Turkey Faces More Convictions As Human Rights Violations Grow
Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) - 27 July 2015
Turkey Faces More Convictions As Human Rights Violations Grow
Turkey, which remains one of the "high case-count states" with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), continues to violate more and more fundamental rights as set out by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) almost every single day. According to data disclosed by the ECtHR in January, Turkey remains one of the "high case-count states" within the court, coming in fourth after Ukraine, Italy and Russia with nearly 9,500 applications pending before the court, amounting to 13.6 percent of the court's total applications that number 69,900. The court said Turkey is responsible for 24 out of the 47 violations as determined by the ECtHR; only Hungary with seven infringements came anywhere near Turkey in this category.
By Faruk Alan
Turkey also ranks poorly in terms of the right to liberty and security, with 45 infringements determined by the ECtHR, coming in second only to the Russian Federation, which has 56 violations to its name. Turkey is also the leader in violations of the right to a fair trial -- as articulated in Article 6 of the ECHR -- with 31 violations.
The data on countries dating from 1959 to 2014 further casts a shadow on Turkey's reputation for respecting human rights and freedom of expression, showing 248 violations of freedom of expression, 671 violations of the right to liberty and security and 801 violations of the right to a fair trial.
Observers say Turkey faces more convictions by the European court since violations of rights granted by the ECHR -- such as the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of expression, the right to liberty and security, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to freedom of assembly and association and the right to an effective remedy -- have peaked in the past few years.
Right to life
Article 2 of the convention says: "Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law." However, dozens of people in Turkey have died in the past few years due to the state's negligence.
In 2011, 34 people were killed in an airstrike by Turkish military jets and the state has failed to shed light on the incident so far. Eight civilians, including Abdullah Cömert, Ali ?smail Korkmaz and Berkin Elvan, and two police officers were also killed during the Gezi Park protests, which began in 2013 over a government plan to demolish Gezi Park in downtown ?stanbul.
In October 2014, 37 people, including two police officers, were killed during violent protests that were staged against the government's policy with regard to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) assault on the Syrian town of Kobani.
Right to liberty and security and prohibition of torture
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," states Article 3 of the ECHR. However, human rights associations in Turkey say torture is still prevalent in prisons. Additionally, the disproportionate use of police force against protesters has also become prevalent in the past few years. Protests across the country frequently see the police using pepper spray, plastic bullets and water cannons against demonstrators from a close range.
When it comes to the right to liberty and security as designated by Article 5 of the convention, the case of journalist Hidayet Karaca and 63 police officers comes to mind. Karaca and the police officers are still detained in Silivri Prison although a court on April 25 ruled to release them on the grounds that there is not sufficient evidence to keep them behind bars. The ruling outraged the government, which then imprisoned the judges who issued the verdict, invalidated the court ruling and described it as a "coup against the government."
Karaca recently appealed to the ECtHR, claiming his detention is unlawful and that he has not received a fair trial. The two judges who ordered their release were also arrested in a government-backed operation over their decisions.
Right to property
The ECHR also protects individuals' properties under Protocol 1 of Article 1 of the ECHR. Article 35 of the Constitution also states everyone has the right to own and inherit property and that these rights may be limited by law only in the view of public interest.
However, a government-sponsored law that was approved in Parliament on March 7, 2014, was an open violation of these principles. Under this law, all private preparatory schools were to be shut down by Sept. 1 of this year.
Prep schools are private institutes that help students prepare for standardized high school and college entrance exams. The law, which was seen as a huge blow to free enterprise and feared to block upward mobility in society and leave some 55,000 people jobless, was later annulled by the Constitutional Court.
In another open violation of the right to property, after a three-month period of interim management, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) announced in late May that it had handed over control of Bank Asya to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in what many political commentators considered a politically motivated move.
Experts say Turkey may be forced to pay sizeable compensation in the future after an international court such as the ECtHR reverses the decision, as was the case in the past.
Turkey had previously been forced to pay compensation to the Süzer Group for bankrupting Kentbank. Following the domestic banking crisis of 2001, Kentbank was seized by the government and handed over to the BDDK. However, the owner of the bank appealed the decision at the ECtHR, demanding its operating rights be returned and $4.13 billion to be paid in compensation.
Freedom of expression and right to a fair trial
One of the most frequently violated rights in Turkey is undoubtedly freedom of expression, which is defined in Article 10 of the ECHR. According to data released by the ECtHR, Turkey single-handedly surpassed the 46 other states in the Council of Europe (CoE) in terms of cases involving violations of the right to freedom of expression in 2014, which highlights the country's poor record in terms of freedom of expression.
Violations of this fundamental right gained momentum following the Dec. 17 and 25, 2013 corruption probes, which exposed the country's most striking corruption scheme that also included senior government officials. The government shut down Twitter and YouTube in the wake of the investigations, which were glossed over with a series of government interferences in the police force and the judiciary. Critical media outlets were targeted in police operations with some journalists, including Samanyolu Broadcasting Group Manager Karaca and Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanl?, being arrested over their journalistic activities. Outspoken journalist Mehmet Baransu was also arrested over his reports exposing a military coup plot on charges of espionage.
A most recent example of pressure in the media was the case of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar, against whom President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is demanding a life sentence, an aggravated life sentence and an additional 42-year term in prison for publishing photos of what the daily said were arms being transferred to Syria on trucks operated by the National Intelligence Organization (M?T).
Turkey is also likely to face more convictions at the ECtHR for violations of an individual's right to a fair trial in the coming years, especially after the establishment of Penal Courts of Peace, which have been criticized for eroding the public's trust in the judiciary due to their arbitrary detentions, arrests and judgments.
The Penal Courts of Peace have been widely criticized for providing the "judges of peace" who serve in these courts with extraordinary powers, such as the authority to issue search warrants and to order detentions and property seizures. The courts have faced allegations that they are instruments of the government by instigating arrests based on the headlines of pro-government newspapers.
One of the most serious criticisms made about the Penal Courts of Peace has been the claim that they played a large role in derailing the December 2013 graft scandal. There have been growing calls for the closure of these courts, though no steps have been taken yet in this regard.
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http://en.europenews.dk/Turkey-Faces-More-Convictions-As-Human-Rights-Violations-Grow-120335.html
