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Turkey: Parliament must defend the health of democracy
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Credit: Wikimedia
The undersigned organisations call on Turkey’s national assembly to end the recently extended state of emergency, and take immediate steps to repair the damage to freedom of expression and Turkish democracy since the defeat of the 15 July coup.
We respect the need for every government to assure the safety of its citizens, yet the measures taken under the state of emergency since July go far beyond what is necessary for public safety, and are destroying the vibrant political culture of open, diverse dialogue that distinguishes a democracy from a dictatorship.
In the three months since 15 July, over 100,000 people have been dismissed from their positions, most for supposed affiliation with the Gulenist movement. Over 25,000 have been arrested, over 2,000 educational establishments have been closed, and more than 150 media outlets have been shut down. Since the declaration of the state of emergency at least 98 journalists have been jailed, bringing the total number of imprisoned journalists in Turkey to 130, not counting those that have been detained and released without charge – making Turkey the world’s leading jailer of journalists.
As Reporters without Borders has documented, those who have worked with or for organisations sympathetic to the Gulenists are being treated as automatic members of the movement. Members of the movement, in turn, are treated as participants in the coup. In casting such a wide net in its crackdown, Turkey’s government is violating both internationally recognised human rights and universally understood principles of justice by ascribing guilt by association, not evidence, and punishing individuals for their thoughts and beliefs, not their actions.
The extension of the crackdown to Kurdish, Alevi and left-wing media uninvolved in the coup suggests that the state of emergency is being abused beyond its stated purpose and is used for harassing individuals and groups that are merely inconvenient to the government in power, not threats to the democratic system. Many are being detained and punished not for a threat they pose to the Turkish government, or to their fellow citizens, but because they disagree with the government’s actions or policy, or are part of or sympathetic to a minority group.
The survival of democracy requires strong tolerance for a broad spectrum of opinion and belief in public life, including those that majority opinion finds inconvenient. Suppressing the independent voice and participation of minorities in public discourse in the name of anti-terrorism is not only a subversion of their free expression rights – it feeds the discontent that grows into extremism. It will be a poor tribute to the peaceful and democratic spirit of 15 July if weakening democracy and strengthening extremism is the direction chosen by the Turkish people’s political representatives in its aftermath.
We call on the national assembly to take immediate steps to protect the right of all citizens to freedom of expression and belief. We believe the state of emergency must either be ended, or greatly narrowed in its scope. We therefore recommend that you:
- Return police detention without legal review to the normal maximum four day period, and amend other provisions of the state of emergency to be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Explicitly limit terrorism charges to individuals for whom clear evidence exists of acts of violence, intent to commit acts of violence, or advocating of acts of violence, and drop terrorism charges against all those, like Ayşe Çelik and her co-defendants, who have not committed such an act;
- Refer cases of media affected by the recent shutdowns back to the judiciary, and permit them to re-open unless and until they are found guilty of a serious crime;
- Set clear limits on the use of travel bans and passport confiscation, and end the extension of these measures to family members;
- Renew respect for press credentials by state agents, and return confiscated credentials to press not found guilty of a crime.
Signed,
Initiative for Freedom of Expression – Turkey
Afghanistan Journalists Center
Albanian Media Institute
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
ARTICLE 19
Association for Civil Rights
Bytes for All
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Center for Independent Journalism – Hungary
Center for Independent Journalism – Romania
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Free Media Movement
Human Rights Network for Journalists – Uganda
Index on Censorship
International Press Centre
Journaliste en danger
Maharat Foundation
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media Watch
Norwegian PEN
Observatorio Latinoamericano para la Libertad de Expresión – OLA
OpenMedia
Pakistan Press Foundation
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
Trinidad and Tobago’s Publishers and Broadcasters Association
Vigilance pour la Démocratie et l’État Civique
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters – AMARC
Anatolian Heritage Foundation
Association of European Journalists
Centre for Freedom of Expression at Ryerson University
English PEN
SEEMO
PEN Germany
Wales PEN Cymru
Free expression in the news
INDEX EVENTS
18 July New World (Dis)Order: What do Turkey, Russia and Brazil tell us about freedom and rights?
Index, in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations, is holding a timely debate on the shifting world order and its impact on rights and freedoms. The event will also launch the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, including a special report on the multipolar world.
(More information)
AZERBAIJAN
President Aliyev: Creating conditions for free activity of media is one of main directions of state policy
Creating conditions for free activity of media to ensure the political pluralism in Azerbaijan is one of main directions of the state policy, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his letter of appeal to participants of the sixth Congress of Azerbaijani Journalists on July 11.
(Trend)
BELARUS
Praying in Homeless Shelter a Crime
A young Catholic layman, who turned his home into a shelter for homeless people with a prayer room, is being accused of leading an unregistered religious organization. Aleksei Shchedrov, who says he has helped about 100 local people since December 2011, is being investigated on criminal charges under Article 193-1. As a result, he now faces a maximum possible sentence of two years’ imprisonment.
(Canadian Free Press)
BRAZIL
Brazilian writer convicted for fictional story
José Cristian Góes says case brought against him is a “direct attack on free speech. Rafael Spuldar reports
(Index on Censorship)
Brazil May Seek to Speak With Snowden as Spy Charges Spread
Brazil’s government said it may contact fugitive former security contractor Edward Snowden as it probes allegations the U.S. monitored phone calls and e-mail in Latin America’s largest economy.
(Bloomberg)
CANADA
Canada Repeals Restriction on Online “Hate Speech”
Have you heard about this place called Canada? It’s like some weird parallel America where they never had a revolution.
(Reason)
CJFE concerned by arrest of New Brunswick journalist
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is deeply concerned about the RCMP’s arrest under unusual circumstances of New Brunswick-based journalist Miles Howe.
(Press Release)
Censoring Canadian science
Last summer, a rally of over 2,000 researchers, scientists, and students gathered on Parliament Hill to protest a federal trend of scientific censorship that began when the Conservative party took control of the Federal government in 2006. For the protesters, the government had crossed the line with numerous budget cuts to environmental research programs, extensive job cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and numerous restrictions on investigators’ communications with the media.
(McGill Daily)
GHANA
Journalist freed in Ghana amid free speech concerns
A Ghanaian newspaper editor was released Thursday after serving a controversial 10-day jail term ordered by the west African nation’s supreme court for criticising the judges’ handling of a dispute over last year’s presidential election.
(AFP)
GUINEA
Radio Station Director Charged for Libel
Managing Director of Planete FM, Mandian Sidibe, has been charged with libel and placed under judicial review by a Magistrates’ Court in Conakry, the capital, for comments he made during a radio programme.
(All Africa)
INDONESIA
Indonesia Affirms Restrictions to Freedom of Expression
On July 10 and 11, 2013 the UN Human Rights Committee reviewed the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, one of the most important human rights treaties Indonesia has ratified and has the obligation to implement to ensure protection of these rights in Indonesia.
(Scoop)
KENYA
Kenyan Media shock over new Media Bill that removes self-regulation
Media stakeholders are worried after learning that sections of the Media Bill 2013 that guarantee self-regulation of the press have been deleted from the original draft.
(Standard Digital)
NEW ZEALAND
Suicide reporting rules under review
The Government has announced that New Zealand’s 25-year-old censorship of suicide reporting is to be reviewed by the Law Commission. JAMES HOLLINGS talks to two leading experts who think the restrictions should go.
(The Press)
RUSSIA
New Russian video game takes aim at punk band riot
A Russian Orthodox youth group unveiled a video game on Thursday that gives players a chance to “kill” members of the punk band Pussy Riot, whose profanity-laden protest in a Moscow cathedral last year angered the church and offended some believers.
(Reuters)
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka flirts with press regulation
Is Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa, identified as an “enemy of the press”, taking lessons from Leveson, asks Padraig Reidy
(Index on Censorship)
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Defending press freedom
Although freedom of the press is enshrined in our Constitution, it is a right which nonetheless requires eternal vigilance. This is because powerful persons and groups are continually trying to erode this right, to the detriment of the average citizen.
(Trinidad Express)
TUNISIA
Tunisia’s version of Tamarod
A Tunisian version of the Egyptian Tamarod movement has been collecting signatures against the country’s government and institutions, writes Lasaad Ben Ahmad in Tunis
(Al-Ahram)
TURKEY
Scientific Conflict in Turkey
The Turkish government’s refusal to fund a summer school course on evolution has brought into sharp focus the divisions between political Islam and secular society in Turkey.
(BBC)
UNITED STATES
Porn Producers Say Unprotected Sex Is Free Speech Right
Pornographic movie makers told a judge that a Los Angeles County voter-approved measure requiring adult-film actors to wear condoms violates their constitutional right to free speech.
(Bloomberg)
Hate speech or free speech in Milford
You’ve heard that freedom isn’t free. The “cost” of free speech is that everybody gets it, even people you don’t like.
(Connecticut Post)
Removing the Kahane Google App Isn’t Censorship
In a recent Open Zion column, Zack Parker criticized Google’s decision to take down a Google App containing Kahane quotes, to which the radical settler extremist Baruch Marzel had linked, as censorship. While the objective of preserving free speech is pure, the criticism of the takedown as censorship misunderstands the nature of free speech and the implementation of the criticism would be a severe blow to counter-radicalization efforts.
(The Daily Beast)
Proposed restrictions on Fort Williams artists raise free speech issue in Cape Elizabeth
A public hearing grew tense Monday when a local artist and his wife accused the Town Council of undermining the U.S. Constitution.
(The Forecaster)
My fight for free speech at LSU
I decided in seventh grade that one day I was going to attend Louisiana State University’s law school, and anyone who knows me can tell you that I’ve bled purple and gold ever since. So when I finally got there last fall, I never expected that in a few short months I would be involved in a lawsuit against the school.
(Live Action News)
Previous Free Expression in the News posts
July 11 | July 10 | July 9 | July 8 | July 5 | July 4 | July 3 | July 2 | July 1 | June 28
Sol y capital
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”111701″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Con ocasión de las nuevas medidas aprobadas por Reino Unido para abordar el blanqueo de capitales en las Islas Vírgenes Británicas, Davion Smith trata otros problemas de secretismo que dificultan los esfuerzos de los reporteros por descubrir la verdad”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Al formar los expatriados una parte considerable de la población de las Islas Vírgenes Británicas, apenas hay naturales del país entre los periodistas que trabajan en la prensa generalista local. Procedentes de naciones con una legislación de libertad de información firmemente instaurada, se encuentran con una sociedad en la que el acceso a datos está complicado. Esto se debe a que, a día de hoy, aún no existen leyes de la información en este territorio británico de ultramar, pese a las peticiones de que se implementen.
Pocas personas conocen las dificultades asociadas a la ausencia de dichas leyes tan bien como Zan Lewis, un periodista para la televisión que lleva 18 años informando en la zona.
“Siempre ha sido difícil conseguir información, sobre todo cuando intentas hacerlo a través del Gobierno. Es bien sabido que el Gobierno tiende a cribar los datos”, comenta.
El protocolo cultural para la obtención de datos sobre cuestiones gubernamentales y expedientes públicos normalmente dicta que los periodistas contacten con los departamentos responsables en cada caso. Después, el reportero en cuestión ha de dirigirse a funcionarios que a menudo se muestran cautelosos sobre facilitar información de cualquier tipo.
Esta implacable reticencia está arraigada en el miedo de los funcionarios a represalias del Gobierno, que podrían resultar en perder su empleo; por ello, a veces, para eludir las preguntas de los reporteros, los funcionarios utilizan la expresión: “Nos han ordenado que no hablemos con los medios”.
“Probablemente tengan datos que sean públicos y nadie esté intentando esconder —dice Freeman Rodgers, editor del periódico BVI Beacon—. Pero, al no existir un sistema claramente definido o una ley que diga ‘esto es conocimiento público’ y ‘esto no lo es’, creo que los funcionaros tienen a pecar de precavidos y normalmente prefieren no darte la información que estás buscando”.
Naturalmente, no todo tipo de información es necesariamente inofensiva, y al no existir libertades definidas en ese respecto, es difícil identificar dónde empieza la corrupción.
El país ya ha sido testigo de un escándalo —si bien uno ajeno al control del Gobierno— en el que la dificultad de acceso a información fue fundamental. Estas pequeñas islas del Caribe, con una población de unos 30.000 habitantes, aparecieron directamente involucradas en las revelaciones de 2016 sobre paraísos fiscales, conocidas como Papeles de Panamá. El mes pasado se anunció que los territorios británicos de ultramar, las Islas Vírgenes incluidas, estarían obligados a revelar las identidades de los propietarios de compañías con sede allí desde que Reino Unido aprobara nuevas medidas para abordar el blanqueo de capitales y la corrupción. La medida las obligará a hacer públicos los nombres de los dueños de todas las empresas registradas allí antes del fin de 2020.
También en mi caso he visto ejemplos de cómo contactar con departamentos gubernamentales en busca de expedientes ha resultado en clásicos casos de cargarle el muerto a otra persona. Una vez me dirigieron al ministro al cargo del tema. El ministro quería mandarme donde el secretario permanente del ministerio, que a su vez me indicó que acudiera al responsable de subdirección. Poco después, y sin haber hecho muchos progresos, me volvieron a desviar al ministro del principio.
En estas circunstancias, las operaciones de investigación relacionadas con el Gobierno local han resultado a veces en reportajes muy superficiales. Los periodistas virgenenses, que practican su labor en lo que podría describirse como un entorno mediático antipático, dependen de la información facilitada por chivatos que a menudo insisten mantener el anonimato. Esto ha llamado la atención del primer ministro de las Islas Vírgenes, Daniel Orlando Smith, que ha señalado los casos en aumento de denuncias anónimas y concluido por lo tanto que, en efecto, sí existe “libertad de información” en el territorio.
“Hasta cuando no hago público un documento acaba saliendo a la luz: eso es libertad de información”, aducía en una de sus intervenciones en una conferencia de prensa a principios de año.
Pese a la ausencia de estas leyes fundamentales, y pese a las dificultades que ello conlleva, tanto Freeman como Lewis han dado parte de una mejora en las circunstancias para acceder a información en las islas estos últimos años. Le atribuyen esta mejora al auge del llamamiento por una legislación que garantice la libertad de información.
“Hace 12 años, cuando llegué, no dejábamos de pedirlo. Al principio parecía que no nos escuchaba nadie, pero ahora creo que hay quienes han empezado a hacerlo, y que la gente está empezando a darse cuenta de su importancia. Creo que eso ha ayudado a que la información sea más accesible”, cuenta Freeman, que emigró desde EE.UU. para trabajar en las islas.
A lo largo de los años, los llamamientos a la legislación han provenido del antiguo comisionado de denuncias, el ya fallecido Elton Georges, y del exgobernador John Duncan, entre otros.
Augustus Jaspert, recientemente nombrado Gobernador de las Islas Vírgenes Británicas, ha puesto la instauración de dicha ley sobre la mesa. El pasado marzo, en su “Discurso desde el Trono” —una tradición con la que el Gobierno expone ante el parlamento los próximos puntos por tratar en su programa—, Jaspert prometió introducir un proyecto de ley de libertad de información en la Asamblea Legislativa del territorio antes de concluir el año.
“Esta legislación permitirá una mayor transparencia y más responsabilidad en cuanto a asuntos públicos —dijo—. El proyecto de ley incluye la recomendación de instaurar una Unidad de Libertad de Información que facilite al público los mecanismos administrativos adecuados para realizar y recibir solicitudes”.
Sin embargo, esta no es la primera vez que se promete una propuesta de ley de este tipo. Según la hemeroteca del BVI Beacon, las promesas de instaurar dicha ley se remontan a 2004.
El periódico dio parte de una Comisión de Reforma Legislativa que en 2004 emitió un informe al Gobierno de las Islas Vírgenes Británicas en el que recomendaba legislación concerniente a la libertad de información.
Desde aquello ha habido dos administraciones en el poder, ninguna de las cuales parece haber avanzado en absoluto en la implementación de la ley. Y, mientras las islas siguen demorándose en la tarea, el Gobierno actual ha de hacer frente a numerosas críticas sobre su falta de transparencia y evasión de responsabilidades.
Cabe reconocer el mérito de las críticas, dado que la prensa —y, por extensión, el público— lleva alrededor de una década incapaz de realizar un escrutinio exhaustivo de las operaciones del Gobierno de las islas. En 2017 se marcaron unos 10 años desde que el Gobierno produjera su último informe o auditoría financiera, y se halla actualmente en el proceso de preparar informes de carácter retroactivo.
Las críticas han surgido desde la propia administración de Smith, con la consiguiente división que ha provocado entre miembros del Gobierno. Según un reportaje online de BVI News, de marzo de 2018, ciertos miembros del Gobierno declararon que el primer ministro del país habría iniciado ciertas actividades en departamentos y ministerios «sin el conocimiento o consentimiento de los ministros constitucionalmente responsables de esas cuestiones».
El Gobierno también ha recibido críticas de la oposición parlamentaria. Otras naciones caribeñas, como San Cristóbal y Nieves, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad y Tobago o la República Dominicana ya han implementado leyes de libertad de información.
En vista de lo que puede describirse como ejemplos flagrantes de gestión cuestionable en las Islas Vírgenes Británicas, las demandas de una legislación por la libertad de información se están incrementando. Este aumento es bienvenido entre la pequeña fraternidad de periodistas que defienden la capacidad de la libertad de información para promover la asunción de responsabilidades, la transparencia y el buen gobierno.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Davion Smith es reportero para BVI News. Vive en la isla de Tórtola.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]