[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     EUROPEAN RIGHTS COURT RULES AGAINST TURKEY IN VILLAGE BURNING

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 1996

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on September 16, the European 
Court of Human Rights for the first time rules that the Government of 
Turkey must compensate Kurdish villagers whose houses had been 
destroyed by security forces. The Court found that the burning of homes 
violated European Human Rights Conventions. The Court also found that 
the Turkish Government had interfered with the applicants' right to 
appeal to the European Commission on Human Rights.
  Mr. Speaker, presently, more than 150 cases involving more than 400 
individuals have been submitted to the European Commission. These cases 
relate to the destruction of Kurdish villages, extra-judicial 
executions, disappearances, rape, and torture. Already, 56 such cases 
have been deemed admissible by the European Commission, and a handful 
have proceeded to the European Court.
  Mr. Speaker, the sheer volume of cases brought against Turkey and 
declared admissible, as well as the circumstances surrounding each, 
leave little doubt that the Government of Turkey is not only conducting 
a violent campaign against its own citizens, but also trying to cover 
up its abuses with intimidation and propaganda. Earlier this year, 
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki released a report which documented efforts 
by Turkish authorities to prevent individuals from pursuing cases at 
the European Commission and Court. The report referenced numerous 
incidents in which applicants, as well as their family members and 
lawyers, had faced harassment, torture and murder in attempts to 
prevent them from pursuing their cases.
  Mr. Speaker, Turkish officials often recognize the European Court's 
jurisdiction and the right of Turkish citizens to appeal to the Court 
as proof of a commitment to human rights. Yet following this first 
ruling against Turkey, officials have called the ruling wrong and 
criticized the Court as being politically biased. Following a familiar 
pattern in which public proclamations bear little resemblance to 
actuality, other international human rights commitments are similarly 
dismissed when implementation would bring attention to serious abuses. 
Last July, at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
[OSCE] Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Stockholm, members of the 
Turkish delegation agreed to invite an assembly delegation to Turkey. 
One week later, Turkey's Ambassador to the OSCE in Vienna stated that 
his government would not cooperate in issuing such an invitation. Not 
only has Turkey reneged on the OSCE invitation, efforts by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] to discuss questions of 
access to conflict areas have also been rebuffed.
  Mr. Speaker, the ruling by the European Court will surely be the 
first of many. The longer Turkish rulers refuse to acknowledge the true 
reality of the Kurdish situation the more all citizens will pay in 
precious blood and resources. Turkish economic and political 
development has been stunted by the crisis in southeast Turkey and its 
human dimension; 21,000 lives have been lost, 3,000 villages have been 
destroyed and approximately 3 million people forced from their homes in 
Kurdish regions by Turkish troops. And, despite what officials and 
their mouthpieces in the media claim, restrictions on free speech and 
the media persist. The U.S. Government should use every opportunity to 
press for real reform. If we want to fully develop a deep and lasting 
relationship with NATO ally Turkey, our policymakers must not continue 
to downplay human rights problems to advance economic and strategic 
interests.

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