We present to the PACE the report we prepared on the widespread and systematic torture of opposition groups in Turkey. We are delighted to announce the submission of our report “Systemic torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention in Turkey”, to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The report demonstrates the extent to which torture has been put into practice by Turkish law enforcement since 15 July 2016, when the fundamental rights and freedoms of Turkish citizens were put on the back burner. We hope that our report will be helpful for the drafting process of the report entitled “Allegations of systemic torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention in Council of Europe member States” which will be voted on by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
We submitted our letter to the European authorities expressing our concerns about the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey.
The letter expresses our concerns about the elections to be held on May 14, 2023. It has been sent to the following authorities: Secretary General of the Council of Europe, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Council for Democratic Elections of the Venice Commission.
An election with unprecedented importance is forthcoming in Turkey. The next Turkish presidential and parliamentary election will take place on 14 May 2023. Besides the debate about whether Erdogan can be a candidate under the Turkish constitution[1], numerous worrying allegations about the credibility of the elections are frequently being raised in these last days, with less than 50 days before the elections.
As a matter of fact, the German government believes that it is difficult to speak of a fair and free electoral environment in Turkey because of the anti-democratic steps taken in the run-up to the elections[2]. In recent years, Erdoğan has gained unprecedented control over Turkey’s institutions, from the courts to the central bank, and has repeatedly used those powers to manipulate the electoral system in his favour[3]. In March 2022, Erdogan changed the country’s electoral laws in a way that could politicize the oversight of vote counts[4]. Furthermore, all current members of the Supreme Electoral Board were appointed by Erdogan himself[5]. Remembering the fact that the Supreme Electoral Board cancelled the 2019 mayoral election for Istanbul at the request of the ruling AKP, makes Erdogan’s influence over the board more worrying.
Frank Schwabe, head of the PACE Election Observation Mission to Turkey, does not believe that Turkey can ensure democratic environment during the election period[6]. He emphasized the recent reports of the different authorities in the Council of Europe revealing that Turkey is sliding away from the values of a democratic society.
Fraud allegations in Turkish elections are not new at all. In the last elections, the referendum in 2017 and the general election in 2018, allegations of voting fraud in polling stations were brought to the fore by many national and international organizations that were actively monitoring the elections. Opposition parties and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the results of the referendum because of the validation of 1.5–2.5 million unstamped ballots by the Supreme Election Board[7]. In addition to legalizing unstamped ballots, the relocation of ballot boxes could also enable the AKP to manipulate results to its benefit—together with other means such as reconfiguring the ethnic makeup of some predominately Kurdish southeastern regions and the use of intimidation. As highlighted in the report of the International Crisis Group, these ballot box relocations can potentially discourage voters who may be reluctant to travel to a neighbouring village associated with a rival Kurdish clan[8]. A. Hunko, German parliamentarian, who was in the election observation mission of the Council of Europe, affirmed that he had been detained by the police in southeastern Turkey and he had never experienced this situation in his previous 15 such missions across the world[9]. He clearly said that the referendum in 2017 was not a free or a fair election. The forensic analysis demonstrates the veracity of allegations on the systematic and highly significant statistical support for the presence of both ballot stuffing and voter rigging[10].
Cevheri Guven, an exiled journalist in Germany, likewise claims that 2,5 million ballots without stamps had been added and admitted in the last presidential election. Above all, he continues to say that there is a strong probability that Erdogan can do the same thing in this election. In his YouTube video, which reached 1 million views in 2 days, He explains in detail how the ballots would be stolen during the elections[11].
Overall, Human Rights Solidarity calls on the relevant authorities of the Council of Europe to take the necessary measures to ensure that the next presidential and parliamentary elections take place in accordance with democratic standards.
Sources:
[1] Article 101 of the Turkish Constitution clearly affirms that “…The term of office of the President is five years. A person may be elected President of the Republic at most twice.”. Erdogan have been already elected twice. Hence, whether he can be candidate is very questionable. Academics in constitutional law insist that he cannot be candidate under the constitution. (Anayasa hukukçuları: Erdoğan yeniden aday olamaz – DW – 19.01.2023)
[10] Klimek P, Jiménez R, Hidalgo M, Hinteregger A, Thurner S (2018) Forensic analysis of Turkish elections in 2017–2018. PLOS ONE 13(10): e0204975. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204975
As we approach International Women’s Day (8 March) this year, the theme of women’s equality is more urgent than ever. We have witnessed in the last year a backlash against women’s and girls’ rights and gender equality almost all over the world. We must come together as a global community to address the many challenges and injustices faced by women around the world if we want to attain our global goals of sustainable development and universal peace.
The COVID-19 crisis had already exacerbated pre-existing gender-based discrimination and violence. The world is yet to recover from the economic recession and change in employment practices that had a negative impact on women’s rights.
The recent Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has had a devastating impact on the rights and freedoms of women in the country. Women are being forced to stay at home and their access to education and healthcare is severely limited. Initial reports suggest that some 16 per cent of the women have lost their jobs after the takeover. The situation of women lawyers is particularly concerning as they are being hunted down by former prisoners released by the Taliban regime. It is our duty to stand in solidarity with these women and call for their rights to be protected and upheld.
In Iran, the ‘lift the veil’ movement has highlighted the systematic oppression of women in the country. The Iranian regime has been responsible for the deaths of many girls who have spoken out against the oppressive laws that restrict their freedom. Almost 1000 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since the beginning of the protest, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut down and prevent the girls from reaching out to the public with their demands. We must demand that the Iranian government respect the rights of women and girls and take immediate action to stop these atrocities.
The Turkish government’s human rights record was already at the lowest of its history and much lower than any acceptable standard in a democratic society. Official statistics suggest that between 2015 and 2021, 97,721 women were tried under the anti-terrorism laws of Turkey, 24,945 of whom received prison sentences. Turkey’s antiterrorism laws are reportedly used to silence opposition in the country. Turkey’s prisons are overcrowded and women inmates are subjected to various forms of inhuman treatment, including sexual harassment, naked body search and psychological torture. Turkey’s resile from the Istanbul Convention encouraged impunity for crimes against women. Only in 2022, 334 women were killed by men and only a minimal number of these cases were solved.
The recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria has once again shown that women and children are often the real victims of natural or manmade disasters. There are already signs that the regime is discouraging civilian initiatives to participate and independently control the rehabilitation efforts. Access to social media has already been restricted in various locations. When an already authoritarian regime restricts participation and communication, there is enough reason to be concerned. The international community must put pressure on the Turkish government to ensure that women and girls of vulnerable populations are provided due support and resources they need to rebuild their lives.
In Ukraine, the ongoing conflict has had a particularly devastating impact on women. UN’s Refugee Agency’s figures suggest that 80 per cent of the displaces 8.3 million Ukrainians are women and girls. These women are often the targets of violence and sexual abuse and are left to bear the brunt of the war’s consequences. We must do everything in our power to support the women of Ukraine and ensure their voices are heard.
We must not forget the impact that western restrictions on immigration are having on women. Many women are being forced to leave their homes and families behind in search of a better life, only to face discrimination and hardship in their new countries. Even when the immigration stories that hit the newspaper headlines are about men, there are silent women and girls that will suffer the repercussions of those stories, unheard and unaided. We must call on governments to do more to support these women and provide them with the resources they need to thrive.
Women and girls lag behind by means of enjoying the developments in new technologies. The digital gap is wider for women and they are the victims of new forms of online violence and harassment. It is essential to ensure that new technologies incorporate a human rights-first approach and prioritise the protection of women and girls in their platforms.
In conclusion, as we celebrate International Women’s Day this year, let us remember that women’s equity is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right. Let us realize we cannot achieve gender equality without eradicating gender-based violence. Let us understand that with half of its population left behind, no society can reach its full potential.
We must stand together and demand that governments and other institutions take immediate action to address the many challenges and injustices faced by women around the world. Only then can we build a more just and equitable world for all.
Cross Party Joint Letter calling the UK government to make human rights as a condition of improved relations with Turkey
DATE: 11 May 2021
PLACE: Online Campaign
COMMITTEE: Write for Rights
Human Rights Solidarity organized a Write Your MP campaign to support the Cross Party Joint Letter launched by Crispin Blunt MP and Hilary Benn MP, calling on the UK government to make human rights as a precondition for improving economic and political relations with Turkey. We invited our volunteers all around the UK to write letters to their members of parliament, encouraging them to undersign the joint letter. When the letter was finally sent to the then Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab by the two co-organizers, the joint letter was signed by 53 members of the parliament.
HRS hopes that this important campaing will bring about further steps towards adoption of an ethical foreign policy by the UK government.
Human Rights Solidarity and LA has published “Politically Motivated Systematic Torture in Turkey and Its Survivors: Interviews with UK-Based Torture Survivors.”
December 2022
Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) is a London-based agile and independent human rights organisation empowered by youth. We define ourselves, not with the injustices and human rights abuses we fight against but with the future, we want to build. Our hard work is determined by the desire to protect the rights of the generations to come. https://www.hrsolidarity.org/about-us/
Human rights Human rights , specifically torture and inhuman or degrading treatment (TIDT), have always been rife in Turkish society; however, since the July 2016 coup d’état attempt against the government of President Erdogan, these instances of TIDT have increased significantly. As a result, a striking number of Turkish citizens have been documented fleeing their homelands due to fear of prosecution and TIDT, many of whom have settled in the UK and the EU.
The report on Politically Motivated Systemic Torture in Turkey and Its Survivors by HRS analyses the international and national legal frameworks of TIDT with support from recent documentation of torture and inhuman treatment in Turkey in order to put forward London Advocacy’s Torture or Inhumane or Degrading Treatment Victims Support Project.
The victim support project gathered information through a questionnaire to 30 victims of torture and additional interviews with 10 of the 30 original participants. By demonstrating the United Nations General Assembly prohibition against torture, the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1984 Convention against Torture, the 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child, and many more’s declarations and commitment to battling the existence of torture, this report frames the lack of aid and expulsion of torture in Turkey in a legal environment.
Examples of recent torture and inhuman treatment reports in Turkey further exemplify the existence of this human rights issue and back up our move to create a victim support project to raise awareness of the injustices and violations occurring in Turkey. The outcome and findings of the victim support project align with multiple previous documentation of TIDT in Turkey, directly overlapping with the CPT’s Turkey 2017 and 2019 reports.
Main Findings
The Torture Victims project functions as a research project to document and analyse the torture and inhumane or degrading treatment cases evidenced by newly arrived Turkish refugees in the UK after the 2016 coup.
Since 2016, those perceived as Gulenist and Kurdish are at high risk of accusations of terrorism-related charges, and hence torture and inhumane treatment.
All interviewees detailed overcrowding, lack of sufficient beds in police detention cells and prisons, ineffective legal aid, and insufficient access to food and water.
The majority of interviewees reported being detained and tortured by police multiple times.
Turkey is a party to ICCPR, the 1984 UN Convention against Torture, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, yet torture in Turkey continuously goes unpunished.
Torture incidents are not being accurately investigated.
The accounts of the interviewees overlap with previously reported cases of TIDT in international documents and national entities (see Ankara Bar and Medical Association and CPT 2017 and 2019 Turkey reports)
Between June 2016 and June 2022, over 5100 individuals have applied for asylum in the UK from Turkey, with an additional approximation of 110,000 individuals applying for asylum in the EU between 2016 and 2021.
Several victims who were encouraged to fill out the short survey during seminars did not and did not respond to our calls for face-to-face interviews due to anxiety over repercussions from the Turkish government.
TABLE OF CONTENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II: INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON TORTURE, or INHUMANE or DEGRADING TREATMENT (TIDT
CHAPTER III: RECENT REPORTS DOCUMENTING WIDESPREAD TORTURE AND INHUMANE TREATMENT IN TURKEY
CHAPTER IV: UK-BASED TURKISH TORTURE OR INHUMANE OR DEGRADING TREATMENT VICTIMS SUPPORT PROJECT
CHAPTER V: DATA ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY (QUESTIONNAIRE)
CHAPTER VI: ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEWS
CHAPTER VII: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A Sample Table from Report: Physical Effects of Torture, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment
Human Rights Solidarity will continue to value communication with our stakeholders, including readers of the report. If you have any inquiries regarding the contents of the report, please contact us at contact@hrsolidarity.org
Strasbourg protest was a joint protest among 24 organisations in Europe. The main goal of this protest was to let the European Court of Human Rights know that we are not holding back and not accepting them to blind their eyes to human rights abuses in Turkey.
Since 2016 European Court of Human Rights has barely decided cases on Turkey’s significant human rights violations. All the organisations there prepared a joint letter to the ECHR, and when the protest crowd reached the front ECHR, we wanted to give the joint letter to them and continue protesting till we went to the European council and council of Europe. A significant number of people, more than ten thousand, were there. They were all shouting and asking for justice.
The protest continued with a rally, where people who managed to escape from Turkey, family members of enforcedly disappeared people in Turkey, family members who died on the way from running from Turkey, and people who experienced prison and whose loved ones are in prison unjustly and more. They have asked to end this .
The mission of ECHR is to ‘raise the standards of protection of human rights and extending human rights jurisprudence throughout the community of the Convention States’. However, it has been evident since 2016 that Turkey has breached significant obligations under international law, including human rights. ECHR has stopped considering the cases, which was the point everyone raised at the protest.
The protest raised an issue and showed the ECHR, Council of Europe, and European Council that people are in tremendous suffering and justice needs to be addressed immediately.
From China to Turkey, from Russia to Saudi Arabia illiberal countries are known to have engaged in enforced disappearances of opposition voices. Starting with the thwarted Coup attempt of 2016, Turkish government authorized its intelligence agency to engage in cross-border abduction operations and the officers of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency were protected with legal impunity.
On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (30 August) we were opposite Number 10, Downing Street, calling our government to be more proactive in preventing such practices and securing that the perpetrators of such violations of human rights be brought in front of justice.
Here is the speech HRS spokesperson delivered during the day of the protest:
Tool of Terror?
Dear Friends,
We are gathered today to observe the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
This day was promulgated by the United Nations, as an international observance in December 2010. The aim was to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places unknown to their relatives. A decade later, we are here today, to raise our voices, and to remind our governments that nothing has changed…
Ten years of work has given no meaningful result.
Dear Friends,
In October 2020 the daily number of enforced disappearances surpassed 1,000 people worldwide. A majority of these people went missing during attempts of migration from a zone of conflict.
The Missing Migrants Project of the International Organization for Migration has counted more than 35,000 migrants who lost their lives or went missing since 2014.
Only a little proportion of abductions are reported. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project reported in the 18 months before August 2020, more than 3,200 abductions and forced disappearances worldwide. More than half of these abductions took place in only four countries: China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico and Syria.
In later years, European countries were involved in abductions of opposition figures. Turkish intelligence agents found cooperating partners in Moldovo and Kosovo in kidnapping of their nationals.
Despite all revelations on disappearing Uyghurs at the Chinese concentration camps, our governments continue on favoring China as a trade partner.
We have seen how Western governments are contracting the task of their border protection against waves of immigration to dictators.
Our governments are at best silent on the face of these enforced disappearances.
The missing Uyghurs in China, families demanding information about their missing family members in Islamabad, funerals held after 3 decades in Afghanistan, and international abductions regime that turned Turkey into a pirate state…
All call for action!
And there is no action at the side of our governments.
Let us raise our voice for the victims of enforced disappearances all around the world.
Let us demand justice for them.
We demand our government to sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of all persons from Enforced Disappearance.
We demand our government to enhance the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime to include the perpetrators of enforced disappearances.
We demand our government to prioritize a complete stop to state run abduction campaigns as a precondition of friendly relations.
Let there be no more kidnappings!
Let there be no more enforced disappearances! No more abductions by state agents!
I welcome you all in the name of Human Rights Solidarity.
Today we are in solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances all over the world.
Today we are here for people who are missing, or are kidnapped.
The Erdogan Regime became the prime perpetrator of enforced disappearances in the world.
We are here today for Yusuf Bilge Tunç who is missing for 673 days!
Where is Yusuf Bilge Tunc?
We are here today for Hüseyin Galip Küçüközyiğit who is missing for 164 days!
We join his daughter to shout: Where is Nursena’s father?
Where is Huseyin Galip?
We are here today for people kidnapped from outside Turkey and are being tortured or tormented in Turkey’s notorious prisons.
We are here today for Selahaddin Gulen.
Selahaddin was kidnapped from Nairobi, Kenya, where he was working as a teacher.
He was forcefully separated from his wife, from his family, from his students.
It is already a month he was brought into Turkey.
We are hearing horrible stories of beating, and torturing.
He was forced to sign witness statements he didn’t write.
We are here today for Orhan Inandi.
Orhan was the general director of Sapat Schools in Kyrgyzstan.
Orhan Inandi has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1995. He is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan. He dedicated his life to education. He has nothing to do with politics.
Orhan Inandi is recipient of several state awards for his contribution to the reform and development of the Kyrgyz education system.
He has been missing for the last 10 days.
We are afraid that he will meet the same fate with Selehaddin.
We are afraid that he will be flied into Turkey… where he will be tortured…
For the time being, we still have hopes that he is in Kyrgyzstan.
And we are here to call to the Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities alike: Let Orhan Free!
Set him free!
Set him free!
Dear Friends!
Turkey has always been infamous for enforced disappearances.
About 17 thousand Kurds have gone missing during the 40 years long unrest in the South East of Turkey.
You would know the Saturday Mothers, who have been asking for the last 20 years: Where is my son? Where is my daughter?
Some of the Saturday Mothers died while still searching for their children.
We know that!
But something crucial happened since the coup attempt of 2016.
Now the Turkish intelligence agency is proudly declaring that it is kidnapping people.
Turkish embassies are publicly involved in kidnapping operations.
In Kosovo, the six Turkish teachers kidnapped were first brought to the Turkish embassy and the embassy distributed their photographs later on.
The same happened in Moldovo.
And now, we are hearing claims that Orhan Inandi is being kept as captive at the Turkish embassy in Bishkek.
This is in complete defiance of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
This means Turkey is using diplomatic immunity for criminal activity.
This is unacceptable!
This is unacceptable for the victims!
This is unacceptable for the whole world!
This is why we are here today.
We call Turkey to stop silencing the critics of the regime in Ankara.
We call Turkey to stop using its diplomatic missions for criminal activity.
We call Turkey to release Orhan Inandi now! And release all information they have about Orhan and other missing persons immediately!
Dear Friends!
We are here today not because we hate Turkey, or because we want to harm the interests of Turkey.
No!
We are here today because we think the mindset that is ruling over Turkey today is a mafia mindset.
This mindset does not recognize rule of law. This mindset does not honour the conventions Turkey has ratified.
This mindset is dangerous for Turkey and for its people.
The current regime in Turkey has been involved in human piracy.
The current regime in Turkey has been working with mafia, from Venezuela to Colombia.
The current regime in Turkey has been working with paid mercenaries, from Syria to Libya.
By was of protesting here, we do no harm to Turkey’s future.
The real harm, the real danger for Turkey’s future is this untranationalist – mafia coalition that is ruling over Turkey.
Dear Friends,
The President of Kyrgyzstan is in Turkey today.
Yesterday he was hosted by the President of Turkey.
Using this opportunity I want to say a few words to the Kyrgyz statesmen:
We know that you are under immense pressure from Turkey.
We know that Ankara is blackmailing you with all kinds of threats about economic sanctions and cancellation of all deals between the two countries.
We are sure, you are also thinking: Is it worth destroying a working international relationship for the sake of one person? Is it worth doing this just for a few schools?
We are sure, because this is how interest based politics works.
We don’t want Kyrgyzstan to freeze relations with Turkey. We are proud of the friendly relations between the two countries and the peoples of the two countries.
But rest assured!
This mindset ruling over Turkey is a temporary one.
In fact, it became even more aggressive recently, because it also knows that it is already disintegrating.
Don’t invest in temporary realities!
Invest in the future of Turkey.
Invest in the future of Kyrgyzstan.
Invest in education as Orhan Inandi invested his whole life.
Invest in rule of law. Invest in human rights.
Dear Friends,
I want to say a few words to the so-called human rights organizations of the world.
From the moment we realized Orhan has gone missing, we contacted international human rights organizations… begging them to start an emergency appeal… to call for immediate action…
Here is what we understand from what they say to us: They are afraid that if they stood with us, their representatives in Turkey will be harmed.
This is how dictatorships sustain their policies of persecution.
Human rights advocates are great people, precisely because they take the risk of being harmed, for the rights of the others.
Is it too risky to stand with the victim?
With whom else you can stand, if you are a human rights defender?
We would love to be participating in a protest organized by either one of these human rights organizations. But none is here!
That is a shameful failure on their behalf…
Human Rights Watch and Freedom House have publicised yesterday about their concerns for Orhan Inandi’s fate.
We thank for their efforts also. But more could have been done, at an earlier stage.
Dear Friends,
I thank you all for the time, and energy you spared for the victims of enforced disappearances. Thank you…
Four years have passed over the thwarted coup attempt of July 2016 in Turkey. The world is yet to hear a convincing and consistent statement of what happened that night, and who should be held accountable for the deaths of hundreds. A clarification is not provided, neither by the accusers, nor by the accused. In the meantime, half a million people continue to suffer from the ensuing persecution of dissent.
