‘State of Emergency Made Permanent’

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Human Rights Association (İHD) and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) released a joint statement on the occasion of Human Rights Day today (December 10).

The statement has emphasized that though it has been 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations (UN), "an international order based on the rights and freedoms indicated in the declaration has not been established yet."

The 22-page statement of the İHD and TİHV also has a chapter entitled "State of Emergency Which Has Become Permanent", where the developments that happened in Turkey during the State of Emergency and the laws adopted afterwards have been examined.

The statement has also listed the violations of right to life, prohibition of torture and ill treatment, freedom of expression and press, freedom of association, right to vote and stand for election as well as male violence, prison conditions, Kurdish question and violations faced by refugees.

"State of Emergency has become permanent"

In the section on post-State of Emergency period, it has been indicated,

"Though the State of Emergency was lifted on July 18, 2018, the Law no. 7145, which foresees that certain practices of the State of Emergency shall remain in effect for at least three years, was adopted on July 25, thereby making State of Emergency permanent with all of its consequences."

What happened during State of Emergency?

The statement has shared the following informations regarding the State of Emergency, which was in force from July 21, 2016 to July 18, 2018:

* The period of detention was increased to 30 days. As per the the Statutory Decree no. 668 adopted on July 27, the detained were banned from consulting their attorneys in the first five days of their detention.

* On January 23, 2017, the period of detention was reduced to 14 days. This period is currently 12 days at the most.

* 135 thousand 147 public officers were discharged by Statutory Decrees. 3, 833 of them have been reinstated in their previous positions.

* 4 thousand 395 judges and prosecutors in total were discharged from their posts, 170 of them have been reinstated afterwards.

* 2 thousand 281 private educational institutions (schools, courses, hostels, dormitories, etc.) were closed. 15 private universities were also closed. The activities of 19 trade unions and confederations were ended.

* 3, 041 permanent personnel of the closed universities were unemployed.

* A total of 201 media and broadcasting organizations were closed and only 25 of them could be reopened afterwards.

* 1,607 associations were closed and only 183 of them were allowed to be reopened. 168 foundations were closed, 23 of them were reopened. (AS/SD)