'Islamist' Turkey: Security Bill Undermines Human Rights.

'Islamist' Turkey: Security Bill Undermines Human Rights. (HRW).

The Turkish government’s proposed expansion of police powers to search and detain and for the use of firearms would undermine human rights protections. A number of the proposals in a draft security bill would circumvent the role of prosecutors and judiciary in ways that directly undercut safeguards against the arbitrary abuse of power.

On December 2, 2014, Turkey’s Parliament passed a separate law that also widened police and court powers. The new security bill, published on the parliamentary website on November 25, would stiffen penalties for people involved in some protests and allow provincial governors to instruct police to focus on particular crimes and perpetrators, seemingly usurping the role of prosecutors and judges. Its introduction followed violent protests in southeastern Turkey on October 6 and 7 that left up to 50 people dead.

“The government has already pushed problematic new police measures through parliament, and now it wants to give itself even greater security powers,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Parliament should put the brakes on and ensure that this bill protects human rights as well as public safety.”

The 43-article “Draft law changing various articles of the Law on the Powers and Duties of the Police and in Statutory Decrees” contains some positive measures. It would, for example, strengthen civilian oversight of the gendarmerie responsible for policing outside towns by tying it more closely to the Interior Ministry. But the bill contains problematic measures that raise significant human rights concerns. In particular the bill would:

• Broaden police powers to search people and vehicles, removing the current requirement of prior authorization by a prosecutor or court;
• Citing “serious threats to public order,” give the police the power to detain people for up to 48 hours without the authorization of a prosecutor, raising concerns that the vague nature of this power could effectively facilitate preventive detention and be open to significant risk of abuse;
• Permit the police to use firearms to prevent an attack in a public place against buildings, vehicles, or people using a gasoline bomb (Molotov cocktail) or “similar weapon.” The breadth of this power gives rise to concern that it will increase the use of deadly force in cases in which such force is disproportionate to the threat at hand and not justified under international standards;
• Increase the penalties for people participating in violent or “propaganda” demonstrations, in a way likely to lead to increased use of mandatory pretrial detention for protesters; and
• Give governors the power to instruct police to pursue particular crimes and suspects, an authority currently reserved for prosecutors and judges, breaching the separation of powers between legislative, executive, and judicial organs of state.

The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, expressed concern about inadequate safeguards of use of lethal force by Turkish police following a November 2012 visit to Turkey. A key recommendation of his report concerned the use of force:

96. The laws regulating the use of force by law enforcement officers (Law No. 2559 on the Duties and Powers of the Police; Law No. 2803 on the Organization, Duties and Powers of the Gendarmerie, and related regulation) should be brought in line with international standards. Both proportionality and necessity are crucial components of these standards. The terms “necessity” and “proportionality” in these texts should reflect their interpretation under international law: lethal use of force may be made only as a last resort to protect life. Regulations on the stop warning procedure and on the proportionate use of less lethal weapons should be promulgated and conform to these standards.

The changes in the bill would move Turkey further away from Heyns’ recommendations, Human Rights Watch said. Read the full story here.