Bill calls for sanctions on officials who
violate basic human rights to further the Erdogan government’s campaign to
purge opposition.
Washington (April 29, 2021) – Today,
Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass,), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Jeff Merkley
(D-Ore.) announced the reintroduction of the Turkey Human Rights Promotion
Act of 2021. This legislation condemns human rights abuses carried
out by the Government of Turkey, which intensified after a 2016 coup attempt.
The Government of Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has engaged in
a brazen campaign to silence journalists, political opponents, dissidents,
civil society activists, and minorities throughout Turkish society, as well as
targeting Turkish citizens outside of its borders. This legislation makes it
clear that the United States should use its considerable leverage with this
NATO ally to prevent a further erosion of hard-fought democratic progress in
Turkey. Senators Markey and Wyden first introduced the Turkey Human Rights
Promotion Act in 2019.
“President Erdogan’s free pass from the
Trump White House to commit abuses has officially expired,” said Senator
Markey, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The
United States will once again speak out forcefully and take steps to hold the
Erdogan government accountable for its campaign to silence opposition by
censoring social media, clamping down on free speech, and locking away critics.
This legislation makes clear that President Biden must use all diplomatic tools
to signal – unmistakably – that the United States comes down on the side of
journalists, activists, and civil society leaders, and will stand up in
opposition to Turkish officials who direct or carry out systematic human rights
abuses.”
“Turkey’s authoritarian government has
trampled on the rights of journalists, political rivals and regular citizens
who dare to voice criticism of President Erdogan,” said Senator Wyden.
“Senators Markey, Merkley and I are renewing our call for accountability
because America cannot stand by while partners and allies systematically
violate basic freedoms.”
“President Erdogan’s track record of
democratic backsliding and politically-motivated detentions of journalists,
civil society leaders, members of the political opposition, and others
threatens some of the most basic human rights of freedom of expression and due
process,” said Senator Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. “The United States cannot stay silent in the face of this
disturbing behavior. We must use the diplomatic levers available to us to
ensure that Turkey’s political prisoners are released, and that dangerous anti-terrorism
laws are repealed."
A copy of the legislation can be found
HERE.
The Government of Turkey has dismissed
or suspended more than 60,000 police and military personnel, 125,000 civil
servants, one-third of the judiciary, arrested or imprisoned more than 90,000
citizens, and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations on sham
charges.
This legislation specifically:
- Directs the Secretary of State to provide assistance to
civil society organizations in Turkey that work to secure the release of
prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Turkey.
- Makes it a Statement of Policy for the United States to support
democracy, peace, and prosperity in Turkey and to oppose the Government of
Turkey’s attack on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
- Expresses the Sense of Senate that the Government of Turkey
must –
- Take steps to significantly improve the
dire climate for journalists and those supporting the journalism profession;
- Cease its ongoing crackdown on free
expression on the internet, including by repealing or amending laws that allow
the government to block a website or remove content from the website; and
- Halt its indiscriminate detention and
prosecution of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors, and fulfill its obligations
under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
European Convention on Human Rights, and Turkey’s other international human
rights obligations.
- Expresses the Sense of the Senate that, if the Government
of Turkey does not take effective steps to address its human rights violations,
- The President should impose sanctions
pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with
respect to officials of the Government of Turkey found responsible for the
detention of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, politically
motivated detention of journalists, restricting freedom of expression through
social media, and other gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights;
- The Secretary of State should impose
visa restrictions under the so-called “Khashoggi Ban” for those engaged in
serious extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, as the Government of
Turkey is reported to have done; and
- The Treasury Secretary should direct
United States executive directors of key international financial institutions
to oppose any loans, grants, policies, or strategies determined to be enabling
the Government of Turkey to violate human rights of its citizens.
“This
bill offers a glimmer of hope for the thousands of innocent victims in Turkey
being denied basic human rights. I’ve spent my life fighting for justice
in my homeland,” said Portland Trailblazers player and human rights activist
Enes Kanter. “Thousands of journalists, professors, lawyers, and many
others are locked in Turkish prisons simply for speaking up against the lawless
dictator Erdogan. Even my own father was a political prisoner, and I am
personally facing political charges, all for speaking the truth about an
oppressive, corrupt government. This bill brings us a step closer to justice,
rule of law, and freedom.”
“As
Turkey’s human rights record continues to deteriorate at alarming speed, this
legislation serves as an important record of the Turkish government’s abuses
and calls on the Biden administration to take steps to support the victims of
this oppression,” said Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey Program Coordinator at
Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).
