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Dear President Obama,

Your forthcoming visit to Turkey comes at a critical moment in that country's history. After a hopeful period of progress under the previous Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, political and human rights reforms in Turkey have stalled, and there has been backtracking on a number of key human rights concerns.

A democratic Turkey that respects dissent and diversity and rejects the abuses of the past decades is critically important, not only for the citizens of Turkey, but for the whole region. Leading EU member states have been inconsistent in their support for Turkey, undercutting the leverage of the EU and playing into the hands of those in Turkey who oppose reform. The previous US administration could not effectively support Turkey's reform agenda, given its low standing in the region and abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism. We believe that now is an important time to signal strong support for Turkey's reform process and therefore urge you to use the opportunity of your visit to call on the Turkish government to reaffirm its commitment to human rights and democratization and to provide a concrete timeline for achieving specific reforms. 

Ten years have passed since the European Union first indicated that it would consider Turkey for membership and set out objective criteria by which it would measure Turkey's candidacy. From this point onwards the prospect of EU membership for Turkey contributed to a dynamic reform process.

Following its November 2002 election, the AKP government passed a series of amendments to the constitution and revised a number of laws and regulations to improve the protection of human rights. Major steps included the total abolition of the death penalty, right to legal counsel for detainees, improved criminal procedures, a revised penal code, and improved protection for the right to association.

However, since November 2005, when the EU formally accepted Turkey as a candidate for full accession, further progress on human rights has stalled. In the past three years, the Turkish government has failed to ensure implementation of the very human rights protections it had initiated, courts have interpreted even improved laws to maintain significant restrictions on freedom of expression, and there has been a rise in reports of police violence and violent dispersal of demonstrators. In 2008 there was no movement toward further ratification of international human rights instruments, notably the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.

Against a backdrop of more frequent armed clashes between the Turkish military and the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in 2006 and 2007 the previous AKP government introduced some retrograde amendments to the Anti-Terror Law and the Law on the Powers and Duties of the Police. Disappointingly, the government failed to honor its pledge to redraft the constitution in its entirety after it was re-elected in July 2007 with a resounding 47 percent of the vote. Political crisis dominated the agenda in 2007 and 2008, with concerted efforts by anti-reformist elements-including parts of the military and the judiciary-to derail the reform process and the AKP narrowly escaping closure by the Constitutional Court.

In this letter, we have identified a number of issues that merit your attention and where steps need to be taken to reverse negative developments. The issues discussed here do not represent a comprehensive agenda for reform but rather a summary of areas that have a current and pressing significance.

You have an opportunity during your visit to Turkey to provide significant new impetus for the reform process by articulating the concrete steps the AKP government needs to take to address a number of pressing human rights concerns. During your meetings in Ankara, we call on you to:

Urge the Turkish government to pursue comprehensive constitutional reform with full consultation

The Turkish government has pledged that its first task after the March 29, 2009 local elections will be to pursue further constitutional reform. Human rights defenders and public opinion makers in Turkey across the political spectrum have long called for a complete redrafting of the current constitution, which was drawn up under a military regime in 1982. It limits free speech, restricts minority rights, overlooks discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and entrenches the power of the Turkish military in political life. Effective reform of the constitution requires full and wide-ranging consultation with civil society actors and jurists, and could provide the underpinning for numerous other legal reforms necessary to extend fundamental rights and freedoms.

Urge the Turkish government to end restrictions on freedom of expression

Despite amendments to a number of problematic laws in recent years, journalists, writers, academics, and in particular officials of Kurdish political parties, continue to face criminal prosecution for non-violent, albeit critical and dissenting expression on questions of history and state policy. The US Department of State concluded in its  country report on Turkey that 2008 "Individuals could not criticize the state or government publicly without fear of reprisal, and the government continued to restrict expression by individuals sympathetic to some religious, political, and Kurdish nationalist or cultural viewpoints." The government must end restrictions on freedom of expression found in the Turkish Penal Code and other laws - including article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code ("insulting the Turkish nation") and provisions of the Anti-Terror Law. It is also incumbent on the government to be vocal in its support for the principle of press freedom, instead of continuing its current practice of trying to intimidate and silence critical media.

Urge the Turkish government to uphold minority rights:

One of the major failings of the reform process has been the failure to take concrete steps to ensure minority rights for Turkey's ethnic and religious minorities, notably for the numerically largest minority groups: citizens of Kurdish ethnicity and citizens belonging to the Alevi religious minority. Turkey continues to limit its recognition of minorities only to Greeks, Armenians, and Jews.

While the opening in January 2009 for the first time of a state TV channel (TRT 6) broadcasting fully in Kurdish is to be welcomed, the measure highlights the urgent need for the government to lift restrictions on the use of minority languages in daily life, which continue to exist in a number of laws and in the constitution.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its March 4, 2009 concluding observations on Turkey recommended, among other measures, that the government "enact comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation," and introduce "amendments to the legislation to allow teaching of languages traditionally used in Turkey in the general public education system." Turkey should ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and other international instruments relating to minority rights, and ensure that they are fully enforced. It should withdraw its reservation to Article 27 of the ICCPR, on minority rights.

Urge the Turkish government to uphold the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people:

Three members of LGBT human rights groups have been killed in the last year. A May 2008 Human Rights Watch report on LGBT rights in Turkey, documented the long and continuing history of violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including violations targeting members of Turkey's transgender communities, and harassment of LGBT non-governmental organizations. Human Rights Watch has also documented violence against Iranian LGBT refugees in Turkey waiting to be resettled.

In March 2009, at the Human Rights Council, Turkey joined a statement on behalf of the EU and associated countries that affirmed a December 2008 General Assembly statement on sexual orientation and gender identity . However, to ensure that violence and discrimination against LGBT people ends, Turkey should pass comprehensive and effective non discrimination legislation. It should also guarantee the safety of Iranian LGBT refugees and expedite their resettlement to a third country.

Urge the government to end the culture of impunity and tackle rising police violence

In a report published in December 2008, Human Rights Watch documented Turkish authorities' persistent failure to take steps to criminally prosecute and apply meaningful sanctions to law enforcement officers who ill-treat or torture detainees and demonstrators, or use excessive force including firearms to apprehend suspects.  Our research found a rise in reports of police violence in the period since 2007, continuing problems of lengthy and ineffective criminal investigations lacking independence, and prolonged trial proceedings. In its 2008 country report on Turkey, the US Department of State concluded that, "Security forces committed unlawful killings; the number of arrests and prosecutions in these cases was low compared with the number of incidents, and convictions remained rare." Similarly, the European Commission, in its November 2008 regular report on Turkey, highlighted the rising reports of torture and ill-treatment and persisting impunity for human rights abuses as significant areas of concern, concluding that "efforts to combat torture and ill-treatment need to be enhanced" and that "ratification of the OPCAT and the fight against impunity are key." 

Emphasize the importance of an effective and fair investigation and trial of the Ergenekon gang

Currently 86 people, including senior retired military personnel, convicted and alleged members of the criminal underworld, leading figure in the media, academics, and lawyers are standing trial for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government by means of fomenting the conditions for a military coup. This group, called the Ergenekon gang, was first discovered in June 2007.  Members of the gang have been linked to May 2006 bomb attacks on the premises of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet and an armed attack on judges at the Council of State. Some suspected members of the gang have also been associated with a gendarmerie intelligence unit implicated in unsolved killings, enforced disappearances, and subversive activities conducted during the 1990s conflict between the Turkish military and armed PKK in southeastern Turkey.

The trial of the Ergenekon gang, which began in October 2008, provides Turkey with an unprecedented chance to come to grips with a dark history of lawless activities and serious human rights abuses committed by elements of the top military, state bureaucracy, and intelligence services, at times working together with organized crime. The government has been criticized for the Ergenekon investigation, which a significant constituency in Turkey regards as politicized and as being conducted in violation of defendants' rights. It is essential that every stage of the investigation and trial is conducted with scrupulous fairness and utmost respect for procedural safeguards. Not only is this necessary to address concerns about the investigation itself, but to ensure a thorough and credible  probe of the compelling evidence of covert operations, coup attempts against the AKP government, and the possible involvement of former senior state and military officials in gross violations of human rights.   

Urge Turkey as a member of the UN Security Council to promote human rights and the rule of law

While this letter focuses primarily on steps the Turkish government needs to take to strengthen protection of human rights at home, there is one further area that we believe deserves your specific attention - the responsibility incumbent on Turkey to promote human rights and the rule of law in its capacity as a new member of the UN Security Council.

Turkey should be consistent in its commitment to justice and human rights around the world, particularly in situations where governments or others are committing large scale abuses against civilians with impunity. Most immediately the Turkish government should affirm its commitment to protecting the millions of civilians currently at risk in Darfur by pressing the Sudanese government to immediately reverse its regrettable decision to expel 13 international aid organizations, who were providing food, water, and medical care to over one million people, in retaliation for the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir.

Some states and regional bodies have called on the UN Security Council to respond to this retaliation by deferring the ICC's investigation and prosecution of President al-Bashir. Human Rights Watch believes that a deferral would be wholly inappropriate in the current context. It would reward the denial of vital assistance to vulnerable populations-thereby encouraging further abuses-and would risk impunity for widespread atrocities without identifiable benefits for international peace and security.

Instead Turkey should make clear to the Sudanese authorities that any retaliation, whether through expulsion of aid organisations or threats or attacks against UN peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, or civilians in Darfur or elsewhere in Sudan are not acceptable.

*    *     *

We hope that in the course of your meetings with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Erdoğan and members of the Turkish government, you will raise the concerns set out in this letter, emphasizing in particular the pressing need for the Turkish government to renew its commitment to reform through concrete steps to promote human rights and respect for the rule of law.

Thank you for your attention and with best wishes for a productive trip.

Yours sincerely,

Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division

Tom Malinowski
Director
Washington Advocacy

                                                                 

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