Murat Aba from the human rights organization TIHV reported an increase in torture and attacks by the regime in Turkey. Society would be deprived of fundamental rights such as the right to vote and stand for election, he said.
On 10 December 1948, 75 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations (UN). The human rights situation throughout Turkey and especially in Northern Kurdistan is becoming increasingly dramatic. Murat Aba, representative of the office of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) in Amed (Diyarbakır) spoke to ANF of a “fight for basic rights in Kurdistan. People are being tortured, the right to demonstrate is being denied. Even the right to vote and stand as a candidate is being denied. Society should be deprived of its ability to breathe."
Every action can be prosecuted under the accusation of terror propaganda
In 2022, a peak in reports of torture and ill-treatment was reported to TIHV, Aba said, adding: "The conclusion is that the number of people being tortured in Turkey continues to rise. Unfortunately, we live in a time when many things cannot be said and people are forced to remain silent. It is a time when everything can be prosecuted under the accusation of propaganda for a terrorist organisation. In Turkey, people are being deprived of their right to express their opinions. While we have rights such as the right to protest and criticise in democratic states, this right is unfortunately being undermined in Turkey."
We are in favour of a pluralistic society
Aba talked about the increasing repression against journalists in recent years and said that clearly "this has led to a decrease in reporting on the rights violations that have taken place in Turkey. Torture is taking place more and more in the public sphere. The number of torture cases has increased dramatically, whether in prison or on the street, whether in places of assembly, at home or at work. It is in this atmosphere that we are celebrating this year's Human Rights Week. Unfortunately, society in Turkey is increasingly being denied its rights. Of course we are fighting against this.
To counter this trend, this week we will try to proclaim to the public and society that we are a pluralistic, multi-coloured society and that we will continue to raise society's problems loudly."
Standing against rights violations
Speaking about the situation of human rights work and civil society organisation, Aba said: "Unfortunately, we can no longer speak of democratic mass organisations, because the government has labelled human rights organisations and associations that stand up for fundamental rights as enemies and is taking action against them. Our ability to express ourselves is being increasingly restricted because the human rights organisations are bringing the problems of the people in this country, especially in Kurdistan, to light. For us, universal law is important. We stand against those who violated human rights, whoever they are. We keep shouting this: Yes, you can silence the country with repression, you can take away our right to speak, our right to write, but we will always oppose this. We will continue to protest against the attempt to level society."
All different, all equals
Aba described the situation in Kurdistan as particularly dramatic, because "people are being tortured, their right to demonstrate is being denied. People have been under siege for years. People are effectively imprisoned outside or thrown into prison. To put it in a different way, we can clearly observe this in the right to vote. Do we have the right to vote, do we have the right to be elected? The municipal administrations in the Kurdish cities have been usurped by trustees. If you look at it from this perspective, is there an active or passive right to vote? The right of a person who is elected is also the right to hold office for a certain period of time. Yet this is not happening. The government is trying to deprive society of the air it breathes, also by using all kinds of torture methods. This is precisely our problem. We need to create spaces to breathe. While the social component of the state is being reduced further and further, the security component is being strengthened with all its might.
We saw this after the earthquake. The state was absent, but immediately afterwards the security policy was carried out with police and military. Unfortunately, Kurdistan is a place where rights violations are constantly carried out. The entire society is deprived of its voice. We say that everyone is different and everyone is equal. This is the slogan of this year’s human rights week. This government, unfortunately, is against diversity and equality."
