Stockholm University panel urges Turkey to restore the rule of law

Turkey should restore the rule of law immediately to address massive human rights violations that are unprecedented in scale and magnitude, the audience was told during a panel discussion at Stockholm University organized by the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF).

The workshop, featuring key speaker Hüseyin Demir, a professor of constitutional law (LLM University of Wales, Ph.D. Leeds University), was held at Juristernas Hus on the premises of the Faculty of the Law at Stockholm University on November 14, 2019. The event was moderated by Abdullah Bozkurt, director of the Nordic Research and Monitoring Network.

The rule of law in Turkey has been effectively suspended with the dismissal and/or imprisonment of more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors and the jailing of over 700 lawyers, nearly 200 journalists and many more, from human rights defenders to activists. Domestic remedies have been rendered ineffective, while the criminal justice system has been blatantly abused by the Turkish government.

International human rights bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights and United Nations mechanisms are challenged by the growing number of complaints filed by Turkish nationals. Despite a growing outcry from hundreds of thousands of victims, international mechanisms have by and large failed to stem the backslide of fundamental human rights and liberties in Turkey.

Professor Demir urged the international community to exert pressure on Turkey and force the current government into compliance with the international human rights conventions to which Turkey is a party. “We need to raise awareness on what is going on in Turkey,” Demir said, stressing that the situation in Turkey is far worse than what one might imagine.

 

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