Nurturing hope

Past experience shows that the long and often bumpy road still separates intentions from implementation. There are many uncertainties. Will all PKK militants respond to the call, or will more radical elements attempt to jeopardize the ongoing process? So far, the signals are positive. Both sides appear determined to take the process to a successful conclusion, but much can still go wrong unless the seeds of hope are carefully nurtured.

Creating a framework conducive to progress is particularly important at this point, which is why Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just issued a statement urging the government to support peace efforts by strengthening its fourth judicial reform package. The draft legislation submitted to Parliament contains 20 provisions that would address shortcomings highlighted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its judgments against Turkey. For instance, they would ease some of the restrictions on free speech and peaceful protests by limiting the charge of "making terrorist propaganda" to cases that involve statements legitimizing violence or praising the use of force or threats.

But as Emma Sinclair-Webb of HRW points out, the bill's contribution to the current process will be "blunted" if it fails to limit how the charge of "membership of an armed organization" is applied, since Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) is often used to jail numerous Kurdish journalists, trade unionists or political activists. Preventing such serious charges from being brought against people who have not engaged in violent action is obviously crucial to build an atmosphere of trust.

Another important issue is the prosecution of perpetrators of past human rights violations. The fourth reform package removes the 20-year statute of limitations on investigations into torture, which is a very positive step. Historically, too few public officials and members of security forces have been sentenced for human rights abuses. The new provisions make it possible for perpetrators to be charged not just for the abuses committed in the Southeast in the 1990s but also in the post-coup period of the 1980s.

Unfortunately, as HRW points out, the judicial reform package offers no similar guarantees when it comes to the thousands of cases of unlawful killings and enforced disappearances involving state actors in the Southeast. The Saturday Mothers have kept a weekly vigil, demanding justice for their missing relatives, but unless the law is changed, investigations into thousands of cases could soon run out of time, since most of them date back to the dark period between 1993-1996.

The judicial procedure launched in 2009 against retired Col. Cemal Temizöz and six other defendants, charged for being part of a criminal gang involved in the disappearance and killing of 20 people in the Southeast, raised expectations that past violations of human rights, especially the right to life, would not go unpunished. However, as HRW outlined in a detailed report on the case last year, attempts were made to interfere with witnesses, and judges did little when defendants threatened lawyers representing the families of the victims. Still, the trial is ongoing and there remains hope that justice will eventually be served.

Coming to terms with the past is a crucial element of the peace process. By boosting its judicial reform package and removing the time constraint on the investigation of murders and disappearances, the Turkish government could deliver a strong message and make it clear that state-linked perpetrators of killings and other past abuses will be held accountable.