Think, think Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin (Issue 49/16, 16 December 2016) What happened last week? *** Two simultaneous bomb attacks have been organized in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. A media ban has been imposed on coverage related to the attack, undertaken by Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) and caused 44 casualties. *** President Erdoğan has stated that he declares mobilization against terrorism. *** Operations have started against People s Democratic Party (HDP) across the country. Party buildings have been raided, 568 people have been taken into custody in 28 provinces in 2 days. Two HDP MPs have been arrested. Number of MPs in prison has reached 12. *** The Yenikapı spirit that had been established following the coup attempt has been replaced with the Presidency coalition of Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). AKP and MHP Chairmen came together with Republican People s Party Chairman, agreeing on the fight against terrorism. *** 12 mayors have been taken into custody and 2 have been arrested within operations against local administrations in Kurdish provinces. Thus, the number of arrested comayors has reached 57. *** The law draft predicting a change in the Constitution by assigning the executive power to the President of Republic has been presented to the Parliament. *** Venice Commission has stated, Measures taken within State of Emergency exceed the limits of both the Turkish Constitution and the international law. *** European Union (EU) has announced that no new chapter will start on the membership negotiations with Turkey. In the conclusion of the EU Leaders Summit, dependency on the March 18 agreement has been expressed and Turkey has been reminded of the conditions. *** According to the data announced by CPJ and RSF, Turkey is the country where the highest number of journalists have been arrested in the world, in the year 2016. *** The statement to be made by press organizations in front of Silivri Prison for solidarity with arrested journalists has been prevented by the Istanbul Governorate.
*** European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has announced more than 160 applications have been made on curfews and operations in Kurdish provinces since August 2015; demanding an explanation from Ankara on the matter. *** The Turkish economy has contracted 1,8 percent in the third quarter of the year. The economy thus had a downturn for the first time since the third quarter of 2009. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Law draft on change in Constitution presented to GNAT Law draft predicting a change in Constitution with 21 articles has been presented to the General National Assembly of Turkey. Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have agreed on the draft, which predicts the executive power to be assigned to the President of Republic. In case the change enacts, the President of Republic will assign his own cabinet and high-rank public officials. The President s relations with his party will not be cut. Number of MPs will increase to 600 and a system of deputy Parliament membership will be brought. President of Republic is also given an authority to declare State of Emergency and to abolish the Parliament. President of Republic will have criminal liability, yet in order for him to be sent to the Supreme Court, two thirds of the complete number of votes will be required. Please click here for the full draft on Constitutional change.
Operations on HDP and DBP Operations on Kurdish politicians have taken a whole new dimension after the attack in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced 568 people taken into custody within operations in 28 provinces, including those charged due to their social media posts. Fire has been opened at People s Democratic Party (HDP) headquarters and a group in Konya attacked the HDP building. HDP Group Deputy Chairman Çağlar Demirel and Siirt MP Besime Konca have been arrested. The number of MPs in prison has reached 12. Warrants have been issued against 6 MPs. Two MPs in custody have been released after testifying. 12 co-mayors have been taken into custody, 2 arrested. Thus the number of arrested co-mayors has reached 57. Another lawsuit has been filed against HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ due to a speech she gave in Can within her election campaign. HDP Deputy Chair Aysel Tuğluk has announced that 8,432 HDP members have been taken into custody and 2,360 have been arrested within the State of Emergency. Venice Commission: State of Emergency exceeds limits Venice Commission, which is an advisory body of the Council of Europe composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law, has made an evaluation on Turkey. Measures taken within State of Emergency exceed the limits of both the Turkish Constitution and the international law, stated the Commission. Following the demand of Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Monitoring Committee, the Commission has stated that Turkey has enough reasons to declare a State of Emergency, yet the government is taking permanent measures that exceeds the temporary application of State of Emergency. Emphasizing that some basic rights may not be restricted, even under State of Emergency; the Commission has stated that the Constitutional Court has to possess the authority of judicial review on Statutory Decrees of State of Emergency.
2016 Rights Violations Report by IHD and TIHV Human Rights Association (İHD) and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) have launched a report on rights violations in 2016. According to the data in the report, which pointed out that a massive human rights crisis has occurred with the State of Emergency, 341 people have lost their lives due to extrajudicial execution by lawenforcers or arbitrary fires, 25 people in unidentified murders and 5 people in custody in a 11-month period. 1622 people have made complaints due to having been tortured. In the report, it has been indicated that more than 90 thousand people have been taken into custody, more than 36 thousand people have been arrested, 146 journalists and writers are in prison and 177 media institutions, 19 unions, 1600 associations and foundations have been shut down following the coup attempt. The number of websites banned to access exceed 116 thousand, while law-enforcers have intervened 352 meetings and demonstrations in the same 11-month period. In districts where curfews had been declared, most basic rights to life and health of at least 1 million 671 thousand people have been violated. For the full report: http://www.ihd.org.tr/10-aralik-insan-haklari-gunu-2/ One third of jailed journalists in the world are in Turkey Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has reported data on journalists in prison around the world. According to the data of both
organizations, Turkey is the country where the highest number of journalists is in prison. CPJ has identified at least 81 journalists in Turkey, in jail due to their professional activities. Emphasizing that the year 2016 has been the worst year recorded in terms of journalists in prison, CPJ data states 259 journalists imprisoned across the world in 2016. According to the data of RSF, there are more than 100 media members in Turkish prisons, while the developments in Turkey has caused a record number of 348 jailed journalists in the world. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also launched a report, titled, Silencing Turkey s Media: The Government s Deepening Assault on Critical Journalism. The organization has pointed out attacks on journalism are preventing Turkish society s access to independent flow of information on developments in the country. For the report of CPJ: https://goo.gl/xx7r9j For the report of RSF: https://goo.gl/xvfo7l For the report of HRW: https://goo.gl/sv6kgm Press freedom in State of Emergency The press statement to be made by press organizations on December 10 World Human Rights Day in front of Silivri Prison for solidarity with 146 arrested journalists has been banned by the Governorate. Members of International Press Institute (IPI), PEN International, PEN Turkey, Turkish Journalists Association, Turkish Journalists Union, Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) Press-Labour, Contemporary Journalists Association, Haber- Sen, Turkish Writers Union and Reporters Without Borders have been prevented by law-enforcers from attending the protest, which was planned to emphasize that journalism is not a crime. The journalists were not allowed to stand in front of the prison. Thus, they have made their statements at Silivri Square, transmitting a solidarity message with their arrested colleagues. Two journalists this week have been released in the first hearing of their cases with conditions of judicial control. Yurt Newspaper columnist Hüsnü Mahalli has been
arrested with the allegation of insulting government authorities through social media. Birgün Newspaper writer Seray Şahiner, convicted due to insult via an article she wrote, has been taken into custody early in the morning from the hotel she was staying. A warrant has been issued against Şahiner due to a judicial fine she was not informed of. Şahiner has later been released. A media ban has been brought on the attack in Beşiktaş. Constitutional Court denies revocation of crime of insulting President The Constitutional Court (AYM) has unanimously denied the request of Karşıyaka 7th Criminal Court of First Instance and Istanbul 43rd Criminal Court of First Instance to revoke Article 299 of the Turkish Criminal Court regulating insulting the President due to contradiction with the Constitution. On the other hand, two more citizens have been arrested this week due to insulting Erdoğan via their social media posts. Lawsuit of insult filed by Baskın Oran against Erdoğan denied The lawsuit of insult filed by Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran against President Tayyip Erdoğan has been denied by Ankara 3rd Civil Court of First Instance. Oran had filed a lawsuit of indemnity for 10 thousand TL due to the expressions of Erdoğan against academics signing the We will not partake in this crime notice.
Erdoğan had addressed the academics as, Vile, tyrant, ignorant, traitor, so-called intellectuals whose souls are dirty. LGBTI workers forced to hide Kaos GL Association has launched, Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersexual Private Sector Workers in Turkey - 2016 Research. According to the research, 1 of 3 LGBTI private sector workers are completely shut down on their sexual identity at work. Only 3 out of 10 can be completely open on their sexual identity at work, and about the same number can be partly open. This openness is also not due to the administration or managers, but due to close friends or other LGBTI workers. For the full report: https://goo.gl/hffkda Protest Without Violence Workshop starts on December 18 Protest Without Violence Workshop organized in collaboration with Center for Nonviolence and Initiative for Freedom of Expression starts at KargART Kadıköy. In the workshops to be held on every third Sunday of the month, activists, academics and lawyers from different areas of the civil society will share their own experiences to look for an answer to the question: How can an efficient protest be made without using violence? The first meeting will be held on 18 December 2016 at 15:00 and the
participants will discuss the conceptual frame of a nonviolent protest together with Birsen Atakan and Hilal Demir from the Center for Nonviolence. For details: https://goo.gl/uwfw2r THIS WEEK ON THE MUSEUM OF CRIMES OF THOUGHT Stay tuned with the agenda Follow the agenda in the most entertaining way with our regularly updated museum. Politics in State of Emergency 235 people have been taken into custody on Monday within operations conducted across Turkey, including provincial and district administrators of People s Democratic Party (HDP). HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş has had a heart spasm while arrested at Edirne Type-F Prison, then has received a medical check at Trakya University Faculty of Medicine. Arrested journalists
According to the data of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 259 journalists have been imprisoned in the world in 2016; 81 of those are in Turkey. Journalists heading to Silivri to hold a press statement in front of Silivri Prison with the call of journalist organizations have been stopped on their way. The journalists were not allowed to go in front of Silivri Prison, so they have made their statement at Silivri Town Square. Press in State of Emergency 4 TV and 7 radio workers have gathered to establish 1 News Platform after being shut down with Statutory Decrees. The platform targets to inform the society through website, Internet broadcast, Internet radio and social media. Euphrates Shield Operation Anadolu Agency (AA) has reminded the ceasefire between armed opposition groups and regime forces led by Russia in Eastern Aleppo through the mediation of Turkey around 19:00 yesterday. AA has also announced that the Syrian Army has started hitting the oppositional region with heavy arms around 10:30 today. TRIALS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The eighth hearing of Oda TV case with 13 defendants including journalists Nedim Şener, Ahmet Şık and Soner Yalçın has been held at IStanbul 18th High Criminal Court on December 14. The Prosecutor has requested the acquittal of all defendants due to lack of concrete evidence. The court board has postponed the hearing for the last defenses to 15 February 2017. The case of Derya Okatan and Nadire Mater on Editing-In-Chief on Duty for Özgür Gündem, which had been held on December 9, has been postponed to 14 February 2017. The cases of
Ragıp Durab, Ayşe Düzkan and Murat Çelikkan have been held on December 15, again due to Editing-In-Chief on duty, and have been postponed to 16 February 2017. TRIALS OF NEXT WEEK The lawsuit filed against journalist and writer Hasan Cemal with the allegation that he has insulted the President in his article published on T24 website on 4 October 2015, titled, Be a President, and then will be held on December 20 at Ankara 5th Criminal Court of First Instance. The case in which 16 journalists and writers are on trial with the allegation of making terrorist organization propaganda due to 53 news and articles published on Atılım Newspaper between July and August 2015 will be held on December 22 at Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. The next hearing of the case in which Asst. Prof. dr. Esra Mungan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kıvanç Ersoy and Asst. Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Kaya are on trial due to terrorist organization propaganda by organizing a press meeting on 10 March 2016 on behalf of Academics for Peace /Istanbul group to emphasize their demand for peace will be held on December 2 at 13:30 at Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. Cases of participants to Editing-In-Chief on Duty campaign for solidarity with shut-down Özgür Gündem Newspaper continue due to terrorist organization propaganda. The hearings will separately be held on December 22 at 22nd High Criminal Court; Ayşe Batumlu at 14:30, Can Dündar at 14:45, Şanar Yurdatapan at 15:00, Aydın Bodur at 15:10, Veysi Altay and Hüseyin Sözügen at 15:15; all together with Özgür Gündem Managing Editor İnan Kızılkaya.