Maat: The Human Rights Council must put an end to restrictions imposed on freedom of opinion and expression in Turkey

Aqil: Turkey has become a big prison for journalists under Erdogan

The Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights presented today, Tuesday, June 25, 2019, an intervention on the restrictions imposed on freedom of opinion and expression in Turkey, and the increase in the number of illegal arrests, within the framework of the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, currently held in the Swiss capital, Geneva, which It is scheduled to extend until July 12.

During the intervention, Maat called on the Human Rights Council to intervene in order to put an end to the restrictions and restrictions imposed by President Erdogan's regime on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as this right in particular has become a real disaster in light of the continuous harassment and violations committed by the Turkish authorities on all activists And opponents and journalists. This contradicts international norms and conventions, especially Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

For his part, Ayman Aqil, head of the Maat Foundation, said that Turkey during the era of President Erdogan has become a large prison for journalists, as Turkey ranks first in the world in the prison of journalists, as the number of journalists imprisoned in Turkish prisons in 2018 was only 68. As Akil explained, the number of journalists who have been prosecuted since 2011 until March 19, 2019 has reached more than 600, many of whom have been convicted of imprisonment and fines exceeding 10 years in prison. The head of Maat also stressed that violations include restricting public freedoms and issuing laws that restrict freedom of opinion and expression, attacks on journalists, writers, academics, and critics, all of them being prosecuted and imprisoned, in addition to blocking websites, and imprisoning bloggers and activists.

It is worth noting that the Maat Foundation had prepared a statistic showing the extent of Turkish violations of human rights in general, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression in particular. Since the European Court of Human Rights was established, 66251 cases for human rights violations have been considered, and Turkey ranks first in the number of cases pending for a state One in 16% of all cases are against member states. As this percentage represents 10638 lawsuits against Turkey, the European Court found in it a violation by the state in 7,255 cases at a rate of 68%. As for the claims of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Turkey also ranks first in the European Court with 1,300 cases, in which the court found a violation of Article 10 (Concerning Freedom of Opinion and Expression) in 10,72 of them, by 82%.

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