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COVID-19 in Turkish Prisons and Discrimination Against Political Prisoners

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COVID-19 in Turkish Prisons and Discrimination Against Political Prisoners LEFT BEHIND TO DIE: COVID-19 in Turkish Prisons and Discrimination Against Political Prisoners stockholm center for APRIL, 2021 SCF freedom www.stockholmcf.org This page intentionally left blank 2 Table of contents ABOUT STOCKHOLM CENTER FOR FREEDOM �������������������������������������������������3 1. INTRODUCTION ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4 2. THE GENERAL STATE OF PRISONS IN TURKEY FOLLOWING THE COUP ATTEMPT AND COVID-19 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 5 3. ‘TERRORISM’ AND ‘POLITICAL OFFENSES’ IN TURKEY . 9 4. LAW NO. 7242 ON AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW ON THE EXECUTION OF SENTENCES AND SECURITY MEASURES ������������������������� 12 4.1. Changes Made to Mandatory Time Served Prior to Eligibility for Release on Parole ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 4.2. Amendments to Special Procedures for the Execution of Sentences �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16 4.3. Changes in Mandatory Time Served Periods . 16 4.4. Convicted women with children aged 0-6 ���������������������������������������18 4.5. Elderly, ill and frail, and disabled prisoners . .18 4.6. Lifting Disciplinary Punishments ���������������������������������������������������������19 5. THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL (HSK) AFTER THE 2017 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ������������������������������������������������������������������20 5.1. The 2017 constitutional amendments relating to the Judicial Council ������������������������������������������������������������������������������20 5.2. Principle of the rule of law �����������������������������������������������������������������������21 5.3. Equality before the law ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22 5.4. The principle of non-retroactivity ��������������������������������������������������������24 5.5. The right to life ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25 6. CONCLUSION ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 stockholm center for SCF freedom ABOUT STOCKHOLM Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) is a non-profit advocacy organization CENTER FOR FREEDOM that promotes the rule of law, democ- racy and human rights with a special focus on Turkey. SCF was set up by a group of journal- ists who have been forced to live in self-exile in Sweden against the back- drop of a massive crackdown on press freedom in Turkey. SCF is committed to serving as a ref- erence source by providing a broad- er picture of rights violations in Turkey, monitoring daily developments, doc- umenting individual cases of the in- fringement of fundamental rights and publishing comprehensive reports on human rights issues. SCF is a member of the Alliance Against Genocide, an international co- alition dedicated to creating the inter- national institutions and the political will to prevent genocide. 3 This page intentionally left blank 2 1. INTRODUCTION Turkey, which ranks second in the number of inmates per capita Countries resort to different mea- among OECD countries3 and ac- sures against COVID-19 depending commodates many more prisoners on the severity of the pandemic than the capacity of its prisons, has and their capabilities. Among major also taken some precautions to pre- measures are limiting inter person- vent the spread of the pandemic in al physical contact, encouraging so- prisons.1 In this context, deputies cial distancing and promoting good from the ruling Justice and Devel- hygiene such as frequent washing opment Party (AKP) and its ally the of the hands as well as mask wear- Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) ing, testing, contact tracing and iso- drafted Law No. 7242 on Amend- lation. In the most serious pandem- ments to the Law on the Execution ic of our century, many countries of Sentences and Security Measures have also introduced special regu- as well as Certain Other Laws. The lations to ensure the well-being of draft was adopted by parliament prisoners, who have limited means and the law entered into force on of protecting themselves against May 15, 2020 despite an outcry from the virus and are more exposed to the public, particularly concerning it due to the physical circumstanc- its discriminatory provisions.4 es of prisons. As a general principle of law, the protection of the right to An amnesty law in essence, the life and the well-being of prisoners amendments to the Law on the Ex- is the sole responsibility of the gov- ecution of Sentences and Security ernment. The UN High Commis- Measures5 sparked much criticism sioner for Human Rights has thus in national and international cir- called on all governments to re- cles.6 The focal point of the criticism lease prisoners to stem the spread was the exclusion of tens of thou- of coronavirus in prisons.1 In the US, sands of political prisoners from the Canada, Germany, Iran, Poland and scope of the new law by an increas- many other countries, some prison- ingly authoritarian government ers were released within the con- while releasing only those convict- text of combating the spread of the ed of non-political crimes, irrespec- coronavirus.2 tive of gravity. 1 “UN urges prisoner releases to stem spread of coronavirus¨, France24, 25 March 2020, https://www.france24.com/en/20200325-un-urges-prisoner-releases-to-stem-spread-of-coronavirus 2 Kieran Oberman, “COVID-19 prisoner releases are not a matter of mercy, but of justice,” World Economic Forum, April 27, 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-prisoner- releases-not-mercy-but-justice/; Jago Russel, “Covid-19 in Europe’s prisons and the response,” Euobserver, 18 May 2020, https://euobserver.com/opinion/148385 3 Erin Duffin, “Incarceration rates in OECD countries as of May 2020,” Statista, May 20, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/300986/incarceration-rates-in-oecd-countries/ 4 Law No 7242 dated 14/04/2020; Official Gazette (OG) dated 15/04/2020 numbered 31100, at https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2020/04/20200415-16.htm 5 Law No 5275 on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures is shortened as the Law on Execution of Sentences in the Turkish literature and legal practice. 6 Amnesty International, Joint Public Statement Turkey: ‘Rights groups call for urgent release of imprisoned journalists, human rights defenders and others, now at risk of Covid-19’, March 30, 2020; https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR4420472020ENGLISH.pdf; Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, “Statement: Political prisoners in Turkey in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” April 3, 2020, https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/political-prisoners-in-turkey-in-the-face-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/ 4 This report details how the govern- ment is pursuing a political agenda by adopting such a law during the COVID-19 pandemic and how its discriminatory actions against dis- sidents continue without exception. The first chapter covers COVID-19 and the general state of prisons in Turkey. The second chapter explores how the concept of “terror offens- Speaking to press on the night of July 15, 2016, es” has been instrumentalized and Erdoğan called the coup attempt ‘a gift from God”. misused as a pretext to oppress and His son-in-law, then-Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, sitting on his right, appeared quite happy. criminalize political dissidents, for the most part since a coup attempt ing, after announcing that the coup on July 15, 2016. The third chapter had been suppressed, the Turkish examines blatantly discriminatory government immediately started amendments to Law No. 5275 on a huge purge of military officers, the Execution of Sentences made judges, police officers, teachers and by Law No. 7242 on April 14, 2020 other government officials, which targeting political prisoners. The ultimately led to the summary dis- fourth chapter includes a study of missal of more than 130,000 public amendments to the Law on the Ex- servants, including 4,156 judges and ecution of Sentences with Law No. prosecutors, as well as 20,571 mem- 7242 in light of the basic principles bers of the armed forces for alleged of the rule of law. The report ends membership in or relationships with a discussion of the govern- with “terrorist organizations” by ment’s responsibility, particularly in emergency decree-laws subject to terms of the right to life resulting neither judicial nor parliamentary from the discriminatory nature of scrutiny. the amendments made to the Law on the Execution of Sentences. Erdoğan immediately accused US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah 2. THE GENERAL STATE Gülen and the group inspired by his OF PRISONS IN TURKEY FOLLOWING THE COUP teachings known as the Gülen or ATTEMPT AND COVID-19 Hizmet movement of mastermind- ing the coup attempt. According to Turkey experienced a controversial a statement from Interior Minister military coup attempt on the night Süleyman Soylu on February 20, a of July 15, 2016 which, according to total of 622,646 people have been many, was a false flag aimed at en- the subject of investigation and trenching the authoritarian rule of 301,932 have been detained, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by 96,000 others have been jailed due rooting out dissidents and elimi- to alleged links to the Gülen move- nating powerful actors such as the ment since the failed coup. The military in his desire for absolute
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