Turkish Medical Association President Şebnem Korur Fincancı was imprisoned because of her comments on a video published by ANF on October 18, showing two PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) members suffering from a chemical attack in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

As the debate on chemical attacks remains on the agenda, Sezin Uçar, one of the lawyers of the Law Office of the Oppressed (Ezilenlerin Hukuk Bürosu), was targeted by OdaTv, although she was not a candidate during the last bar association election.

ANF spoke to lawyer Sezin Uçar about the smear campaign against her and the use of chemical weapons.

What does international legislation say about the use of chemical weapons? How does it bind Turkish jurisprudence?

Many international laws to which Turkey is a party prohibit the use of chemical weapons and biological weapons. The United Nations (UN) has a convention on the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons, namely the chemical weapons convention. This convention was approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 2006. In the first place, the current situation is contrary to this convention. Also, the development, production, collection and use of such weapons are prohibited. This is an international convention that bans all. There is also a domestic law numbered 5564. It is a convention that Turkey became a party to in 1974 and prohibits the production of poisonous and biological weapons. There is another law on the prohibition and limitation of certain conventional weapons to which Turkey became a party in 2005.

So, more than one…

Yes. And despite this, such allegations have come to the fore many times previously. In fact, this is not the first time that we have been discussing such claims. There are videos that show the use of these weapons in a region within the borders of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government. In the face of this, many legal institutions, international organizations, political parties forced state officials to make a statement on this issue. Because the images raise serious concerns in this regard. However, as far as I have been able to follow, there is no official statement about a specific incident, apart from general remarks that Turkey does not use chemical weapons.

These allegations must be investigated especially by independent committees by collecting data from the scene and listening to witnesses, because it constitutes a crime against humanity. In other words, it is not something that only binds persons or states that use chemical weapons because they cause long-term damage to all human beings, nature, climate and living things. This is the reason why it is banned internationally. These allegations must be investigated by truly independent committees and concrete documents and reports must be produced. If these allegations are confirmed, individuals involved must also be punished.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) does not launch any investigation unless states ask for it. Yet, Turkey denies the allegations already. Can the concerned convention and authority take action by its own initiative?

There are international bodies with the authority to investigate these allegations. For instance, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) submitted a parliamentary question for Hulusi Akar to answer. This parliamentary question may not be answered at all, or a public prosecutor may happen to want to investigate and decide not to prosecute, it will still not be enough. Independent committees and institutions affiliated with the United Nations should conduct research on the ground. There are also international independent committees. These committees can also launch an investigation and make a statement. They can prepare reports, there is no obstacle to that.

So, would independent institutions be binding in this regard?

They are more binding politically. When international institutions make such statements, the state would also be forced to make a statement or prosecute some individuals. There is the International Criminal Court, but that has never been the case for Turkey. Moreover, the UN may impose sanctions. Violating this convention may even result in expulsion from the UN.

TTB Chair Şebnem Koru Fincancı has been arrested. You were also targeted by Oda TV concerning the bar association election. What would you like to say about this political environment?

In Turkey, truths are put out of sight, and every segment of society that wants to reveal truths is subjected to serious pressures, both personally and institutionally. This is the reason why the journalists were arrested. The president of a very respected institution has been suppressed because of a statement about the possible use of chemical weapons.

Independent institutions do not have to support or approve the statements of the state. I have been subjected to similar repression and violence after I shared a post about the use of chemical weapons. For example, an investigation has been launched against our colleague Aryen in İzmir.

Oda TV presented my social media post as if I was a candidate for the Istanbul Bar Association election. However, I was a candidate to become the head of the Istanbul Bar Association in the previous term, but I was not involved in the last election. But my statements were used to defame the Emancipatory Democratic Lawyers and Oda TV targeted me with a headline reading “Kemalists win against those speaking of chemical attacks.”

Reactions regarding the use of chemical weapons are very limited. This is because the Turkish army has been carrying out cross-border operations in northern Iraq and Syria. When workers are poisoned with methane gas in work-related murders, citizens criticize the government, but unfortunately, criticizing the use of chemical weapons is considered more difficult. Yet even though there is a serious government crackdown, truths cannot be covered up. It should be underlined that numerous people, institutions and social groups who promote science and moral conventions are against the use of chemical weapons.