As Türkiye’s Human Rights Defenders (HRD) President Prof. Hüseyin Demir, I stand before you today at the 2025 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference convened under the Finnish OSCE Chairpersonship with ODIHR’s backing to issue an urgent alarm:
What we face in Türkiye is not merely a crackdown, but a systemic transformation of law into a tool of repression a regime in which torture, arbitrary detention, and impunity have become structural, not exceptional.
The Weaponization of Counter Terrorism
Over the past decade, Türkiye has evolved into a case study in how the language of counter-terrorism can be perverted to neuter the rule of law. The vague wording of Turkish Penal Code Article 314 purportedly criminalizing “membership of an armed terrorist organization” means that over 2.2 million people have been investigated since 2016, including teachers, judges, academics, journalists, and even minors. They were not militants—but dissidents, the innocent exercise of speech or association.
This is no aberration. The Committee Against Torture has repeatedly reported that confessions are coerced under duress; detainees are denied legal counsel; torture whether beatings, sleep deprivation, or sexual violence is widespread and routine. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has deemed the persecution of alleged “Gülen affiliates” tantamount to crimes against humanity.
The Expansion of Repression: Children, the ill, and Women
Repression in Türkiye now extends deliberately to the most vulnerable.
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Minors detained under the Anti Terror Law.
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Parkinson’s patients imprisoned for life.
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Pregnant women and mothers forced to give birth and raise children behind bars in overcrowded facilities.
These practices are not incidental; they are integral to a system that normalizes cruelty and weaponizes suffering.
Impunity: The Structural Backbone of Abuse
Torture and impunity fuel each other. In Türkiye:
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State officials are rarely investigated.
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Prosecutors decline to act.
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Courts dismiss evidence, labeling it “state secrets.”
These protections are codified in decrees that immunize security personnel for acts committed in “counter-terror operations.” The result is a no accountability zone.
Meanwhile, the Anti Terror Law functions as a legal void—it criminalizes dissent itself. Every year, nearly 200,000 new terrorism cases are opened, effectively weaponizing unpredictability (what we term the “regime of uncertainty”) to sustain obedience through fear.
In this system, prosecutors become persecutors, judges become presidential instruments, and justice is molded into intimidation.
What Must the OSCE Do?
This body—this Assembly cannot remain passive in the face of systemic torture cloaked in the rhetoric of security. We therefore issue these demands to all OSCE Participating States:
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Demand repeal or amendment of Anti Terror Law No. 3713 to align with international jurisprudence and human rights standards.
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Insist on independent, impartial investigations into all acts of torture, custodial death, and abuse.
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Press Türkiye to execute ECtHR and UN rulings, release political prisoners, and reestablish genuine judicial independence.
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Condition security cooperation on measurable progress in accountability and transparency.
The Immutable Principle: No Exception for Torture
Under international law, the absolute prohibition of torture admits no derogation not even during emergencies. Türkiye has been a signatory to this principle since 1984. It is time that it respects it in practice, not just on paper.
Our mission, as defenders of human rights, is clear: to keep exposing the violence behind the façade of security, to challenge the defenseless silence that underpins impunity, and to remind this Assembly that silence is the oxygen that sustains abuse.
Thank you.
