A letter sent from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to Turkish Minister of External Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, details the concerns for Turkey’s human rights record since the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and a possible framework for improvement.
The letter dated 4 December 2020, follows up from the UPR, which took place in January 2020, evaluating Turkey’s human rights practices over the last five years. The third cycle review saw contributions from IOHR in partnership with the Press Emblem Campaign convened at the Palais des Nations, United Nations in Geneva. One year on from this, we take a look at the details of the letter and the key areas of human rights under great threat in Turkey today.
Findings of the review
In January 2020, Turkey received 321 recommendations from the UPR, and supported 216 of them in the adoption of its UPR outcome at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council in September 2020. The adoption of 216 recommendations was a 0.46% increase from the previous cycle in 2015. In relation to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, half of the recommendations focused on peace, justice and social institutions, with Turkey supporting calls to improve its legal and general framework of implementation, and political and civil rights. Eighteen percent of the recommendations related to gender equality, 9% on reducing inequalities, 7% on improving quality education, and 6% on decent work and economic growth.
Ahead of the review, IOHR’s discussion with the Press Emblem Campaign highlighted how Turkey had not upheld its previous UPR promises, but instead “weaponized the legal system and terror legislation to restrict free expression.” Freedom of expression in Turkey currently stands below the levels it was over a decade ago, confirmed by a recently released European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) report which ranks Turkey first for the number of violations to freedom of expression in 2020 out of 47 Council of Europe member states. The report found that Turkey violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerns freedom of expression, a total of 31 times out of 97 rulings at the ECtHR.
Speaking on the press freedom panel, Yavuz Baydar, editor-in-chief of Ahval, expressed concerns on internet blackouts, restrictions to news outlets and the lack of critical voices. “No state or power can decide who is a journalist, it is the domain for professional organisations and should always be separate from power”, he said. Panellist Nurcan Baysal seconded this, saying that she had to censor herself because of fears of punishment. “Everything that I say has an effect on not only my life but of the lives of my children and family,” she said.
Valerie Peay, Director of IOHR, called for the urgent need for change in Turkey, and for the country to take the opportunity given with the UPR to “step up to its obligations to it’s people to underpin freedom of Expression, human rights and the rule of international law.”
Turkey’s adoption of the UPR recommendations at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council in September 2020 was welcomed, however many human rights groups noted the disappointment of so many rejections. Amnesty International pointed out that since the review, four human rights defenders in Turkey had been convicted in July 2020 on terror-related charges, without evidence of crimes being committed, as well as the continuing detention of journalists and lawyers. “Amnesty International regrets Turkey’s rejection of recommendations to decriminalize peaceful expression, and we reiterate our call for Turkey to repeal or amend articles in the Turkish Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Law that are not in line with international standards,” they said.
Concerns in the letter
Ms. Bachelet’s letter follows up on the key areas of improvement resulting from the UPR and the 45th session. He welcomes measures Turkey has taken since, such as drafting a Judicial Reform Strategy to improve the protection of fundamental freedoms for all, and plans to pursue a reform process aimed at strengthening freedom of expression and victims’ rights. He also acknowledges that Turkey is home to around four million refugees and asylum seekers, encouraging them to continue providing humanitarian aid, education and health services. Despite this, many of the recommendations given to Turkey in the UPR have seen little progress over the year, with 37 journalists still imprisoned and greater numbers of lawyers and human rights defenders in jail too.
“Nevertheless, I am seriously concerned about numerous consistent reports of intimidation and harassment of and violence against human rights defenders, journalists, academics, judges and the media. I urge Turkey to refrain from detaining and prosecuting them as a means of discouraging them from freely commenting and reporting on human rights issues.”
The letter provides a detailed annex on recommendations for a “national human rights action plan in order to achieve concrete results”, in consultation with human rights institutions and civil society organisations. Turkey is yet to ratify essential international treaties and conventions, such as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Ratifying these conventions is vital to ensuring Turkey meets its international obligations, and provides assured international protections to its citizens and the large migrant population it hosts. In conjunction with this, immigration laws and policies should be reviewed to safeguard the rights of migrants in accordance with international human rights standards, so that all refugees, asylum seekers and migrants within Turkey have basic human rights and access to essential services. Additionally, anti-trafficking laws should be improved especially focusing on refugees and migrants who are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and modern slavery, as well as women and children.
As part of the national rights framework, there are a number of cross-cutting issues that Turkey should address: equality and discrimination, development, the environment and business, and human rights in counter-terrorism, bringing these areas in line with international human rights standards. The Anti-Terrorism Act is criticised for its broad scope and application to suppress freedom of expression, therefore reform is recommended to narrow its definition, so that it does not interfere with the freedom of expression of journalists, artists, academics and human rights defenders.
Turkey is also in need of implementing anti-discrimination legislation to ensure the right to equal treatment of persons, particularly avoiding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is necessary given the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric amongst polarised Turks and the rise in hate crimes; Turkey has the highest transgender murder rate in Europe. Measures should also be taken to combat discrimination against women, adopting comprehensive reforms towards redressing gender injustice and inequality and promoting women’s empowerment and participating in political and economic processes.
Violence against women has been a pertinent issues in Turkey in 2020, with nationwide protests in August against increasing femicide. In July 2020 alone, 32 women were killed, of which 17 were suspected femicide, 80 women were subjected to violence, and 113 women were forced into sex work. The letter recommends:
“…expanding national and local resources to respond to all forms of gender-based violence; explicitly criminalizing gender-based and domestic violence; addressing the root causes of the pervasive underreporting of gender-based violence and undertaking concrete efforts to encourage reporting; ensuring that all reports of gender-based violence are duly investigated; holding to account perpetrators of violence against women, including so called “honour crimes” and domestic violence; and increasing the institutional support services and shelters for victims of violence.”
Finally, civil, political, economic and cultural rights encompass many different areas for improvement, from the right to life and liberty, addressing Turkey’s use of impunity, rights to education and protecting fundamental freedoms. One of the biggest human rights concerns in Turkey is its use of impunity to protect the government and affiliates from accountability and justice for torture, abuse of power, and corruption allegations. The letter urges Turkey to “intensify the monitoring of places of detention” and conduct immediate and independent investigations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees. Judicial measures are needed to “prevent such acts and impunity”, as well as giving human rights defenders and critics accused of a crime their guaranteed due process and fair trial rights. In order to do this, the Judicial Reform Strategy must strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and guarantee the separation of powers to “end the interference of the executive branch in the criminal justice system and criminal investigations related to corruption charges against senior State officials.”
Fundamental freedoms should be met by “Taking appropriate measures to create and guarantee a safe and enabling environment for civil society organizations, human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists, so they can operate freely without fear of reprisals, interference or censorship and are not subjected to intimidation or arbitrary arrest, including by bringing those responsible for attacks and harassment to justice.”
During the Turkey Tribunal’s recent webinar. the State of Impunity, UK Barrister Michael Polak highlighted how every aspect of the law has been affected, with lawyers, presidents of bar associations, judges and other high profile civil society figures having been arrested for not complying to the government, therefore new legal frameworks are essential to tackle the problem. IOHR’s work with the Turkey Tribunal has provided comprehensive reports and witness statements on the use of torture, abductions, suppression of freedom of expression and the use of impunity in Turkey, and strongly recommends that Turkey implement the recommendations in Ms. Bachelet’s letter and the UPR. Those who have perpetuated such crimes should be brought to justice whilst Turkey constructs a more robust and better monitored national human rights framework, and abides by its international obligations to take action to improve its human rights record.