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YET ANOTHER STRIKE FROM EUROPE
Cihan News Agency (CNA)
April 10, 2015 Friday
by GUNAL KURÞUN
ÝSTANBUL (CÝHAN)- While President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan is on his trip
to Iran, the Venice Commission -- an advisory body of the Council of
Europe (CoE) composed of independent legal experts -- declared that
it plans to examine Turkey's security package, which it considers
"unacceptable."
"If you use all the restrictive measures taken by individual countries
and put them together, then you get the new law here in Turkey. They
have taken the most restrictive practices," Anne Brasseur, president
of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said.
As of today, after the new law entered into force, the police can
take people into custody without the authorization of a public
prosecutor for up to 48 hours, which violates Article 5 of the
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) dealing with the right
to liberty and security. Judicial review, access to a lawyer and
the right to inform family members of one's detention are some
of the rights that will be violated. Police officers are even now
entitled to prevent demonstrators from protesting. At the same time,
police can stop and search a vehicle without a written notice from a
court or public prosecutor, as well as conduct strip searches. This
is a clear violation of Article 8, which provides for the right to
respect individual's private lives. If a citizen decides to join a
demonstration or a public meeting but wears a gas mask in order to be
protected from pepper spray, there is a potential prison sentence of
two years and six months to four years -- a clear violation of Article
11 which provides for the freedom of assembly and association. The
authority of police officers to use firearms has also now been extended
and can be used to "neutralize the affect." This is in violation of
the principle of proportionality and Article 2, which provides for
the right to life. In addition, governors are now entitled to order
security forces to find "the perpetrators of crime."
We know all too well how security forces in Turkey find perpetrators,
and I believe it will constitute another violation of both Articles
5 and 6. This will also create chaos in authority between public
prosecutors and governors, as the two sides enjoy their broad power
of authority at the same time.
According to Brasseur, the protection of a country's national security
"cannot go as far as limiting all words of freedoms. There is a
very big danger." She continued: "In the election period and after
elections we have to look at that law. The Council of Europe has the
Venice Commission as an instrument to monitor legislation. For the
security package, Turkey did not ask for the opinion of the Venice
Commission, but I think that we have to look deeper into it. We must
maintain fundamental freedoms."
In my opinion, our state loves us very much. Our police want to
protect us from any kind of danger. That's why President Erdoðan,
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu and all members of the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) invite Turkish citizens to stay at home,
rather than go out. My experience indicates that whenever my state
loves me too much, I should be afraid.
At the same time, Martin Schulz, the president of the European
Parliament, is now visiting Turkey. Some items on his agenda include
visa liberalization, the resumption of talks for the reunification of
Cyprus and the negotiations expected to start in 2015 to upgrade the
customs union between the EU and Turkey. Also on the table during
Schulz's talks in Ankara will be the European Parliament vote on
a resolution that would recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians
as genocide on April 15 -- the one hundredth anniversary of the
commemorations.
The Irish author Iris Murdoch said: "We live in a fantasy world,
a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality." It
is unbelievable that she said this without seeing Turkey in 2015.
Cihan News Agency (CNA)
April 10, 2015 Friday
by GUNAL KURÞUN
ÝSTANBUL (CÝHAN)- While President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan is on his trip
to Iran, the Venice Commission -- an advisory body of the Council of
Europe (CoE) composed of independent legal experts -- declared that
it plans to examine Turkey's security package, which it considers
"unacceptable."
"If you use all the restrictive measures taken by individual countries
and put them together, then you get the new law here in Turkey. They
have taken the most restrictive practices," Anne Brasseur, president
of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said.
As of today, after the new law entered into force, the police can
take people into custody without the authorization of a public
prosecutor for up to 48 hours, which violates Article 5 of the
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) dealing with the right
to liberty and security. Judicial review, access to a lawyer and
the right to inform family members of one's detention are some
of the rights that will be violated. Police officers are even now
entitled to prevent demonstrators from protesting. At the same time,
police can stop and search a vehicle without a written notice from a
court or public prosecutor, as well as conduct strip searches. This
is a clear violation of Article 8, which provides for the right to
respect individual's private lives. If a citizen decides to join a
demonstration or a public meeting but wears a gas mask in order to be
protected from pepper spray, there is a potential prison sentence of
two years and six months to four years -- a clear violation of Article
11 which provides for the freedom of assembly and association. The
authority of police officers to use firearms has also now been extended
and can be used to "neutralize the affect." This is in violation of
the principle of proportionality and Article 2, which provides for
the right to life. In addition, governors are now entitled to order
security forces to find "the perpetrators of crime."
We know all too well how security forces in Turkey find perpetrators,
and I believe it will constitute another violation of both Articles
5 and 6. This will also create chaos in authority between public
prosecutors and governors, as the two sides enjoy their broad power
of authority at the same time.
According to Brasseur, the protection of a country's national security
"cannot go as far as limiting all words of freedoms. There is a
very big danger." She continued: "In the election period and after
elections we have to look at that law. The Council of Europe has the
Venice Commission as an instrument to monitor legislation. For the
security package, Turkey did not ask for the opinion of the Venice
Commission, but I think that we have to look deeper into it. We must
maintain fundamental freedoms."
In my opinion, our state loves us very much. Our police want to
protect us from any kind of danger. That's why President Erdoðan,
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu and all members of the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) invite Turkish citizens to stay at home,
rather than go out. My experience indicates that whenever my state
loves me too much, I should be afraid.
At the same time, Martin Schulz, the president of the European
Parliament, is now visiting Turkey. Some items on his agenda include
visa liberalization, the resumption of talks for the reunification of
Cyprus and the negotiations expected to start in 2015 to upgrade the
customs union between the EU and Turkey. Also on the table during
Schulz's talks in Ankara will be the European Parliament vote on
a resolution that would recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians
as genocide on April 15 -- the one hundredth anniversary of the
commemorations.
The Irish author Iris Murdoch said: "We live in a fantasy world,
a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality." It
is unbelievable that she said this without seeing Turkey in 2015.