PPJ- 24 December 2017
2 Decree Laws issued by the government overnight enact crucial changes that will lead to grave rights violations. The Decree Laws include a list of 2756 public servants dismissed from the government offices. Also 14 NGO has been closed by the Decree Laws without referring to any illegal action except ambiguous “aiding terror” charges.
One of the most critical enactment included in the Decree Laws is a revision of an earlier Decree Law which provided impunity for public officials who involve torture and extrajudicial killings. With the latest Decree Laws, ordinary citizens who are not public officials included within the scope of this law. Those who help repressing “coup” or “terror” will not be held accountable before courts for their actions. Many legal experts like Kerem Altiparmak argue that this will lead assasins, torture, enforced disappearances and those who have become victims of such actions should apply directly to the European Court of the Human Rights (ECHR). According to Altiparmak, Decree Laws can not be annulled by the Constitutional Court which means no domestic recourse exist for the victims of post-coup torture and mistreatment incidents.
The Decree Laws also stipulate wearing a Guantanamo-like uniform for tens of thousands of suspects during the coup trials. Legal experts criticize the enactment for violating the presumption of innocence, the most basic principle of the Universal Law.