Turkish Government Fails Human Rights Test

Human rights violations are on the rise in Turkey despite campaign promises by the nation's ruling coalition and widespread condemnation and criticism at home and abroad. This is the "verdict" of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), a non-governmental and independent organization, in a document entitled "500-Day Report" summing up in detail the track record of the country's ruling coalition from November 21, 1991 to April 4, 1993.



In an introduction to the 56-page document, dated July 2, 1993, the HRFT said the coalition government of the True Path Party (DYP) and the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) has failed to implement its own declared objectives on key issues like human rights, special attention to eastern Anatolia, the length of detention, ending torture, freedom of expression, relations with labor and trade unions, and permission for students to join political parties.



"Except for one or two of these promises, none of them were put into practice during the 500 days. "A great portion of the promises were not even tackled. The coalition government had promised to install democracy and a regime respecting human rights at the beginning of its term in office, but did not fulfill any of these promises, and instead, acted just to the opposite," the document, which was made available by HRFT to AGBU-AIS, said.



"The government did not keep most of its promises and did not remove human rights abuses which became a part of daily life. Turkey observed the most grave examples of disrespect to human rights within this period. Not only to human rights advocates, but the ones who violated human rights were even protected," the HRFT said. The report also made the following assessments:



"Society was terrorized and left outside of politics. In the name of 'fighting terrorism,' unlawful methods were applied. The public only got one side of the picture and facts were turned upside down. "



"The Kurdish problem which has been the most important dilemma of Turkey for the last years, became even more complex and insolvable. Instead of trying to find a peaceful and democratic solution, the political power (government) preferred to step up military methods. Promises to revise emergency law provisions were not kept, and furthermore, no concrete steps were taken concerning these issues. Social life, educational activities and health services almost came to a stand-still in the Emergency State Region (i.e. the Kurdish areas). The population of many districts and towns decreased in an outstanding manner due to an enormous migration."



"Torture continued to be applied as an interrogation method like it has been applied for years. Various inhuman cases were witnessed in prisons. Pressures, attacks, and bans on certain political parties and mass organizations increased day by day. The Human Rights Association and its members were frequently exposed to various pressures and attacks."



The HRFT document concluded with the following breakdown of the available statistics:



Deaths resulting from detention, civil unrest, police and military action, terrorist attacks and political murders: 3,929; Torture victims (determined by HRFT): 806; Journalists attacked by Public Officers: 81; Journalists put in prison: 4; Confiscated newspapers and periodicals: 307.



Among those killed were: 16 journalists, 5 newspaper vendors, 3 Human Rights Association leaders, and 15 political party leaders.