Skip to content

KHRP | Kurdish Human Rights Project

narrow screen resolution wide screen resolution Increase font size Decrease font size Default font size default color brown color green color red color blue color

Kurdish Human Rights Project: This is the legacy website of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, containing reports and news pertaining to human rights issues in the Kurdish Regions for 20 years.

You are here: 
Skip to content

Charity Awards

Charity Awards

Gruber Prize

Gruber

Gruber Justice Prize

KHRP Chairman Speaks at Norwegian Bar Association Conference in Oslo
KHRP Chair Mark Muller QC today addressed a conference hosted by the Norwegian Bar Association in Oslo entitled ‘Combating Terrorism and Legal Safeguards’, which aimed to tackle the question of how to protect fundamental freedoms in a political environment strongly influenced by counter-terrorism concerns.

Mark Muller’s speech, ‘Terrorism, Proscription and the Right to Resist in an Age of Conflict’, explored the tensions between counter-terror mechanisms and the legally-recognised principle of self-determination, arguing that the lack of an internationally agreed definition of terrorism increases the scope for oppressive regimes to use the struggle against terrorism as a justification for denying self-determination.

 

KHRP has long argued that current Turkish counter-terrorism legislation fails to meet the country’s international human rights obligations. Amended laws that came into force in 2006 have introduced an alarmingly vague definition of terrorism, undermine procedural safeguards in custody and fair trial rights, and threaten the freedoms of expression and association.

‘It is crucial that states should not sacrifice the protection of basic human rights in the course of their efforts to enhance national security,’ said KHRP Executive Director Kerim Yildiz. ‘We take this opportunity to again call on the Turkish authorities to ensure that its application of anti-terror legislation is in compliance with international human rights law.’