REVIEW ESSAY

Human Rights in Turkey Summary Report Zeynep Kilic The most comprehensive reports on Turkish human rights are available from the U.S. State Department (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor), the Council of Europe, Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW). These reports are available on their own Internet sites, as well by way of links from other human rights sites, most of which gather their material from AI and HRW reports. The latest report from the State Department (February 23, 2001) states that in the year 2000, "the [Turkish] Government generally respected its citizens'human rights in a number of areas; however, its record was poor in several other areas, and serious problems remain. Extrajudicial killings continued, including deaths due to excessive use of force. Unlike the previous year, there were no deaths in detention due to torture and no reports of mystery killings and disappearances of political activists." Serious problems mentioned are summarized as follows: political and other extrajudicial killings, disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile, denial of fair public trial, arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, use of excessive force and violations of humanitarian law in internal conflicts, freedom of speech and press, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of religion, discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language, or social status. Turkey has been trying to gain full membership in the European Union since 1963. However, according to the EU member states'claims, accession is denied on the basis of insufficient democracy, human rights abuses, the excessive involvement of the military in political affairs, restrictions imposed on minority rights, limitations on political and cultural rights under the 1982 constitution, the Cyprus problem, and other unresolved disputes with Greece. The application for EU membership, and the degree to which Turkey should undertake the kinds of reforms required to meet membership crite-

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ria, have provoked passionate debates, both in the Turkish parliament and in the public arena. On its side, the European Council, meeting at Helsinki in December 1999, determined that no negotiations for membership would be considered untilTurkey met political criteria for membership established in Copenhagen in 1993. Essentially, there are two fundamental problems that Turkey must resolve in meeting these criteria, and they are quite distinct. The first involves restrictions imposed on freedom of speech and the use of the Kurdish language in the 1982 constitution, which was adopted following the mili tary coup, and in legislation, notably the 1991 Anti-Terror Law. There is a growing consensus in Turkey that these restrictions should be amended. The current President of Turkey, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a judge and former president of the Constitutional Court, has spoken out against restrictions on free speech in the Constitution and the country's legal system. The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have made statements supporting the language rights of citizens of Kurdish origin. Although the military hierarchy has opposed changes, the two constitutional articles banning the use of certain languages have been rescinded. Restrictions remain; for example, radio and TV broadcasts are required by law to be in Turkish,"with an exception for languages that will contribute to the development of a universal culture and science." The other problem is that even though the Constitution has provisions for basic rights and freedoms, they are not always exercised in practice. For example, the Constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, and disability, but in practice there are frequent reports, by hu man rights activists and observers, of discrimination against women, African immigrants, religious and ethnic minorities such as the Alevis (non-Sunni Muslims), and citizens of Kurdish origin. Therefore, international human rights organizations have demanded that Turkey not only change its laws but also enforce them. The Turkish National Police, responsible for security in urban areas, is notorious for human rights abuses. In order to monitor these practices Turkey has established a number of bodies to survey the enforcement of human rights.These bodies include the Human Rights Presidency, the Human Rights Board, the Human Rights Consultation Boards and the Investigation Boards. Minority rights and the protection of minorities are viewed as troublesome areas. Turkey has not yet signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The Government only recognizes the minorities defined by the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty. There have been some developments regarding ethnic celebrations taking place without government interference, such as the Kurdish NewYear"Newroz" celebrations in March 2001 in southeastern Turkey, although some other

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organized celebrations in Istanbul were banned. The security situation in the Southeast is reported to have improved and a " r e t u r n to village programme" has been implemented to resettle the displaced population (mostly ethnic Kurds). However, HRW reports that this programme exists only on paper. The Council of the European Union's 2001 Regular Report on Turkey's Progress Toward Accession stressed the need for improvements in areas of torture, freedom of expression and assembly, and minority rights. Even though there have been recent constitutional amendments regarding the freedom of expression, press freedom, and freedom of association and peaceful assembly, there remain other restrictions on the exercise of fundamental freedoms. The Turkish government recently proposed to change two articles in the Penal Code and two articles in the Anti-Terror Law. Turkey also signed Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination by public authorities. Impunity is also listed as a major problem in the AI reports. The EU also wants Turkey to abolish the death penalty. Currently, the revised article of the Constitution on death penalty limits it to cases of terrorist and war crimes. An October 2001 report by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey argues that the so-called positive change in death penalty (only with exceptions for wartime and terrorism), is not much of a change as the definition of terror and war are very much inclusive of peacetime activities, including the freedom of expression and political activity. The European Court of Human Rights, in a May 2001 ruling, held Turkey responsible for human rights abuses in northern Cyprus. Other areas of concern include trafficking in human beings (especially forced prostitution of women from Baltic States), children's rights, trade union rights, and gender equality (concerning widespread spousal abuse and the so-called"honor killings"). HRW also covers an issue that goes undetected or unmentioned in the EU documents: the banning of wearing the headscarf by civil servants and students. HRW's position is that this ban results in the exclusion of many women from higher education. The U.S. State Department report on religious freedoms states that"the [Turkish] government continued to enforce a more than 50-year-old ban on the wearing of religious head coverings at universities or by civil servants in public buildings. Dozens of women who wear head coverings, and both men and women who actively show support for those who defy the ban, have lost their jobs in the public sector as nurses and teachers; some others were not allowed to register as university students.'Considering the problems EU countries have had their own legal battles with headscarves issue, it is not surprising that the Council of Europe reports do not mention this. International Non-Govermental Organizations also report increased pressure on human rights defenders in Turkey (especially the Turkish Hu-

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man Rights Association officers), deteriorating prison conditions (transition into small-cell type prisons and the following hunger strikes), and the disappearance of politicians (of Kurdish origin). There are two major Turkish NGOs: Human Rights Association (IHD-established in 1986) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (THV-established in 1990). Also there is the Mazlumder--the Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity of Oppressed People, established in 1991. These organizations report overwhelming numbers of torture cases and freedom of press violations. They follow death fasts and hunger strikes closely, and Human Rights Association had established centers to help victims of torture and their families. Violations against the right to life and security of person reported by these NGOs range from murder by unidentified assailants to death by torture under detention, extrajudicial executions and injuries during demonstrations and the list goes on. Mazlumder suggests that the 1982 constitution was a turning point in Turkey in terms of human rights. The universally defined concepts of democracy, human rights and secularism were dropped from the constitution and replaced by a local/national definition. Mazlumder report on Human Rights in Turkey states that"the statement in the previous constitution stating a nation"based on human rights"has been changed in the 1982 constitution to a nation"respectful"of human rights. Currently, Turkey's formal candidacy for the EU is seen as an opportunity for change and the government seems to be focused on taking the necessary steps. HRW report of December 2001 claims that many of the improvements by the Turkish state are mostly cosmetic changes, and halfway measures only intended to superficially fulfill those criteria set forth in the Copenhagen summit. On another note, Turkish public and politicians have been suspicious of the Copenhagen criteria as a way to keep the Muslim Turkey out of Europe. Nevertheless, accession is impossible without meeting the Copenhagen criteria and observers suggest Turkey has a long way to go in human rights before meeting the international standards. Resources

U.S. Departmentof State Report on Human Rights,Turkey(February2001):www.state.gov/ g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000[eur/index.cfm?docid=844 U.S.Departmentof State Reporton InternationalReligiousFreedom,Turkey(October2001) www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/eur/index.cfm?docid=5694 The LawyersCommitteefor Human Rights,www.lchr.org

International Governmental Organizations Council of the EuropeanUnion (www.coe.int). Brussels, 13 November2001, Sec (2001) 1756. Commissionof the European Communities "2001 RegularReport on Turkey'sProgressTowardAccession"

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http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relationsIhuman_rights/doc/report

01 en.pdf Council of Europe. Doc. 9120, 13 June 2001."Honouring of obligations and commitments by Turkey," http://stars.coe.fr/docldocO11EDOC9120.htm UNHCR, The United Nations Refugee Agency, www.unhcr.ch

International Non-Governmental Organizations: Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org Amnesty International, web.amnesty.org Amnesty International - Turkey Muradiye Bayiri Sk. 5011 Tesvikiye, Istanbul 80200 [email protected]

Turkish NGOs Insan Haklari Dernegi (Human Rights Association of Turkey), www.ihd.org.tr headquarters in Ankara, 34 branches Turkiye Insan Haklari Vakfi, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, www.tihv.org.tr/ eindex.html Headquarters in Ankara, 4 branches Mazlumder, Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity of Oppressed People, www.mazlumder.org.trHeadquarters in Ankara, 15 branches