CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/turkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights","20110707052751","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1310016471"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <script type="text/javascript">var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime()</script> <title>Turkey: Kurdish Party Members’ Trial Violates Rights | Human Rights Watch</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <meta name="DC.Title" content="Turkey: Kurdish Party Members’ Trial Violates Rights"/> <meta name="description" content="Also available in:Turkish"/> <meta name="keywords" content="Europe/Central Asia,Freedom of Association,Terrorism,Turkey"/> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"/> <style type="text/css" media="all">@import "/web/20110707052751cs_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/css/a2ce2b0b2bdee015281b9c483b5ce13a.css";</style> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20110707052751js_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/js/9117fc5accc31bad5b857fd4a915ce39.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">Drupal.extend({ settings: { "thickbox": { "close": "Close", "next": "Next \x3e", "prev": "\x3c Prev", "esc_key": "or Esc Key", "next_close": "Next / Close on last", "image_count": "Image !current of !total" } } });</script>   <meta name="robots" content="noarchive"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Human Rights Watch - News" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/rss/news"> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17438434-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/https://ssl' : 'https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </head> <body class="hrw subnav node-page news sidebar-right"> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20110707052751js_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/core/collapse.js"></script> <div id="header"> <div class="limiter clear-block"> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/" class="logo"></a> <div class="right"> <div class="top clear-block"> <div class="i18n"><span class="new-i18n-links">Language</span><div class="new-item-list"><ul><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/ar">العربية</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/zh-hans">中文</a></li><li class="active"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en">English</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/fr">Français</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/de">Deutsch</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/he">עברית</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/ja">日本語</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/ru">Русский</a></li><li class=""> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/es">Español</a></li><li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/languages">More +</a></li></ul></div></div> <div class="personas"><ul class=" links clear-block"> <li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/policy-makers">Policy Makers</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/press">Press</a></li> <li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/get-involved">Get Involved</a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sm_links"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.twitter.com/hrw"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/images/twitter.gif"></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.youtube.com/humanrightswatch"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/images/youtube.gif"></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.facebook.com/humanrightswatch"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/images/facebook.gif"></a><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/rss"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/themes/hrw/images/rss.gif"></a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="limiter nav clear-block"> <ul class=" links clear-block"> <li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/home" title="Home">Home</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/our-work" title="Our Work">Our Work</a></li> <li class="active"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news" title="News">News</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/publications" title="Publications">Publications</a></li> <li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/multimedia">Multimedia</a></li> <li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/about" title="About Us">About Us</a></li> </ul> <ul class="donate links clear-block"> <li class="last"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.kintera.org/site/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.4542089/">Donate</a></li> </ul> <div class="search"><form action="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/turkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post" id="search-theme-form"> <div><div id="search" class="container-inline"><div class="form-item" id="edit-processed-keys-wrapper"> <input type="text" maxlength="128" name="processed_keys" id="edit-processed-keys" size="15" value="" title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." class="form-text"/> </div> <input type="submit" name="op" id="edit-submit" value="Search" class="form-submit"/> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-search-theme-form" value="search_theme_form"/> <input type="hidden" name="module" id="edit-module" value="apachesolr_search"/> </div> </div></form> </div> </div> <div id="subnav" class="limiter clear-block"> <div id="section-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news">News</a></div> <div class="subnav"><ul class=" links clear-block"> <li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/list/40" title="News Releases">News Releases</a></li> <li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/list/41" title="Commentary">Commentary</a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> <div id="page"><div class="limiter clear-block"> <div class="sidebar sidebar-right"><div id="block-tic-tic_copy_96800" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.kintera.org/site/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.4542089/?msource=MidEast32011"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/banner_support_MENA2d.jpg" width="322" height="92" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_92883" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://hrw.kintera.org/newsletter?msource=signup"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/banner_signup_2c.jpg" width="322" height="46" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_99270" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/new-york"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/banner_NYFF2011_322_3b.jpg" width="322" height="220" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_95742" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hrw-rights-watch/id315264276"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/banner_itune2.jpg" width="322" height="44" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-views-other_news" class="clear-block block block-views"> <h6 class="block-title clear-block">Latest News</h6> <div class="bcontent"><div class="view view-other-news"><div class="view-content view-content-other-news"><div class="item-list"><ul class=" clear-block"><li class="first"><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/29/philippines-aquino-s-first-year-falls-far-short-rights">Philippines: Aquino’s First Year Falls Far Short on Rights</a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">Extrajudicial Killings Condemned, but No Accountability </div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 29, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/28/zimbabwe-kimberley-process-brink">Zimbabwe: Kimberley Process on the Brink</a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">Decision on Zimbabwe Violated Pact’s Spirit, Purpose</div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 28, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/28/african-union-press-senegal-extradite-habr">African Union: Press Senegal to Extradite Habré </a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">AU Report Cites Lack of Progress on Chad Ex-Dictator’s Trial</div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 28, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/26/gay-marriage-issue-respect">Gay Marriage: The Issue Is Respect </a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle"></div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 26, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Commentary</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/27/silent-spring-north-korea">Silent Spring in North Korea</a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">U.N. should exploit tiny opening caused by famine</div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 27, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Commentary</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/27/malaysia-free-30-peaceful-political-activists">Malaysia: Free 30 Peaceful Political Activists </a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">Government Refuses Permit for Opposition Rally, Jails Pamphleteers</div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 27, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li><li class=""><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/27/greece-olympic-host-failing-disabilities">Greece: Olympic Host Failing on Disabilities</a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">Urgent Action Needed on Children’s Center Conditions</div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 27, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li><li class="last"><div class="view-item clear-block"> <div class="view-field field-node-title"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/27/us-press-allies-end-use-child-soldiers">US: Press Allies to End Use of Child Soldiers</a></div> <div class="view-field field-news-subtitle">Report Lists Repeat Offenders, but Military Aid Continues </div> <div class="view-field field-node-created">June 27, 2011</div> <div class="view-field field-term">Press release</div> </div></li></ul></div></div><div class="view-footer view-footer-other-news"><div class="more"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/list">More news</a> »</div></div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_99927" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/features/a-costly-move/main-dashboard"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/copy/attachment-5.jpg" width="322" height="236" class="imagefield imagefield-field_copy_image"/></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="main" class="clear-block"> <div class="page-tools"><div class="clear-block"> <ul class="links inline"><li class="first label"></li> <li class="url"></li> <li class="link"></li> <li class="i18n"><span class="i18n"><div class="node-translations-top"><div class="label">Available in:</div><ul class="links"><li class="first last translation-tr"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/t-rkiye-bdp-yelerinin-yarg-lanmas-hak-hlalidir" class="translation-tr">Turkish</a></li> </ul></div></span></li> <li class="print"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/turkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights?print" class="print active">Print</a></li> <li class="last share"><span class="share"><div class="popup-links"><span class="popup-trigger">Share</span><ul class="links"><li class="first service_links_delicious"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Bookmark this post on del.icio.us." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_delicious"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/delicious.png" alt="Delicious"/> Delicious</a></li> <li class="service_links_digg"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Digg this post on digg.com." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_digg"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/digg.png" alt="Digg"/> Digg</a></li> <li class="service_links_stumbleupon"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Thumb this up at StumbleUpon." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_stumbleupon"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/stumbleit.png" alt="StumbleUpon"/> StumbleUpon</a></li> <li class="service_links_reddit"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Submit this post on reddit.com." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_reddit"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/reddit.png" alt="Reddit"/> Reddit</a></li> <li class="service_links_magnoliacom"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://ma.gnolia.com/bookmarklet/add?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Submit this post on ma.gnolia.com." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_magnoliacom"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/magnoliacom.png" alt="Ma.gnolia"/> Ma.gnolia</a></li> <li class="service_links_facebook"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&t=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Share on Facebook." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_facebook"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/facebook.png" alt="Facebook"/> Facebook</a></li> <li class="service_links_google"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&bkmk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&title=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Bookmark this post on Google." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_google"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/google.png" alt="Google"/> Google</a></li> <li class="service_links_yahoo"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights&t=Turkey%3A+Kurdish+Party+Members%E2%80%99+Trial+Violates+Rights" title="Bookmark this post on Yahoo." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_yahoo"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/yahoo.png" alt="Yahoo"/> Yahoo</a></li> <li class="last service_links_technorati"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2F2011%2F04%2F18%2Fturkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights" title="Search Technorati for links to this post." rel="nofollow" class="service_links_technorati"><img src="/web/20110707052751im_/http://www.hrw.org/sites/all/modules/service_links/technorati.png" alt="Technorati"/> Technorati</a></li> </ul></div></span></li> </ul> </div></div> <div id="content" class="clear-block"> <div class="node clear-block node-page ltr ntype-news"> <div class="header"> <h6 class="node-title"> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/turkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights" title="Turkey: Kurdish Party Members’ Trial Violates Rights">Turkey: Kurdish Party Members’ Trial Violates Rights</a> </h6> </div> <h6 class="node-subtitle">Prolonged Detention, Prosecution of Elected Mayors Highlight Terrorism Law Misuse</h6> <div class="info"> <div class="meta date"> <span class="created">April 18, 2011</span> </div> </div> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <div class="node-sidebar"><dl><dd><div class="clear-block field field-type-nodereference field-field-related-content"><div class="field-label">Related Materials: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/11/01/protesting-terrorist-offense-0">Protesting as a Terrorist Offense</a></div><div class="field-item"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/04/turkey-journalists-arrests-chills-free-speech">Turkey: Journalists’ Arrests Chills Free Speech</a></div><div class="field-item"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/01/24/turkey-elevate-rights-match-foreign-policy-ambitions">Turkey: Elevate Rights to Match Foreign Policy Ambitions</a></div></div></div></dd><dd><div class="clear-block field field-type-link field-field-news-link"><div class="field-label">More Coverage: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/europecentral-asia/turkey">Turkey Page </a></div></div></div></dd><dd><div class="pullquote"><div class="clear-block field field-type-text field-field-news-pullquote"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p>The use of terrorism laws to prosecute sitting mayors and other BDP officials is both troubling and all too familiar. Without compelling evidence of violent activities, it’s hard to see the prosecution’s effort to link this legal party with an illegal organization as anything but a clampdown on legitimate political activity.</p> </div></div></div><div class="clear-block field field-type-text field-field-news-pullquote-author"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item">Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch</div></div></div></div></dd></dl></div> <div class="node-body"><p>(London, April 18, 2011) - The prosecution of hundreds of officials, activists, and elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) highlights the problems associated with Turkey's overbroad antiterrorism laws, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial of the 152 defendants in Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court for alleged links to the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is set to resume on April 19, 2011. </p> <p>The 152 defendants have been in prison for periods of up to two years, and include six democratically elected mayors from BDP, which is legal and has members in parliament. Hundreds more officials from the party and its predecessor, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), are in prison as part of other related trials. The prosecutions demonstrate that the antiterrorism laws are incompatible with human rights guarantees, Human Rights Watch said.</p> <p>"The use of terrorism laws to prosecute sitting mayors and other BDP officials is both troubling and all too familiar," said Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Without compelling evidence of violent activities, it's hard to see the prosecution's effort to link this legal party with an illegal organization as anything but a clampdown on legitimate political activity."</p> <p>The defendants are accused of membership of the Union of Kurdistan Communities/Turkey Assembly (KCK/TM), an alleged front organization for the PKK. Of the 152 people on trial, 104 have been held in prolonged detention. Fifty-three arrested in April 2009 have been in prison for two years, while others were imprisoned after three subsequent waves of arrests in 2009. The six elected mayors from cities in southeast Turkey and Muharrem Erbey, the head of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association and vice president of the organization nationally, have been in prison since their arrest in December 2009.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch has particular concerns about the detention of the six mayors: Nejdet Atalay of Batman; Zülküf Karatekin, of Diyarbakır Kayapınar municipality; Aydın Budak of Cizre; Ethem Şahin of Suruç municipality; Leyla Güven of Viranşehir Munipality; and Ferhan Türk of Kızıltepe municipality. Four other mayors are also on trial, but not in detention. They are Osman Baydemir of Greater Diyarbakir Municality, Abdullah Demirtaş of Sur Municipality, Yüksel Baran of Bağlar Municipality, and Selim Sadak of Siirt. </p> <p>The trial has barely progressed during 20 hearings since October 2010. It has been delayed in part because of the insistence by many of the defendants on addressing the court in their mother-tongue, Kurdish. The court has ordered them to speak Turkish, though other courts in Diyarbakır have permitted defendants to give evidence in Kurdish.</p> <p>The trial raises a series of fair trial concerns common to cases involving terrorism charges, including prolonged pre-trial detention and limitations on access by defendants and their lawyers to the evidence against them, Human Rights Watch said. These cases are tried in special heavy penal courts, formerly known as State Security Courts until their abolition in 2004, whose remit is terrorism offenses and organized crime. </p> <p>There are also concerns about the way in which the criminal investigation was conducted, Human Rights Watch said. Judges repeatedly granted the police permission to keep hundreds of suspects under surveillance and to intercept their telephone calls and communications without properly assessing and justifying "reasonable grounds for suspicion" in individual cases. </p> <p>Human Rights Watch documented the arbitrary use of terrorism laws to restrict freedom of expression and assembly and to punish demonstrators as though they were armed militants in a November 2010 report,"<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/11/01/protesting-terrorist-offense-0">Protesting as a Terrorist Offense: The Arbitrary Use of Terrorism Laws to Prosecute and Incarcerate Demonstrators in Turkey.</a>" Many of the same concerns apply in the case of the KCK trials in relation to the restriction on the right to freedom of association.</p> <p>Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Law contains a vague and overbroad definition of terrorism, Human Rights Watch said. Furthermore, court interpretations of the law make its misuse more likely. After a visit to Turkey in 2006, as the law was being revised, Martin Scheinin, the UN special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, expressed concern about the definition and recommended that "the definition of terrorist crimes should be brought in line with international norms and standards." He said that such crimes should be confined to "acts of deadly or otherwise grave violence against persons or the taking of hostages."</p> <p>"The KCK case underscores that the problems the UN identified with Turkey's terrorism law have not gone away," Ward said. "Turkey urgently needs to amend its vague and widely drawn terrorism laws and stop using them to try to silence and marginalize political activists for acts that by no stretch of the imagination can be called terrorism." </p> <p><strong>Background</strong><br/> The Diyarbakır trial followed a criminal investigation initiated after police surveillance of suspects and wiretaps authorized by court order up to four years ago. It was the first such investigation into alleged links between activists and officials of both the Democratic Society Party and the successor Peace and Democracy Party with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), via the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK). It led to similar investigations in provinces throughout southeast, eastern and western Turkey.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch knows of 14 other related trials in the courts of Diyarbakir, Adana, Van, Erzurum and Izmir, for alleged offenses in the many provinces over which those courts have jurisdiction. In each case, the indictments allege that the defendants belong to the KCK's Turkey Assembly, and that this assembly operates in cities throughout Turkey under the control of the PKK.</p> <p>The main trial against the 152 defendants at Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 is the most prominent and has the largest number of publicly known defendants. In a 7,578-page indictment, they are charged with crimes such as "aiming to destroy the unity and integrity of the state" (separatism), being a "member or leading member of the PKK", and "aiding and abetting the PKK", for which they face penalties of between 15-years and life in prison.</p> <p>The evidence against the defendants is largely made up of wiretaps, surveillance of an office some of the accused frequented, interception of email correspondence, and testimony from four secret witnesses. One of the defendants is alleged to be a prominent figure in the PKK in Europe, and to have communicated with and directed the activities of some of the other defendants in Turkey. The indictment includes allegations that some defendants organized demonstrations under the orders of the PKK and that the demonstrations reached violent proportions and entailed street battles between some young demonstrators and police.</p> <p>However, there is scant evidence to suggest the defendants<strong> </strong>engaged in any acts that could be defined as terrorism as it is understood in international law: namely, violent activities such as bombings and hostage-taking targeting civilians, or the plotting of such activities. The indictment also lacks compelling evidence of logistical or material support for an outlawed armed group; nor is there evidence that the accused directly incited violence.</p> <p>One of the police superintendants working on the KCK case at the Anti-Terror Branch of the Diyarbakir Security Directorate was reported by the newspaper <em>Zaman</em> to have said at a Police Academy conference on terrorism in December 2010, that 900 people had been imprisoned pending trial for their alleged links with the KCK and PKK, and that 2,500 had been detained. The widespread and dispersed nature of the ongoing investigations and arrests, and a lack of available official statistics on the investigations and trials, make it impossible to corroborate these figures or to produce accurate up-to-date estimates of the numbers currently in pretrial detention and the total number on trial.</p> </div><div class="node-translations"><span class="label">Also available in:</span><ul class="links"><li class="first last 0"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/t-rkiye-bdp-yelerinin-yarg-lanmas-hak-hlalidir" class="0">Turkish</a></li> </ul></div><div id="send-to"><form action="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/18/turkey-kurdish-party-members-trial-violates-rights" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post" id="messaging-sendto-form"> <div><div class="form-item" id="edit-sendto-wrapper"> <label for="edit-sendto">Send this News to: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="128" name="sendto" id="edit-sendto" size="60" value="" class="form-text required"/> <div class="description">Please enter email addresses separated by commas.</div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-custom-wrapper"> <label for="edit-custom">Personal message: </label> <textarea cols="60" rows="2" name="custom" id="edit-custom" class="form-textarea resizable">HRW.org visitor sent you this article from Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org</textarea> </div> <input type="submit" name="op" id="edit-submit" value="Send" class="form-submit"/> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-messaging-sendto-form" value="messaging_sendto_form"/> </div></form> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div id="footer"><div class="limiter clear-block"> <div class="clear-block"><a href="#header" class="back-to-top">Back to top</a></div> <div class="nav"> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/rss" class="rss-link">RSS</a> <div class="pipe-links"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/home" title="Home">Home</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/our-work" title="Our Work">Our Work</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/news" title="News">News</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/publications" title="Publications">Publications</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/multimedia">Multimedia</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/about" title="About Us">About Us</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/http://www.kintera.org/site/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.4542089/">Donate</a></div> </div> <div class="footer-blocks clear-block"> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_24478" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> Human Rights Watch<br/> 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor<br/> New York, NY 10118-3299<br/> USA<br/> Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700<br/> <br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/contact-us">Contact Us - Global Offices</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/iff">Film Festival</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/about/jobs">Employment</a></strong> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-5" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="col-left clear-block"><strong class="vocab-header"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/regions">Browse by Region</a></strong><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/africa">Africa</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/americas">Americas</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/asia">Asia</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/europe/central-asia">Europe/Central Asia</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-east/n-africa">Middle East/N. Africa</a></li><li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/united-states">United States</a></li></ul></div><strong class="vocab-header"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/browse_by_country">Browse by Country</a></strong></div><div class="col-right clear-block"><strong class="vocab-header"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/topics">Browse by Topic</a></strong><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/arms">Arms</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/business">Business</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/children">Children's Rights</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/counterterrorism">Counterterrorism</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/disability-rights">Disability Rights</a></li><li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/topic/environment">Environment</a></li></ul></div><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/economic-social-and-cultural-rights">ESC Rights</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/health">Health</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/international-justice">International Justice</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/lgbt-rights">LGBT Rights</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/topic/migrants">Migrants</a></li><li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/press-freedom">Press Freedom</a></li></ul></div><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/refugees">Refugees</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/terrorism">Terrorism</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/torture">Torture</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/united-nations">United Nations</a></li><li class="last"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/women">Women's Rights</a></li></ul></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div id="sub-footer"><div class="limiter clear-block"> <div class="pipe-links"><a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/sitemap" title="Site Map">Site Map</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/privacy">Privacy Policy</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/corrections">Corrections</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110707052751/http://www.hrw.org/en/permissions">Permissions</a></div> <div class="footer-message">© Copyright 2010, Human Rights Watch</div> </div></div> <script type="text/javascript"> var _sf_async_config={uid:8172,domain:"hrw.org"}; (function(){ function loadChartbeat() { window._sf_endpt=(new Date()).getTime(); var e = document.createElement('script'); e.setAttribute('language', 'javascript'); e.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); e.setAttribute('src', (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://web.archive.org/web/20110707052751/https://s3.amazonaws.com/" : "http://") + "static.chartbeat.com/js/chartbeat.js"); document.body.appendChild(e); } var oldonload = window.onload; window.onload = (typeof window.onload != 'function') ? loadChartbeat : function() { oldonload(); loadChartbeat(); }; })(); </script> </body> </html>