Human Rights Watch considers that repealing the statute of limitations for violations of the right to life and torture by suspected state perpetrators and public officials would be an effective means of combatting Turkey’s legacy of impunity for serious human rights abuses, particularly those committed during the early 1990s.
Strengthening a law reform bill currently before Turkey’s parliament could significantly improve human rights and help bolster the peace process with the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Parliamentary Justice Commission is examining the bill, the “fourth reform package,” and parliament is expected to vote on it in the coming weeks.
Turkey needs to end its use of overly broad antiterrorism laws to hold thousands of activists and journalists, who have spoken out or engaged in the non-violent promotion of Kurdish rights, in prolonged detention, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch identified the key human rights challenges facing Turkey in 2013 and reviewed domestic human rights developments in 2012.
Yesterday’s Istanbul court decision to order the pre-trial detention of nine human rights lawyers highlights the arbitrary and abusive use of anti-terrorism laws in Turkey. The 9 were among 12 lawyers arrested, 11 during early morning raids on January 18, and 1 on January 20.
Two Palestinians being held at the Cairo airport, apparently refused entry to Egypt, are at risk of deportation to Syria. The man and his son would face indiscriminate violence and possible persecution if returned to Syria.
