English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Monitoring protection mechanisms / Urgent Interventions / Turkey / 2016 / July

Turkey: No opening of floodgates for torture and arbitrary detention!

Geneva, 21 July 2016  - OMCT, the leading global civil society coalition against torture today calls for the respect of the absolute prohibition of torture through a scrupulous application of legal safeguards against abuse and an urgent restoration of the rule of law in Turkey.

“The declaration of a state of emergency in Turkey must be a wake up call for all. The alarm bells are ringing loud and clear”, said Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the OMCT commenting on the declaration of a state of emergency by Turkey’s President Erdogan during a press conference yesterday night.

The state of emergency, declared for three months, allows the president and the Council of Minister to rule by decree, bypassing in this way the parliament when drafting new laws and concentrating into the hands of a few people the power to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms. Despite President Erdogan’s words ensuring that “this measure is in no way against democracy, the rule of law and freedoms”, OMCT is concerned that floodgates for abuse have been put wide open.

 “What we witness today is a cocktail for abuse and torture” said Gerald Staberock “All ingredients are there: mass arrests on the basis of vague grounds and generic suspicions, a system tantamount to detention without charge or trial, paired with disturbing accounts of denied access for detainees to lawyers and the outside world”.

With a judiciary whose independence has been destroyed and with the intensification of intimidation and reprisals against anybody questioning arrests and detention, we are concerned that a state of emergency will result in a full derogation of key legal safeguards.

“The legacy – including in Turkey – of states of emergencies is replete with arbitrary detention, abuse and torture” remarks Gerald Staberock. It is also for this that military coups are universally condemned. ‘It is now vital that key legal safeguards are maintained and that anybody arrested is charged with a recognizable crime and treated within the rule of law”.

We remind the government of Turkey that the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment applies in war, peace and in a state of emergency, and constitutes a crime under international law. It is its obligation under international law not only to refrain from torture but to ensure that it is prevented at all times.

International human rights law allows for security measures to be taken in a crisis situation but as a continuation and not abrogation of the rule of law.

We further express concern over the unprecedented and illegal interferences into the judiciary as well as the enactment of arbitrary measures against masses of state officials, teachers and other professional groups outside of any due process. Considerations suggesting the reintroduction of the death penalty are particularly disturbing as this will not only violate Turkey’s international obligations, but also set a dangerous precedent in the present volatile environment.

“As in many state of emergencies we hear state officials saying that ordinary citizens have nothing to fear and it only serves to maintain democracy” notes Gerald Staberock. “Yet the principle of the winner takes is all and a “trust me, believe me” approach are not compatible with democracy and the rule of law. In a democracy based on the rule of law even in times of crisis key guarantees have to apply to whoever, friend or not”.

For more information please contact:

Stella Anastasia
Human Rights Officer, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
sa@omct.org
, +41 (0) 22 809 49 26

Properties

Date: July 21, 2016
Activity: Monitoring Protection Mechanisms
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Turkey
Subjects: Torture and violence

Share this

Tweet

Languages

This page is available in:

English


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy