The new Turkey
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Political Prisoners and Detainees

20-mar-20

More from the report:

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings b. Disappearance c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Prison and Detention Center Conditions d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees e. Denial of Fair Public Trial Trial Procedures Political Prisoners and Detainees Politically Motivated Reprisal Against Individuals Located Outside the Country Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies Property Restitution f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence g. Abuses in Internal Conflict

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties a. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press Internet Freedom Academic Freedom and Cultural Events b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Freedom of Association c. Freedom of Religion: See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/ religiousfreedomreport d. Freedom of Movement e. Internally Displaced Persons f. Protection of Refugees g. Stateless Persons

Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process

Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government

Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons Women Children Anti-Semitism Trafficking in Persons: See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking- in-persons-report Persons with Disabilities National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity HIV and AIDS Social Stigma Other Societal Violence or Discrimination

Section 7. Worker Rights a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The number of political prisoners remained a subject of debate at year's end. In September the Interior Ministry reported the government had detained 540,000 persons in connection with the 2016 coup attempt. Of those, the courts had convicted nearly 30,000 people, and another 70,000 were in prison awaiting trial. The government reported that as of November, there were 41,000 individuals in prison for terror-related crimes. Of these, 28,000 were Gulen movement related and 9,000-10,000 were PKK related. Some observers considered some of these individuals political prisoners, a charge the government disputed.

Prosecutors used a broad definition of terrorism and threats to national security and in some cases, according to defense lawyers and opposition groups, used what appeared to be legally questionable evidence to file criminal charges against and prosecute a broad range of individuals, including journalists, opposition politicians (primarily of the HDP), activists, and others critical of the government. At year's end seven former HDP parliamentarians and 48 HDP comayors had been arrested. According to the HDP, since July 2016 at least 4,920 HDP lawmakers, executives, and party members were in prison for a variety of charges related to terrorism and political speech, including former HDP cochair and former presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas, who remained imprisoned since 2016. As of December 1, the government had suspended from office using national security grounds, 28 locally elected opposition politicians in Kurdish-majority areas, subsequently arresting and imprisoning some.

The government suspended the elected village headmen of 10 villages from office in the southeast in May. In August the Ministry of Interior suspended the HDP mayors of three major southeastern cities, Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van, all of whom had been elected in March. The Ministry of Interior suspended and detained the HDP mayors of Kulp and Karayazi in September and the mayors of Hakkari, Yuksekova, Nusaybin, Bismil, Kayapinar, Ercis, Cizre, and Kocakoy in October. The government suspended the majority for ongoing investigations into their alleged support for PKK terrorism, largely dating to before their respective elections.

Authorities used antiterror laws broadly against opposition political party members, human rights activists, media outlets, suspected PKK sympathizers, and alleged Gulen movement members or groups affiliated with the Gulen movement, among others, including to seize assets of companies, charities, or businesses. Human rights groups alleged many detainees had no substantial link to terrorism and were detained to silence critical voices or weaken political opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), particularly the HDP or its partner party, the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). In August police detained one doctor and three health workers on terror charges for allegedly providing medical treatment to injured PKK members during intense urban clashes in Cizre, Sirnak, in 2015 and 2016.

Students, artists, and association members faced criminal investigations for alleged terror-related activities, primarily due to their social media posts. The government did not consider those in custody for alleged PKK or Gulen movement ties to be political prisoners and did not permit access to them by human rights or humanitarian organizations.

Credible reports claimed that some persons jailed on terrorism-related charges were subject to abuses, including long solitary confinement, severe limitations on outdoor exercise and out-of-cell activity, denial of access to the library and media, slow medical attention, and in some cases the denial of medical treatment. Media reports also alleged that visitors to prisoners accused of terrorism-related crimes faced abuse, including limited access to family, strip searches, and degrading treatment by prison guards.

Source: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/
2020/03/TURKEY-2019-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf