Joint Press Meeting about the High Commission of the Fight against Terrorism

There is an increase in attempts of racist, discriminative and hatred attitudes and lynch attempts in many parts of the country especially in the Aegean Region as well as resolution that has been sent to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). In addition these issues; a security regimes, which includes changes to terminate fundamental rights and freedoms, has become a current issue after the attack to Aktütün Gendarmerie Station and subsequently deaths.

There will be a meeting of “High Commission of the Fight against Terrorism” today (09.10.2008). Most probably some decisions, which will limit fundamental right and freedoms and bring the state of emergency back, will be made in accordance with requests and suggestions of the security forces.

Indeed it is not a new situation: political powers and security forces, like in all over the world after 11 September 2001, have been trying to create dilemma of “freedom or security?” in the society and to limit fundamental rights and freedoms with an abstract reason “fight against terrorism” in Turkey.

As it can be remembered, in this regard changes have been made in Anti Terror Law in 2006 and Law on the Duties and Competencies of Police in 2007. After these changes, fundamental rights and freedoms have been ignored easily and an increase in violent actions by security forces against to the whole society such as workers, lawyers, journalists and businessmen has been observed. According to the data prepared by the Documentation Centre of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey; over two thousand citizens were subjected to rights violations in different levels in 171 incidents from 1 May 2007 and 8 October 2008.

Not only opposite people but also citizens, who are from different professions, at different ages and male or female have been subjected to these serious violations. For example; people, who have gone to police station to file a complaint or conduct passport procedure, have been asked to showed his identity card and wanted to learn reason of it while on picnic with his family, intervened to stop a fighting in street, drunk beer in a park, had a traffic accident, were waiting his/her turns in hospital garden in the 1st May, were talking with his friend during friday prayer, were detained for judicial case, were a peddler, sell alcohols in the registered shop, became ill and taken into hospital while joining his military service, just passed by police station, were grazing his sheep in an area from which soldiers would pass, were complained about making noise at house, were suffered an affront, threatened, beaten, subjected to torture and even killed. Moreover some of the citizens were subjected to these violations just because they were Kurds, roman, woman or gay. In the last incident Mr. Engin Ceber, who is in Metris Prison, is being hold in intensive care unit as a brain death person because of the torture that he was subjected to.

Despite the current regulations that cause such negative results in terms of rights and freedoms, demanding new and additional security measures is not understandable. Although the whole content is not known, the “security” measures that requested/predicted to be passed will bring:

-Policemen and soldiers will be able to search any house, work places and person without permission from judge and prosecutor but with their own decision;

-Policemen and soldiers will be able use devices, which cut wireless communication, in any place wherever and in any time whenever they want;

-Judicial authorities of the gendarmerie and policemen will be given to units that fight against terrorism, too;

-Meeting with a lawyer while being under detention will be abolished and detention period will be extended;

-Gendarmerie will be able to conduct search in places which are under the responsibility of police forces.

It is also possible that the worrisome list may be broadened and subsequently fundamental rights and freedoms may be ignored completely. It is clear that such regulations, which will exempt security forces from any kinds of legal control, were not even in the periods of martial law.

However we have experienced in a very well level during the last 25-30 years period that limiting fundamental rights and freedoms via martial laws and state of emergency applications did not abolish armed conflict and Kurdish question, which is the reason of the conflict, but made it deeper and deadlock.

Therefore, as human rights defenders-who refuse violence and war-we have been defending that Kurdish question is a question of human rights and democracy. The peaceful solution of the Kurdish question will be accomplished, under conditions where a legal system and democracy based on human rights will be established, in our country. In this regard we want to remind to all authorities and public in Turkey that human rights and freedoms, subsequently; democracy do not threat but empower and guarantee the security.