HRW: State of Emergency Being Normalized in Turkey

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The Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement  about the bill introduced to parliament in the wake of lifting of the State of Emergency (OHAL).

OHAL officially ended on July 18 but the law amendments prescribe that the OHAL practices be in effect for at least three more years. Parliamentary Justice Commission approved the bill on Friday (July 20), the amendment is expected to be discussed at the Parliamentary Counsel in the forthcoming days.

In his statement concerning the matter, Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said, “The end of Turkey’s state of emergency should have been a good sign for human rights, but the draft law makes clear that the government’s plan is to end it in name only”.

“The government should scrap this law and fully restore human rights and the rule of law in Turkey.

“The powers to dismiss any judge, to ban any assembly by restricting peoples’ movement, and to arrest people over and over again for the same offense in this draft law are evidence that the state of emergency will continue in all but name.

“The state of emergency may have ended but so has the rule of law”. (AS/TK)