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Critical Voices Muzzled KHRAG NEWS KURDISH HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION GROUP SOUTH AFRICA www.khrag.org VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 4 DECEMBER 2011 EDITORIAL Genuine peace talks the only option The prospect of a peaceful negotiated settlement of the Kurdish question has dimmed in recent months, with the Turk- ish army launching wave after wave of attacks against Kurdish guerrillas in the Kandil Mountains. This has added to the 40 000 death toll of the 27-year armed conflict between the Kurds in Denmark protest outside the court in Copenhagen where Kurdish TV station is Turkish State and the Kurdish Workers Party. charged in terms of anti-terror laws. State repression is intensifying on many fronts. The most disturbing has been claims that the Turkish army used chemi- Critical voices muzzled cals during attacks in the mountains be- The detention and prosecution of hu- asked an Istanbul court on 14 October to sen- tween 22 and 24 October, killing many man rights activists, journalists and Kurdish tence them to seven and a half years in prison. guerrillas as well as plants and animals. politicians continues unabated in Turkey. Prosecutors at the same court are preparing These claims are being investigated. Ragip Zarakolu, the chairman of the Publish- to try the journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu over a Various charges are being brought ers Association Freedom to Publish Commit- report in Radikal in October 2010 that con- against Kurdish politicians and activists. tee of Turkey, was detained during a large- tained an interview with Murat Karayilan, one Close to 1 000 are currently on trial on a of the leaders of the Union of Kurdistan Com- range of charges and many are denied scale action against activists on 28 October. bail. Earlier that day, Professor Büşra Ersanlı, a munities (KCK), regarded as PKK’s urban wing. A third case of repression relates to a co- constitutional law expert and a member of A seven-and-a-half-year sentence has ordinated attempt to muzzle or shut down the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party’s also been requested for Recep Okuyucu, Kurdish media in Europe. Last month, a (BDP) intra-party constitutional commission, Taraf’s correspondent in the southeastern representative of KHRAG attended a court was detained along with close to 40 others. province of Batman and editor of the local case in Denmark where a Kurdish TV sta- Scores of journalists have either been de- newspaper Batman Medya. The prosecu- tion, ROJ TV, is facing charges in terms tained or charged and in Dyarbakir a two- tor’s office in the nearby city of Diyarbakir of anti-terror laws. The station stands ac- year trial against 151 Kurdish politicians claims that he connected 53,848 times to cused of promoting the banned PKK and and activists is still proceeding. The charges the Firat News Agency website which the inciting violence and unrest. against accused related to their alleged authorities have blocked because they ac- In Niu Isenberg, near Frankfurt in Ger- links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), cuse it of relaying PKK propaganda. Okuy- many, Yeni Ozgur Politieka, the only daily taking part in demonstrations, criticising ucu’s defence is that, as a journalist, he has Kurdish newspaper in Europe, faces simi- the state policies and participating in other to check a wide range of websites every day. lar charges in a case which is likely to start peaceful activities. At least six Kurdish mem- story continued on page 3 in the new year. bers of parliament are in prison in Turkey. These are all disturbing developments Zarakolu’s detention has been condemned by which do huge harm to the ideal of a just the International Publishers Association and peace for the Kurds and the Turks. several intellectuals and academics have be- The Turkish government must show lead- ership and get the negotiations project gun a petition to secure the release of Ersanli. back on track. Banned organisations must Meanwhile the organisation Reporters With- be unbanned, the trials against Kurdish out Borders (RSF) has expressed concern over politicians must be halted, the hostilities the clampdown against journalists. Below in the mountains must cease immedi- are just a few of the many cases of action ately and all political prisoners must be against journalists, documented by the RSF. released, including PKK leader Abdullah Nese Düzel, a journalist with the liberal daily Ocalan, who is imprisoned on the island Taraf, and his editor, Adnan Demir, are being of Imrali in Turkey. prosecuted for two April 2010 reports con- Negotiations must then commence in taining interviews with former PKK leaders earnest. There is very little alternative. Zübeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal. A prosecutor Ragip Zarakolu www.khrag.org Newsletter 1 Kurdish Media under threat Allegations of chemical attacks investigated ‘Challenge to democratic values’ The political motives that he refers to emerges from a Wikileaks diplomatic ca- ble which refers to a claim by a Turkish representative that, “as part of the 2009 POTUS-brokered deal that had overcome Turkish objections to the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen (former Danish Prime Minister) as Nato Secretary General, Denmark had promised to clarify its legal requirements prerequisite to acceding to Turkey’s request for the closure of ROJ TV.” Kurdish people do a folk dance outside the court where the ROJ TV trial was taking ROJ TV is licenced in Demark and has studi- place on 10 October os in Denderleeuw, about 30km from Brus- sels. The station broadcasts to more than The on going court case in Denmark and freedom of expression in Europe’. 20 million viewers in over 70 countries, in against a Kurdish TV station, Roj TV, consti- Former president of plaid Cymru in Wales, a multitude of languages, tuted a serious challenge to democratic free- Dafydd Iwan, said: “I believe the ROJ-TV trial Meanwhile Yeni Ozgur Politieka, a Kurd- doms, according to human rights activists. is of very great significance. I cannot think ish daily paper based near Frankfurt, also The court case against ROJ TV started in of another case where the freedom of the faces charges in terms of anti-terror laws. August this year. According to the Peace press, and the public’s right to information, The paper was previously closed down for in Kurdistan campaign, the broadcaster is has been so starkly challenged. And the fact three months in 2005. They went to court accused of being in breach of article 114 that it is so politically motivated makes it all to enable them to resume operations. of the Danish penal code by ‘promoting the more worrying. One of the fundamental The court case against ROJ TV and the terrorist activity’, namely, promoting the principles of democratic freedom is that the legal proceedings against Yeni Ozgur actions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party legal system is completely independent of Politieka are not isolated actions. The deci- (PKK), an organisation that was put onto political influence, and it seems to me bla- sion to take the matter of the newspaper the EU’s list of terrorist groups in 2002. tantly obvious that there is no case in law to the High Court in Germany took place Turkey has lobbied vigorously for the for closing down a TV service like ROJ-TV.” the same week that the ROJ TV case com- closure of ROJ TV, claiming it is a mouth- He added: “The fact that Den- menced. piece for the PKK. The Turkish authori- mark, a country noted for its open- Other repressive actions have taken place ties have made many complaints to the ness and freedom of thought, has against Kurdish media in Europe which in- Danish Radio and Television Board over been caught up in this political attempt at cludes the seizure of equipment of Roj TV the years, but none have been upheld. silencing what is essentially the voice of in Wuppertal in German and in Dender- Judge Essa Moosa, the Chairperson of the Kurdish people is particularly sad. It is leeuw near Brussels. the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group my fervent hope that the Danish judicial Meanwhile Turkey, who has exerted pres- (KHRAG) in South Africa has cautioned system will prevail on the side of free- sure for action against Kurdish media, has against the muzzling of important Kurd- dom and the right to public information.” among the worst press freedom records in ish voices and expressed his concern over the world. There is widespread censorship the threat to media freedom in Europe. of media in Turkey and repression against “Khrag sent a representative to Eu- journalists. There are currently 57 journal- rope in October with a view to sup- ists in Turkish prison, the highest number porting an international campaign in the world. This is according to a report aimed at stopping the clampdown on by the Organization for Security and Co- the Kurdish media in Europe,” he said. operation in Europe. There are about 1 000 Swedish Member of Parliament Hans other cases pending against journalists. Linde said that the trial represented ‘a litmus test for the freedom of the press Daffyd Iwan mote human rights for all citizens in Tur- Tutu to open conference on Kurds key, respect and protection of minori- The European Union Turkey Civic Com- Leyla Zana who was recently elected to the ties and a peaceful, democratic and du- mission (EUTCC) is organising its 8th In- Turkish parliament. She visited South Africa rable solution to the Kurdish question. ternational Conference on EU, Turkey and as the guest of KHRAG about two years ago. A number of prominent Turks, Kurds, Aca- the Kurds in Brussels on 7 and 8 December KHRAG chairperson Judge Essa Moo- demics, Journalists, Writers,Human Rights 2011.
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