rights Watch (HRW)
list as well. Just one day before the anniversary of the killings, on
Thursday, Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher for Turkey at HRW,
said in a public statement, "One year on, no one has been held account
for ordering the F-16 jets to drop the bombs that killed the 34
villagers." She added that "the Turkish government, parliament and
Diyarbakır prosecutor have so far failed the families of the victims
in their search for justice."
The election of Turkey's first chief ombudsman led to great
disappointment among human rights organizations in 2012. A
controversial figure in terms of approach prioritizing the state over
the individual, Turkey's first ombudsman, Mehmet Nihat Ömeroğlu, is a
retired member of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Ömeroğlu was one of
the judges who approved a local court's ruling against
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink over charges of "insulting
Turkishness" according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
which was later amended.
On Dec. 10, Human Rights Day, Sinclair-Webb told Today's Zaman that
she was concerned about the choice of somebody who has not championed
the rights of citizens. "It is a very bad beginning for this
institution and a bad message," she said, describing the choice as
"unfortunate."
Öztürk Türkdoğan, the chairman of the Human Rights Association (İHD),
commented to Today's Zaman that "overall in 2012 there have not been
improvements in the human rights conditions of Turkey because the
country has failed to solve its main problems such as the Kurdish
issue." Although he praises the trial of the coup plots as a positive
step like the others, he criticizes Turkey for "not entirely facing
the past."
Arguing that "the government only wants to face the military coups,"
Türkdoğan says that "there is only limited development in the human
rights record of Turkey with no real process." Listing detention time
and the failure to enjoy the full freedom of expression as the
remaining problems, Türkdoğan says that there is an increasing trend
in human rights violations in 2009-11. While praising the efforts of
the Ministry of Family and Social Policies towards protecting women
from violence, Türkdoğan says that often laws remain insufficient
because the problem of domestic violence is also cultural.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin
Tanrıkulu criticizes the government, saying it has been the cause of
massive human rights violations in all areas this year. In his human
rights report that he shared with Today's Zaman, he argued that the
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government tolerated the
torture, turned a deaf ear to the outcry of women, violated the
dignity of people in prison and did nothing to prevent accidents in
factories.
The conditions in prisons and juvenile detention centers have also
been the subject of debate in 2012. Last May 200 juvenile offenders
were transferred from Adana's Pozantı juvenile detention center to
Ankara's Sincan juvenile detention center due to rape allegations.
Overcrowded prisons are a human rights violation per se, according to
lawyers, who said inmates suffer from many problems, including being
crowded in rooms that are too small. A fire that broke out after a
fight among prisoners in a Şanlıurfa prison last June claimed the
lives of 13 inmates. According to news reports, the prison had a
capacity of 600 but was holding some 1,000 prisoners.
With the current legislation concerning the country's prisons and
detention centers, it is almost impossible to punish abusers who
inflict violence on anyone who has been jailed, who remains at the
mercy of jail guards, the administration and police officers. Human
rights advocates emphasize the urgent need to open these facilities to
the supervision of civil society organizations.
For 2013 Ünsal expects the commanders of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup to be
brought into the courtroom as they testified from the hospital via
video conferencing in the first hearings in 2012.
As Türkdoğan states, "The advocates of human rights issues always tend
to draw attention to the glass half empty so that governments can fix
the problems." It seems that in 2013, the pressure of the human rights
groups on the government will continue in the face of serious
unresolved issues stemming from the major fault lines of Turkish
politics such as the Kurdish issue, freedom of expression and religion
and the role of the citizen vis-à-vis the state.