FROM: the Human Rights Association/Turkey
MESSAGE: For your information, enclosed is the press release of June 1998 by the Human Rights Association concerning the imprisonment of a prominent human rights defender, Eşber Yagmurdereli.
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In Turkey, abuses of freedom of thought and of expression uninterruptedly continue and attacks against individuals and organizations defending human rights and freedoms increasingly spread. [n addition to a great deal of prisoners of conscience, including intellectuals, writers, trade unionists and journalists, Eşber Yagmurdereli, a lawyer and human rights defender, has most recently been imprisoned at the Çankırı Prison (Çankırı Cezaevi) to serve 22 years 6 months imprisonment sentence. On the other hand, Associate Professor Haluk Gerger, an academic, writer and human rights defender, who is presently serving his earlier prison terms at the Gildill Prison (Gildill Cezaevi), has been sentenced to an additional 20 months imprisonment. These most recent developments clearly show the insincere and unstable attitude of the Turkish Government regarding its earlier pronunciation of reforms. The draft bill which was presented to the Parliament in connection with the envisaged amendment to the article 3 12, moreover, has been dropped from the agenda.
A total of 152 laws and thousands of legal provisions of these laws have been obstacles to the freedom of the expression of ideas in Turkey. In particular articles 7 and 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, as well as article 159, 311 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code, have created an atmosphere of fear, and thus, freedom of expression has been curtailed. A great deal of international organizations has urged the Turkish Government in this regard. Despite the fact that it made promises concerning such reforms, it failed to fulfill its commitments.
It makes no sense whether some specific laws are eliminated and some reforms are done, or not. Amongst others, regulations must be made in line with the norms and standards of the international human rights instruments, and fundamental reforms must be realized.
Turkey’s problems may not be resolved by curtailing freedom of expression and imprisoning intellectuals. On the contrary, this would solely lead to the crisis. This is what Turkey currently experiences.
Besides, the question is not the release of several intellectuals. Mr.Yagmurdereli has also emphasized that he will not demand a specific amnesty on behalf of him. However, we believe that the prices, which the people and intellectuals of Turkey have so far paid, will not be in vain, and the freedom of thought and of express ion we II be fully enjoyed at the end.
We demand Turkish government to release Eşber Yagmurdereli, Haluk Gerger and other prisoners of conscience promptly, to abrogate the laws being obstacles to the freedom of the expression of ideas, to ratify all of the human rights instruments and to adopt its domestic law in line with these instrum