Turkish Police Abuse Quake Survivors

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April 5, 2023
By Anthony Gale
Contact me at DailyBriefTeam@hrw.org and Bluesky @nthonygale.

In today's Daily Brief:

Earthquake Victims Face Beatings, Torture
UK Aping Australia’s Abusive and Unlawful Migration Policies
Fatal Fire Highlights Deadly Consequences of US Border Policies
Take Note: Other Key Stories
Quote of the Day: Burkina Faso

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In the Wake of the Quake, Victims Face Beatings, Even Torture

The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February was devastating: more than 50,000 people were killed and millions more are still trying to piece together lives shattered by the earthquake.

Reconstruction will be challenging and Turkey faces countless obstacles in the road ahead, including maintaining security. But no challenge can justify the use of police brutality and torture.

New research published today by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International exposes how Turkish law enforcement officials responding to the earthquake have beaten, tortured, and otherwise ill-treated people they accuse of looting.

The findings make for grim reading and paint a picture of law enforcement officers out of control.

One victim, who tried to complain to a senior officer about an assault, was told: “Even if that officer kills you, he won’t be held accountable. No one would be able to say anything to him.”

International law and Turkey’s own laws forbids torture or other ill-treatment of suspects under any circumstances. The Turkish government has long claimed to uphold a “zero tolerance for torture” policy.

Given the obvious and egregious breaches this new research highlights, you would think the Turkish government would take our findings seriously? Sadly not.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International wrote to Turkey’s interior and justice ministers to share our research findings and request information about ongoing investigations. The response we received described our research as “vague claims devoid of a factual basis.”

So, does Turkey have a zero-tolerance policy towards torture or simply a zero-tolerance policy towards organizations documenting it?

Rather than dismissing our research, Turkish officials should be investigating any and all allegations of abuse by law enforcement officers responding to the quake.

Nobody should be above the law, especially those who wield it.

Protesters gathered opposite The Royal Courts Of Justice on the first day of a High Court challenge over the UK’s agreement with Rwanda, which would see the UK transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda, September 5, 2022. © 2022 Thomas Krych/SOPA Images via AP Photo

UK Aping Australia’s Abusive and Unlawful Migration Policies

It isn’t hyperbolic to say that the UK’s cruel and unlawful migration policies have been met with widespread shock and anguish.

But while they are evidently cruel and unlawful, one thing they couldn’t be accused of is originality. Many of the policies have already been tried in Australia- with disastrous consequences.

Last month, the UK introduced new legislation in the form of the “illegal migration bill” which, in the words of the UNHCR, amounts to “a defacto asylum ban”

If passed, people arriving by boat or other irregular means will be detained, with no right of appeal, before being expelled to their home country or a so-called safe third country. Once removed, they will be banned from returning or gaining British citizenship, except in extreme circumstances.

If this sounds eerily familiar, that is because it is.

Dr Emilie McDonnell, UK Advocacy Coordinator at HRW, has written for Asylum Insight about the UK’s race to the bottom on migration and how many of the UK’s flagship policies are being borrowed from ‘down under’.

Her article is a sobering insight into policies that have resulted in horrendous human suffering, even death. That the UK knows this, but refuses to change course, is perhaps most shocking of all.

An altar with candles and photos covers the fence outside the Mexican immigration detention center that was the site of a deadly fire in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Photo taken on March 30, 2023. © 2023 AP Photo/Fernando Llano

Fatal Fire Highlights Deadly Consequences of US Border Policies

(written by Lisa Maier)

Last week, 39 people died in a fire at an immigration detention center in Ciudad Juárez on the Mexico-US border. These deaths were entirely preventable.

It is difficult to explain how 39 people died in detention without gross criminal negligence on the part of Mexican authorities. These people were in their custody. They should take responsibility.

This tragic loss of life is in large part due to deterrence policies carried out by the US and Mexico. Policies that have already led to flagrant abuses of asylum seekers on the border.

Tragedies like Ciudad Juárez showcase how misguided migration policies can turn borderlands into a deadly game of Russian roulette for people seeking sanctuary.

The US and Mexican governments have shamefully lost sight of the fact that these are human beings, whose lives matter.

What is the threshold of suffering needed to move policymakers to action? At what point will the human cost matter more than the financial or political?