Human rights day in Turkey: ‘They want to create a climate of fear’  

2021-12-10 12:14:10


	 

	 

	Dilan Babat 

	 

	ANKARA - Speaking about the increase in human rights violations, IHD Central Executive Board member Nuray Çevirmen emphasized that there is a regression in terms of rights in Turkey. Nuray drew attention to the policies of the government and said, ‘’They want to create a climate of fear on people in Turkey’’.

	 

	During the Second World War between 1939-1945, more than 60 million people lost their lives and millions were injured. Three years after the end of the war, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted to protect the rights of civilians. The Declaration was prepared by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission in June 1948 and was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights covers the whole world, not just a certain country or segment. The Declaration declares the fundamental rights of all people, without distinction of race, language or religion.

	 

	With the declaration signed by many countries, December 10 was accepted as the World Human Rights Day around the world.

	 

	In Turkey, the declaration was accepted on April 6, 1949 and entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette on May 27, 1949. Since then, the importance of human rights has been drawn to the attention with many actions and events between 10-17 December in order to draw attention to the violations of rights in Turkey.

	 

	While human rights evolve to a different dimension every passing year in Turkey, rights have been put on the shelf  in the last 20 years. In recent years, new violations have been added to the violations that have seriously increased as a result of the policies of the AKP government. According to the data prepared by the Human Rights Association (IHD) for the first 10 months of the year, at least 167 people were subjected to abduction, agencification and threats. 36 people applied to the Istanbul branch of the IHD, 10 to the Ankara branch, seven to the Izmir branch, three to the Diyarbakır branch, two to the Van branch, one to the Batman branch, one to the Dersim branch, and one person to the Mardin branch and requested legal support.

	 

	Nuray Çevirmen, a member of the IHD Central Executive Board, made assessments on the violations that took place within the scope of the December 10 World Human Rights Day.

	 

	‘There is a regression in the field of human rights’

	 

	Nuray said that in line with the applications made to the association, they followed the points which violations of rights occurred, and that they prepared a report on these violations. Nuray said, ‘’There has been a constant regression in the field of human rights in Turkey for a long time. Even in the context of the fundamental human rights, problems occur as no solution is produced. And we deal with these issues both as exposed ones and as a human rights organization. Unfortunately, violations continue to occur in Turkey in the context of environmental rights, economic and social rights, primary rights, right to life, right to work and freedom of expression’’.

	 

	‘There are too many violations in point of freedom of thought and expression’

	 

	Drawing attention to the violations in Ankara, Nuray pointed out that there is a great pressure about the freedom of thought and expression and on opposition groups because the city is the center of politics. ‘’During detention, practices such as agencification, oppression, intimidation, and phone calls to families against people who carry out activities in many fields beyond torture and ill-treatment are in effect. We have seen that this practice has been intensely occured in Ankara for about six years. Unfortunately, very few of those who are exposed to this can apply to our institutions. There are many concerns and people are hesitating because threats are pressure factor on them. But we say this to everyone who comes to us; Certainly, make your applications and get it to be recorded. These are very important datas and need to be focused on,’’ Nuray said.

	 

	‘They want to create a climate of fear’

	 

	Nuray stated that they submitted the reports they had prepared in previous years regarding the violations in Ankara to the relevant units in the Parliament. Nuray continued as, ‘’We stated that a solution should be produced for this. As an institution, we have received about 10 applications so far in Ankara. In addition to cases of abduction, promises and threats to pressure people by calling their families by phone, threatening them regarding private lifes, finding a job or dismissing them from their jobs have increased. We want this issue to be investigated by writing writings to the law enforcement watching commission. Those who have been abducted can make description. But unfortunately, we cannot reach a result due to the lack of a penal sanction or an investigation. But we think it is important for it to be on the record. It is a very reckless attitude and they do it knowingly, willingly and by showing. In order to create a climate of fear, they aim to create fear on both individuals and families by presenting legal activities as illegal’’.

	 

	‘No penal sanction is imposed on those who do this’

	 

	Noting that they could not understand the government's perspective on torture, Nuray stressed that any act that affects people physically and psychologically is ‘’torture’’. Nuray said, ‘’It is a tool of oppression that people are tortured in the presence of their families, both in open areas and in house raids, and that the people, who will go to testify when summoned, are exposed to torture. Such acts are crime in international conventions and in Turkey’s own laws. But no penal sanction is imposed on those who do this’’.