Government’s practices create ‘debris of rights violations’ in Turkey

ANKARA

CHP Deputy Head Sezgin Tanrıkulu released a statement on Dec. 10 saying that the main human rights, especially the right to life, are under attack by the government in Turkey. DHA Photo

A “debris of rights violations" has been created in Turkey by the government's practices, a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy head said in a statement released Dec. 10, on the anniversary of Turkey’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The main human rights, especially the right to life, are under attack by the Turkish government as citizens are subjected to practices incompatible with human dignity at hospitals, police stations, on roads, borders, and in all public spaces, CHP Deputy Head Sezgin Tanrıkulu said.

Giving the numbers provided by Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Turkey Human Rights Foundation (THİV), Tanrıkulu said a total of 2,229 people were killed in the country in 2014 due to the violation of the right to life.

Some 1,723 people were killed in labor accidents, while 294 women were killed by men, according to the figures. Some 38 inmates died in prisons, while 35 soldiers lost their lives in suspicious incidents. Some 21 were killed during interventions into demonstrations, while 16 people were killed in street clashes between rival groups. A total of 27 people were killed on the Syrian border and five village guards were killed in attacks.

In the first 11 months of 2014, 1,018 Turkish people have applied to the İHD about being subjected to torture, Tanrıkulu said, also adding that "torture was taken into the streets from police stations" during the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) time in power.

The CHP deputy head also accused government officials of “protecting the police and executioners who kill people with extreme prejudice.”

Freedom of expression

Tanrıkulu said freedom of expression "was achieved in Turkey in 2014 as long as it was in favor of the government," adding that politicians have targeted individual journalists, artists, writers and academics during public rallies.

Media outlets have imposed self-censorship, while 52,574 websites were blocked in 2014, he added.

Tanrıkulu also said the right to demonstration was abandoned in 2014, as 36,889 people were detained and 745 people were arrested during interventions into demonstrations throughout the year.