[The following report was issued by Amnesty International in March 2013.]
Decriminalize Dissent: Time to Deliver on the Right to Freedom of Expression
Introduction
Freedom of expression is under attack in Turkey. Hundreds of abusive criminal prosecutions are brought every year against political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and others. These prosecutions represent one of the most deeply entrenched human rights problems in Turkey today. Such cases are generally instigated against individuals who criticize the state or who express opinions contrary to official positions on sensitive issues. While there has been progress in allowing previously taboo subjects to be discussed more freely, such as criticism of the army, discussion of the position of minorities in Turkey and whether the massacres of Armenians in 1915 constitute genocide, a number of inherently problematic laws continue to be used to protect public officials from legitimate criticism and prosecute dissenting opinions on controversial issues in Turkish politics, most notably the conflict between the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish Armed Forces and the Kurdish question more broadly. The most negative development in recent years has been the increasingly arbitrary use of anti-terrorism laws to prosecute legitimate activities including political speeches, critical writing, attendance of demonstrations and association with recognised political groups and organizations - in violation of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
In order to prevent these abuses from continuing, Turkey must overhaul the inadequate constitutional protection of the right to freedom of expression and provisions within the Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Law. In recent years, a succession of legislative reform packages have failed to bring about the fundamental change required. The third, and most recent, “judicial package”, adopted in July 2012, made some limited improvements, most notably to offences used to prosecute journalists publishing articles about ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions. The reform package also resulted in the conditional suspension of many cases that threatened the right to freedom of expression and lessened the penalties associated with other provisions. However, it failed to address the underlying problem – namely, the definition of offences in law, which either directly violate the right to freedom of expression or are so broadly worded as to allow for abusive prosecutions.
Government statements initially indicated that the “Fourth judicial package” would seek to bring prosecutions of expression related offences in line with international human rights standards and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. However, the draft law, currently before Parliament does not go nearly far enough. It proposes amendments to five offences frequently used in ways that violate the right to freedom of expression. The proposals leave on the statute a number of laws that directly limit the right to freedom of expression that should be repealed entirely. Other offences that threaten the right to freedom of expression through their overly broad wording are not brought into line with international standards on the right to freedom of expression under the current proposals. If passed by Parliament in its present form, the “Fourth judicial package” would represent another missed opportunity to deliver genuine human rights reform.
This report is based on research that has included observing scores of trials, the review of hundreds of criminal cases that threaten the right to freedom of expression and interviews with civil society organizations, lawyers, academics, individuals under prosecution and public officials. It provides an analysis of the current law and practice related to the most problematic articles threatening freedom of expression and makes concrete recommendations to the Turkish authorities and Parliament for the repeal or substantial amendment of articles in the Penal Code and anti-terrorism legislation that are needed bring Turkish law in line with international standards on the right to freedom of expression.
[Click here to download the full report.]