I was going to write this week’s column on the recent election in Iraqi Kurdistan. Like many people, I was heartened to see a an election day with few problems, high participation and some surprises. With some political parties still a bit divided in their reaction to the election and official, final results still pending, however, I think I will wait a bit longer before commenting more.
Instead, I would like to talk about a recent event in Turkey, where elections and the rule of law supposedly enjoy a much longer history. Turkish news outlets reported that on September 25th, some 18 imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members “escaped from a prison in the eastern province of Bingol via a tunnel.” Most readers in Turkey probably read with interest about how the prisoners apparently spent around a year secretly digging their escape tunnel, which was 80-meters long and ended outside the outer walls of the prison in a waste-water canal. Prison authorities were unable to find soil left over from digging the tunnel or shovels and other tools needed to dig such a tunnel, and they lost the tracks of the prisoners shortly after the tunnel’s exit. The escape seems to include many good elements for an action drama, in fact.
What people should really focus on, however, is Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin’s statement on the matter: “We learned that 18 inmates, 14 of which were arrested and four convicted, have escaped.” The Justice Minister seems to be saying that of the 18 inmates, only four were convicted of any crime. Ten were arrested at some time in the past, but had yet to be convicted of any crime. The last four, apparently, had never been arrested or formally charged with any crime whatsoever. For at least a year, they therefore languished in this prison without any due legal process.
Perhaps I misunderstand the Justice Minister’s statement. Somehow I don’t think so, however. The pattern in Turkey simply remains too common (and according to many accounts, has worsened significantly under Prime Minister Erdogan’s tenure). People imprisoned without charge, or arrested and imprisoned for years as they await a trial and the chance to defend themselves. The people in question seem to mostly be opponents of Mr. Erdogan’s government, and a disproportionate number of them Kurdish. A government that can do this to some people can do it to anyone.
Over the years, I met many Turkish officials who appear very fond of repeating that “Turkey is a country of the rule of law.” If the law permits this sort of thing, they make a complete mockery of the spirit of the rule of law.
Prime Minister Erdogan promised to present a significant democratic reform package to the public by the end of September. For months now, his people have been mysteriously crafting the package behind closed doors, without the input of others. But time is running out for democratic reform, especially as the PKK begins to wonder if the “roadmap to peace” the government offered is really genuine. Although Kurdish leaders publicly focus on their demand for “mother tongue education” and similar minority rights in the reform package, I for one will be more interested to see if administrative detention without charge and arrest without trial continue to enjoy legal sanction in Turkey’s “rule of law.”
In the meantime, hopefully the prisoners who never enjoyed the luxury of a trial make good on their escape.
David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since August 2010. He is the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and author of The Kurdish Nationalist Movement (2006, Cambridge University Press).
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