'Investigations Against Physicians Undermine Pandemic Response in Turkey'

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a written statement today (June 10) and called on the authorities in Turkey to halt the investigations into the physicians running the medical associations in Mardin, Urfa and Van provinces in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

"The authorities should respect both freedom of expression and the important role of healthcare worker associations in informing the public and protecting public health," the HRW has warned in its statement.

As noted by the HRW, since March 2020, authorities have targeted doctors in senior positions in medical chambers in Van, Mardin and Şanlıurfa for allegedly 'issuing threats to create fear and panic among the public' in interviews and social media posts about Covid-19 outbreak in Turkey:

"Bülent Nazım Yılmaz, secretary general of Turkish Medical Association (TTB), told HRW on May 6 that health workers feel concerned they may be put under investigations if they provide information to the public in the Covid-19 context and so most often self-censor to avoid repercussions."

Williamson: Drop all investigations

Europe and Central Asia director at the HRW Hugh Williamson has also stated the following about the issue:

"The Turkish authorities criminally investigating medical chamber officials is not only an outrageous attack on free speech but impedes the fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and obstructs their legitimate work.

"The investigations should immediately be dropped, and all conditions imposed on the doctors, including travel bans, lifted.

"Turkey's government should see the important role the Turkish Medical Association plays in offering independent and credible opinions on all matters relating to public health.

"Official efforts to discredit and criminalize the association or its provincial affiliates, notably those in the mainly Kurdish southeast and eastern regions, undermine efforts to uphold public health and the right of medical professionals to do their job."

What happened?

After Urfa Medical Chamber released the number of Covid-19 cases in the city on April 5, Ömer Melik was summoned to the police station on April 8. He was questioned about social media posts detailing the number of cases and deaths in the city, where the organization acquired this information, who posted them, and for what purposes.

On May 4, police again summoned and detained Melik with Urfa Medical Chamber Secretary General Osman Yüksekyayla, and questioned them about six social media posts on the medical chamber's official Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

Police asked the doctors about the posts on the situation in prisons, a request to test health workers, the exclusion of some health workers from bonus payments, deaths or infections of health workers from Covid-19, and the government's failure to term Covid-19 an occupational hazard.

The prosecutor defined these posts as "content that causes panic and fear among the public." The doctors refuted the accusations, saying that the social media posts were to support their colleagues and inform the public. A court in Urfa released both doctors conditionally, imposing a travel ban and a requirement to sign in at the nearest police station once a month pending the completion of the prosecutor's criminal investigation.

Dr. Özgür Deniz Değer, co-chair of the Van Medical Chamber, gave an interview to Mesopotamia News Agency on March 19 in which he criticized the authorities for failing to take early precautions against Covid-19 as well as the government's failure to quarantine pilgrims returning from Mecca in March, or to protect prisoners.

Değer also criticized the authorities for not including the medical chambers in provincial councils established to fight the pandemic. Six days later, police summoned Değer and interrogated him about the interview on the grounds that it created "fear and panic among the population."

On May 4, police interrogated Deger again in connection with a tweet in which he asked Turkey's health minister how many health workers had been infected with Covid-19.

Dr. Osman Sağlam, co-chair of the Mardin Medical Chamber, gave interviews to the news website Gazete Duvar on March 25 and to Mesopotamia News Agency on March 26. In both interviews, Sağlam suggested that the authorities were hiding information from the public and that doctors were hesitant to diagnose patients with Covid-19 due to pressure from the provincial health directorate to keep case numbers down.

On March 28, the police summoned Sağlam to explain his media interviews. According to media reports, Saglam too is under criminal investigation for "creating panic and fear among the public." (AS/SD)