Turkey’s bans on assembly undermine EU bid

Acting Executive Director of HRW’s Europe and Central Asia Division, Rachel Denber said in the letter, "Police violence against demonstrators and unwarranted restrictions on freedom of assembly aren’t compatible with Turkey’s EU bid and its goals on human rights."

As part of its ongoing legislative reform efforts, in July 2003 Turkey adopted amendments improving the law on public meetings and demonstrations, recalled Denber and added that nevertheless, in the intervening nine months, police dispersed at least 105 peaceful public gatherings, press conferences and demonstrations, and arrested 1,822 demonstrators: "Police used violence to break up gatherings on thirty-one occasions, beating demonstrators and spraying them with pepper gas. The government needs to affirm the right to protest before the issue begins to tarnish Turkey’s progress toward EU membership."

Pointing out that the Turkish government gained international credit for recent legislative progress on human rights in many areas including freedom of assembly, Denber said, "But when Turkish citizens attempt to gather publicly to voice their concerns and criticisms they frequently meet official restrictions and police brutality."

HRW urged the government to clarify the questions around press conferences by issuing a circular affirming the right to hold press conferences in public and to distribute leaflets without notifying the authorities in advance in the letter to Gul.

"The lack of clarity about what is a press conference and what is a demonstration is resulting in the prosecution and even ill-treatment of people gathered to speak their minds," said Denber. "The government should address the confusion with a clear policy that backs the right for peaceful assembly."

Stressing that what Turkish civil society has to say is bound to influence the European Commission when it makes its December decision, Denber said: "Human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations are likely to be much more enthusiastic about the reform program if they aren’t roughly moved on by heavily armed police officers when they come out to address the public."

"Turkish law now entitles local governors to postpone a demonstration only if there is a serious risk that it will result in criminal acts. In reality, public political activity continues to be subject to excessive restrictions. Governors and the police have banned and broken up demonstrations and gatherings because people attended in "local (Kurdish) dress," sang songs in Kurdish, or used names spelled with the letter "X" which does not occur in the Turkish alphabet. In some provinces, governors require so much paperwork from organizers (including in some cases, records of past convictions and lists of proposed slogans) that it presents a substantial obstacle to the right to demonstrate," said Denber.

Giving an example about the demonstration right violation, Denber said, "In the town of Bingol in southeast Turkey, the authorities are using the law on demonstrations to prosecute 125 people, including Ridvan Kizgin, president of the local branch of the Turkish Human Rights Association and the national vice president of the association, Eren Keskin, for attempting to set up a public information table on June 16, 2003, to publicize peace protests. University authorities are also conducting investigations and imposing suspensions on students for participating in non-violent demonstrations."

"Demonstrations protesting the prison conditions of Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have been dealt with particularly severely. In recent months police have dispersed scores of demonstrations and press conferences protesting the solitary confinement of Ocalan, often using unwarranted violence," said Denber and added: "In the wake of fifteen years of bitter internal conflict, these demonstrations may be unwelcome and offensive to security forces and governors. But provided that such gatherings are peaceful, they are protected forms of protest under the European Human Rights Convention."

The HRW called on the Turkish government to limit any restrictions on public demonstrations to those mandated by the European Convention on Human Rights, and to clarify the official notification requirements for demonstrations.