Bulgaria Bans the Burqa in Public

October 13, 2016

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

SOFIA, Bulgaria — The Bulgarian parliament has passed a bill which bans women from wearing face veils, or burqas, in public places such as government offices, schools, cultural institutions, and public recreation areas. Special exceptions will be made for those who wear the garment for health or professional reasons, as well as those who wear it at cultural events.

The ban applies to both Bulgarian citizens, as well as women entering the country temporarily. Punishment for those who ignore the ban and continue to wear the burqa in the prohibited public places will face a fine of up to 1,500 levs ($860) as well as the suspension of social security benefits.

Supporters believe the ban will boost security amidst recent terrorist attacks in Europe. The ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party believes the bill will allow for better video surveillance and improved security within the country. Krasimir Velchev, senior GERB lawmaker, maintains that “[t]he law is not directed against religious communities and is not repressive.” Krasimir Karakachanov, co-leader of the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition which backed the bill, considers the burqa to be “more of a uniform than a religious symbol.”

Opponents of the ban believe the ban violates Bulgarian womens’ freedom of expression and religion. Human rights group Amnesty International calls the ban “part of a disturbing trend of intolerance, xenophobia, and racism…” The group’s European director, John Dalhuisen, believes that the security issues that supporters of the ban are concerned with can be addressed with restrictions on the covering of the face in high risk locations only, and not through a blanket ban across the country. Dalhuisen states that “this ban violates their rights to freedom of expression and religion.” The ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms refused to participate in the vote for the bill, saying the ban would “incite ethic and religious intolerance.”

The ban mirrors recent clothing bans in other European nations, such as the ban of the burkini in France, and the ban of the niqab in Netherlands and Belgium. In Bulgaria, the Muslim community makes up for approximately 8% of the country’s population.

For more information, please see:

The Huffington Post — Bulgaria Bans Muslim Women from Wearing Full-Face Veils in Public — 3 October 2016

Independent — Bulgaria Imposes Burqa Ban – And Will Cut Benefits of Women who Deny it — 1 October 2016

The Sydney Morning Herald — Bulgaria the Latest European Country to Ban the Burqa and Niqab in Public Places — 1 October 2016

Daily Mail — Bulgaria Bans the Burqa: Women no Longer Allowed to Wear Veils After Nationalist Party Pushed for law Change Amid Fears of Islamic Terrorism — 30 September 2016

El Salvador Judge to Reopen 1981 El Mozote Massacre Case

October 12, 2016

by Portia K. Skenandore-Wheelock
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR – Judge Jorge Guzman Urquilla in El Salvador has accepted a request filed by Dr. Maria Julia Hernandez Legal Defense agency, the Center for Justice and International Law, and the Association to Promote Human Rights of El Mozote to reopen one of the worst massacres to occur during the country’s civil war in the village of El Mozote.

A memorial for the victims of the 1981 massacre. (Photo courtesy of Deutsche Welle)

At least 500 people were killed by the army within three days in December 1981, according to a postwar UN truth commission. Victims’ rights advocates say the number of those killed is much more, closer to 1,000. El Mozote villagers were mostly evangelical Christians that were trying to remain neutral in the war but soldiers suspected them of sympathizing with the rebels and attacked. The army dumped many of the bodies in a small church and burned them. The UN truth commission report found Col. Domingo Monterrosa, commander of the Atlacatl battalion, operations chief Col. Armando Azmitia, and six other officers responsible. In 1984 Monterrosa and Azmitia died when a bomb went off in their helicopter. The US government had trained the Atlacatl battalion that was involved in the killings. The army and the US initially denied that any massacre had taken place, but human rights advocate Ovidio Mauricio has said, “the forensic evidence…is overwhelming” and that in just one grave forensic experts found “136 skeletons of girls and boys, with an average age of six years.”

The Supreme Court ruling in July declaring El Salvador’s amnesty law unconstitutional has former military men and the current government, which grew out of the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, concerned that those involved on both sides of the conflict could face prosecution and the decision could create social conflicts. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that El Salvador should pay reparations to the victims and in 2012 the government accepted the ruling and apologized for the massacre.

For further information, please see:

BBC – El Salvador Judge Reopens El Mozote Massacre Investigation – 2 October 2016

Deutsche Welle – El Salvador to Reopen Prove Into 1981 Massacre – 2 October 2016

The Guardian – El Salvador Judge Reopens Case of 1981 Massacre at El Mozote – 1 October 2016

The News Tribune – Judge Orders Reopening of El Salvador Military Massacre Case – 1 October 2016

Telesur – Salvadoran Judge Reopens Investigation of El Mozote Massacre – 2 October 2016

Hafıza Merkezi Newsletter: Summer-Fall 2016

October 12, 2016

Newsletter of the Truth Justice and Memory Center

Facebook

Twitter

Website

HURŞİT KÜLTER IS ALIVE!

Human rights organisations in Turkey have learned that Hurşit Külter, who has been missing without any information as to his whereabouts for 134 days, is alive, following his statement on October 7, 2016.

During his absence, appeals that have been made to the Governor of Şırnak, the Prosecutor’s Office at Şırnak and Şırnak City Police Department have remained futile, as his detention was denied despite witness accounts of his detention.

On June 23, it was announced that Ministry of Interior appointed a civil inspector to carry out an investigation about Hurşit Külter’s whereabouts, the findings of which have yet to be shared with the public.

Against this backdrop, reasons were not few for human rights organisations in Turkey – a country in which enforced disappearances and arbitrary executions have remained unrecognized and unaccounted for – to have grave concerns about the whereabouts of Hurşit Külter.

We are happy to learn that Hurşit Külter is alive.

We also abide by our demand and expectation for a full explanation as to Hurşit Külter’s disappearance, during which he alleged that he was detained and tortured.

Click here to read this statement from our website.

SUMMER SCHOOL ON HISTORICAL DIALOGUE AND DEALING WITH THE PAST

This year’s Summer School on Historical Dialogue and Dealing with the Past took place in Istanbul on June 13-18, 2016. Participants of the training were civil society professionals working in Middle East, North Africa and Caucasus on themes related to historical dialogue and dealing with the past.For the last 2 years, Truth Justice Memory Center (Hafiza Merkezi) has been implementing annual training and workshop activities within the framework of theRegional Network for Historical Dialogue and Dealing with the Past, a regional network initiative whose objective is to bring together civil society initiatives from across the MENA and Caucasus. Hafiza Merkezi has been implementing the network initiative in partnership with Columbia University’s Historical Dialogue and Accountability Program and Columbia Global Centers | İstanbul.

Extensive summaries and video recordings of the course presentations are available from our website.

COURSE LIST

Elazar Barkan – Defining Historical Dialogue: Truth, Narrative, Evidence
Mario Mazic – Theory and Practice of Transitional Justice
Özgür Sevgi Göral – Oral History, Truth Seeking and Gender
Marijana Toma – Documenting Human Losses and Transitional Justice in Serbia
Refik Hodzic – Truth Commission, Challenging the Conventional
Christian Axboe Nielsen – International Criminal Investigations and Analysis: The Experience of ICTY
Valeria Barbuto – The Impact of Memorialization Efforts in Argentina’s Transitional Justice Process
Nelson Camilo Sanchez – Peace Building in Colombia: Justice vs. Peace?
Evren Balta- Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Opportunities and Challenges
Sami Adwan – Learning Each Other’s Historical Narratives: Palestinians and Israelis
Asena Günal – Sites of Memory Walking Tour – İstanbul

CASE MONITING WEBSITE IS IN ENGLISH NOW!

Faili Belli (Perpetrator Not-Unknown) – a monitoring website devoted to cases with symbolic importance in coming to terms with gross human rights violations in recent history of Turkey – is now available in English. Currently, in line with Hafiza Merkezi‘sworking area, the website primarily focuses on cases related to enforced disappearances, functioning as an online platform where fact-based, up-to-date information on each of the monitored cases, as well as various related analytical articles, source documents and tools of legal intervention are available for the access of not only lawyers, but also journalists, researchers and other interested parties.

Enforced Disappearances and the Conduct of Judiciary

Hafiza Merkezi has been documenting legal data, which currently pertains to a total of 310 forcibly disappeared people. The analysis reveals that the complaints are specifically about five groups of government officials and/or paramilitary forces; primarily JİTEM(Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization), and also MİT (National Intelligence Organization), the Special Forces Command and police officers, informants andvillage guards affiliated with them. Analysis also reveal that the investigating prosecutors’ offices, in breach of the law, implemented very few or none of the procedures and mechanisms provided in criminal procedures and disregarded the rights of the victims. Some striking facts and figures indicating the systematic policy of impunity with regards to these cases are as follows:

Average time elapsed for investigations since the crime to present day is 19 years and 9 months,
Investigations are still ongoing and are protracted regarding files concerning 202 of the total 310 people (%xpercent),
Files concerning 25 people (%x) resulted in verdicts of non-prosecution (9 due to statute of limitation, 16 due to lack of evidence and other reasons),
14 criminal cases have been filed concerning enforced disappearance of 83people.

Of the opened 14 cases regarding 83 people,

7 cases pertaining to the disappearance of 34 people resulted in decisions of acquittal,
5 cases concerning the enforced disappearance of 47 people are currently ongoing.
Unfortunately, only 2 cases concerning 2 people resulted in conviction.

Click here to read a more detailed analysis on the conduct of judiciary on cases of enforced disappearances in Turkey.

Update | August 16, 2016

We have updated our interactive visualizations regarding the civilians who lost their lives throughout the curfews in South East Turkey, based on the recent updating of the fact sheet produced by Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. The data presented have not been verified through forensic data and field work, that is due to both practical limitations and various forms of violations of the right to information (as explained here).The list is an ongoing work prepared by the obtained information as of 16 August 2016, which is open to changes with more access to confirmed data.

Click here to access to the updated data.

Reports on curfews

In the Resources page of our website, we have opened a new section where we bring together published reports in relation to the curfews implemented in South East Turkey. In this section, you will find a wide range of reports drawn up by rights groups in Turkey on the human rights violations that took place as part of the curfews implemented in Kurdish cities from August 16, 2015 until today.

Click here for the reports.

Forward

Copyright © 2015 Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Çalışmaları Merkezi
Newsletter of the Hafıza Merkezi

Who is Hafıza Merkezi?
Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Studies Center) is an independent human rights organization based in Istanbul, Turkey that aims to uncover the truth concerning past violations of human rights, strengthen the collective memory about those violations, and support survivors in their pursuit of justice.

ICTJ: In Focus: Education in a Context of State-Imposed Amnesia

October 12, 2016

ICTJ In Focus 61
October 2016

In Focus

Lebanon: Education in a Context of State-Imposed AmnesiaWhile Lebanon is post-peace agreement, it is not necessarily “post-conflict.” The country struggles to address the legacy of decades of violence, and the lack of a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past means the country’s youth are growing up with scant knowledge of their history. But they want to know more: one project is helping them ask those around them about the past, and giving those who lived it a chance to tell their stories.

Other News

Transitional Justice and Media: A Crucial But Neglected RelationshipIn a society grappling with the legacy of the past, citizens must make informed judgements and disentangle the facts from the sticky web of political rhetoric, denial, and polarizing propaganda. To do so, they rely on one key agent of social change: the media. But how can transitional processes effectively partner with the media and engage key constituencies? And what happens when media play a decisively negative role in mediating information about war crimes?

Publications

Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

View Report

Recommendations for Victim Reparations in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire is obligated to provide reparations to victims of both the political violence that shook the country following the 2010 presidential elections and the different episodes of political violence and armed conflict since 1990.

View Report

More Publications

Upcoming Events

October 13, 2016

Lawyers, Conflict and Transition ConferenceLocation: Queens University, Belfast View Details

October 22, 2016

International Workshop on Historical Dialogue and Mass Atrocity Prevention Location: New York, NY View Details

More Events

Health Care Crisis in Venezuela

October 11, 2016

By Cintia Garcia

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Caracas, Venezuela—Once a model health system in Latin America, Venezuela is experiencing a deteriorating medical system where basic care is impossible. The country is running short on 85 percent of medicines according to the national drugstore trade group.

Ashley Pacheco suffered a staph infection due to the lack of antibiotics. (Photo Courtesy of Fox Latino News)

The local market has stopped producing basic needs. The healthy are falling ill and dying. According to government statistics, one in three people admitted to public hospitals died in 2015. Families are scrambling through out the country to find medicine to treat the ill. Hundreds are waiting outside pharmacies in hopes of finding medicine such as antibiotics or ibuprofen. The government has refused to allow humanitarian groups to enter the country or to assist the country with medical supplies. Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro claims that the medical crisis is a political scheme created by opposing party members against the socialist revolution.

According to Dr. Huniades Urbina-Medina who works at Jose Manuel de Los Rios Children Hospital stated that his hospital used to be the best in all of Venezuela but today it does not have enough drugs to treat ill patients. He stated that “five years ago we had an average of 200 patients waiting to be operated on. At the last count, there were more than 5,500 names on the waiting list. We have nine operating rooms, but, today, only four are fully functional.”

Children are the victims of the medical crisis. For example, Ashley Pacheco, a three-year old toddler, scraped her knee, a few days later it turned into a life-threatening staph infection that was difficult to cure because of the lack of medicine, diagnostic machines, and a functioning operating room with a waitlist of 150 children.

In addition, 30 percent of the children in Venezuela are suffering from malnutrition. And there is a high chance of babies dying due to the mother’s inability to provide children basic nutrients like powdered milk. With a failing economy the situation worsens.

For more information, please see:

BBC—Venezuela Crisis: Caracas Hospital Shows Sorry State of Health System—9 October 2016.

Fox News Latino—Venezuela’s Health Care is Such a Failure, Scraped Knee Turns Into Medical Crisis—04 October 2016.

Washington Post—A Child’s Scraped Knee a Life or Death Matter in Venezuela—4 October 2016.