Human Rights Association Advises Resistance Against The Idea Of State Of Emergency Powers

Following the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) attack on the Aktütün army post, both the military and the police have demanded return to the condition of state of emergency powers (OHAL) that they had before.  

President of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Hüsnü Öndül describes how the region was under the OHAL measures.

“There was violence everywhere. This was the time when there were missings, unsolved murders and tortures everywhere. This was the time when the villages were evacuated forcefully.”

OHAL had started in 1987 and lasted until 2002.

What does military and police want?

Öndül summarizes the demands of the police and military as such:

“They want to prolong the custody period to four days and decrease the time for the presence of the lawyers. They already had the government pass the practice of no lawyer for twenty four hours and then the one lawyer restriction. These are against the torture ban, the individual freedom and security and just trial.”

“They want to search the people, their belongings and their houses without the need to get permission.”

According to daily Radikal, the army and gendarmerie want to have the right to search, to take statement and to take people into custody.

“The police and the generals want to say the last word”

According to Öndül, if these changes pass then Turkey will become a country where the generals and the police will say the last word.

“The European Union process was a development that had Turkey move towards democracy. They want to prevent this with the excuse of terror.”

But Öndül thinks that these changes will not last long; the social dynamics will not allow it.

It will affect everyone

Öndül thinks that these changes aim to prevent the discussion of the Kurdish Problem freely, producing ideas about it and doing organizational work for it. He also adds that these are a threat to the discussion of the problems related to the basic human and country rights.”

Reminding that these implementation have become a general trend starting with the US after the September 11, Öndül says, “In the reform process, Turkey had started changing its shell, but not its essence. With the changes in the police powers that took place last year, we went backward. But there is always better security when there is more freedom.” (TK/EÜ/TB)