[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 203 (Monday, December 16, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CALLING FOR TURKEY TO IMMEDIATELY RELEASE KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONER 
                          SELAHATTIN DEMIRTAS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 16, 2019

  Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, today I rise to renew my call for 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to immediately release Kurdish 
political prisoner Selahattin Demirtas, who has been held in prison for 
more than three years.
  Last week, we celebrated Human Rights Day. Every year on December 
10th, we commemorate the historic day in 1948 when the United Nations 
General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
proclaiming that all people, by their inherent dignity as members of 
the human family, are entitled to certain universal rights, no matter 
who they are, where they come from, what they believe in, or how they 
pray or think.
  Seventy-one years later, under Erdogan, Turkey has conducted a 
campaign of repression against anyone who dares disagree with his 
barbaric policies. He has put the Dictator's Playbook into action, 
arresting journalists, targeting academics, threatening judicial 
independence, and jailing rival political leaders, such as Selahattin 
Demirtas and other members of the Peoples' Democratic Party. As an 
Executive Committee Member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, I 
am proud to stand with Demirtas and to advocate for his immediate 
release.
  The bipartisan Lantos Commission is charged with promoting, 
defending, and advocating for international human rights as enshrined 
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as the right not to 
be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, the right to freedom of 
opinion and expression, and the right to take part in government, 
directly or through freely chosen representatives. These are some of 
the rights that President Erdogan has callously disregarded in his 
continued imprisonment of Demirtas. As fellow parliamentarians, we 
cannot simply look the other way when a colleague is targeted by an 
oppressive regime simply because their party is out of power.
  Today, I call on my House colleagues to stand with Selahattin 
Demirtas. I call on President Erdogan to immediately release not only 
Demirtas, but every political prisoner who is being incarcerated for 
advocating for democracy and human rights in Turkey. We must stand 
together with all those who stand up for human rights and democracy in 
the face of tyranny.

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