PRESS STATEMENTON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DURING ELECTIONS PERIOD IN TURKEYLegislative and local administrative organs are determined by general and local elections that the people’s free wills should be reflected on the results of elections without any restrictions. This constitutes the basis of democracy. Political parties are the main instruments for the people’s wills to be expressed in a more efficient way and are regarded an indispensable part of democracy. Moreover, political parties have vital importance in terms of the protection of freedoms and safety of people and also for restricting the sphere of state authority. Holding elections in a free and equal condition is closely linked to the enjoyment of individual freedoms, in particular, freedom of expression, freedom of organization and the right to participation in the political life of the country. National threshold which is to be 10% in coming elections breaches the principle of “justice in terms of representation”. Some political parties have been granted financial aid provided by the Treasury which amounted trillions Turkish Lira. This also breaches the principal of “equality”. Only several political parties have the opportunity to address their opinions in the media. Thus, political parties, in particular, left-wing political parties, are working in a condition which is restricted by the power of capital, media attitudes towards them and also national threshold. These political parties are under the risk of being excluded. Within this context, voters in Turkey can receive information only on the right-wing political parties and business sectors’ political interests and they are under the propaganda of these circles’ opinions. Announcements by Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), Labor’s Party (EMEP), Socialist Power Party (SiP), People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), Democratic Peace Party (DBP), Worker’s Party (iP) are not taken place in any TV channels and in daily newspapers which have wide circulation in Turkey. This is mostly because they do not have economic facilities to do so and also they have not been granted any financial aid from the Treasury. Therefore, there is an inequality based on the laws. We would like to point out some other problems which are based on unlawful practices. Political parties have faced discrimination concerning the general and local elections to be held on 18 April 1999; some of political parties election campaigns are prevented by administrators and security forces’ unfair attitudes towards them. Thus, the principles of having free and equal elections are violated by the state officials. Human Rights Association has come to this result by the applications to its branches and by some news appeared in the media. A number of human rights violations can be summarized as follows: Election campaigns of ODP have been prevented, and meetings of ODP have been broken up; HADEP’s busses have been attacked; and this action was not prevented by police forces, in contrary, HADEP‘s flags have been confiscated by them. These pictures were appeared in all TV channels; the governor of Diyarbakir made a statement and said that” election campaigns of HADEP and its electoral offices have been banned”; the Labor’s Party (EMEP) leader was not allowed to enter Diyarbakir; almost all HADEP electoral offices in Diyarbakir were closed down without reason; HADEP’s flags and posters were taken by security forces; candidates of HADEP and its officers were detained in towns (Lice, Kulp, Hazro) in Diyarbakır, followers of HADEP were not allowed to travel in the region for campaigning, a meeting organized by HADEP in Suriye; town of Urfa province was raided and was thwarted. Most recently, on 13 April 1999, a meeting organized by HADEP was prohibited only 25 minutes before it was due to start; thousands of people were detained. All these practices are the only a small part of violations in the election period. Written information which we received constitutes a file as the ‘violations during election period‘. We are going to inform the public opinion on these violations, in detail, after the elections. Human rights violations, which state units are responsible, continue intensively and this causes a grave concern. These actions ignore our domestic law, in particular the Constitution and also violate international agreements which Turkey is a state party. These acts are in contradiction with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which regulates freedom of expression; Article II, which regulates freedom to organize; article 14 that prohibits any kind of discrimination; and also Article 3 of the ECHR Protocol No: I, which regulates holding free and equal elections. These practices are also in violation of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 25 which guarantees political rights and Article 26 which regulates equality before the law. We are also concerned about statements made by some officers working in legal institutions, that such statements may affect the citizens’ free wills. The sole aim of the Human Rights Association is to protect and to promote fundamental human rights and freedoms. We, therefore, urge all state authorities to take any necessary measures for holding free, equal and fair elections and for ending all unjust practices in respect of individuals and political parties. Akın Birdal President of the Human Rights Association