Hungary
In response to the huge influx of refugees from the Middle East, Hungary started to construct a fence along its border with Serbia and Croatia in June 2015. Together with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania, Hungary opposed the binding decision of EU Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs to distribute refugees among the member states on the basis of a quota system. In a consultative referendum held in October, 98% of voters opposed this system. However, the result was invalid as voter turnout (48%) was too low. In December 2015 the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against Hungary on the grounds that its asylum law was incompatible with EU law.122 In March 2017 the Hungarian parliament approved the construction of two closed-off container camps on the border with Serbia to house all asylum seekers while they await the outcome of their asylum applications. The only way in which the refugees can exit the camps is through an opening leading to Serbian territory. According to the UNHCR, the legislation is contrary to Hungary’s obligations under international and European law.123
In May 2016 the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against Hungary in connection with discrimination against Roma children in education. According to the Commission, Roma children are disproportionally overrepresented in special schools for mentally disabled children and are also subject to a considerable degree of segregated education in mainstream schools.124
Russia
In June 2012 President Putin signed an amendment to the Code of Administrative Offences which greatly increased the penalties for organising or taking part in protest meetings that disrupt public order. According to the Kremlin, the amendment was intended to ensure that demonstrations do not get out of hand and to protect peaceful demonstrators from radicalism. Since 2014 repeat infringements of the ban on
demonstrations has carried a prison sentence of up to five years.125
In November 2012 the government changed the definition of high treason to: ‘the provision of financial, material, technical, consultative or other assistance to a foreign state, an
international or foreign organisation, or their representatives in activities against the security of the Russian Federation.’126 According to Human Rights Watch, this definition is so broad that it could be used to charge any citizen who has international contacts.127
122 See: <http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6228_en.htm>.
123 See: <http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2017/3/58be80454/unhcr-deeply-concerned-hungary-plans- detain-asylum-seekers.html>.
124 European Commission, Fact sheet: May infringements package: key decisions, Brussels 26 May 2016. 125 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country Report on Russian Federation (June 2013), p. 18.
126 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country Report on Russian Federation (June 2013), p. 19. 127 See: <https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/23/russia-new-treason-law-threatens-rights>.
In June 2013 a law came into force in Russia making propaganda aimed at minors concerning non-traditional sexual relations an offence. The purported aim of the law was to protect children. In April 2017 the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta
reported on the prosecution and torture of gay men in Chechnya. According to the report, there had been at least a hundred arrests and three murders since February 2017. In reply, the spokesperson of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov stated that there were no gay people in Chechnya and that, even if there were, the authorities would not have to do anything because their relatives would send to them to a place from which they would send to them to place from which they would not not return.128
In April 2017 the Russian Supreme Court held, at the request of the justice ministry, that the Jehovah’s Witnesses was an extremist organisation and banned it under the anti-terrorism legislation. The national headquarters of the organisation in St Petersburg and the 395 local branches are being closed and all its assets seized. The members of the organisation in Russia (approx. 170,000) risk sentences ranging from a fine to a maximum prison term of ten years.129
Turkey
On 15 July 2016 a coup attempt by a faction within the Turkish army in Ankara and Istanbul left 241 people dead and 2,196 injured.130 The attempt failed because Turkish citizens poured into the streets en masse in response to an appeal by President
Erdoğan to resist the coup plotters. A day later the government had regained full control. These events had a huge impact on the Turkish people. The general feeling was that the people had defeated an attack on democracy and had, by their own efforts, ended a long tradition of military coups in Turkey. There was also a view that the international community waited too long before condemning the coup.131 In this atmosphere, there was widespread public support for the action taken by the government after the coup attempt. The measures included declaring a state of emergency and informing the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) had been temporarily suspended.132 The state of emergency was subsequently extended on three occasions until July 2017. Under the state of emergency fundamental freedoms can be limited or temporarily suspended. The president also has far-reaching powers to rule by decree. Since the coup the Turkish
128 See: <https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/04/anti-lgbt-violence-chechnya>, <http://www.independent. co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-killing-gay-men-detention-nikki-haley-us-ambassador-un-cannot- ignored-russia-region-ramzan-a7690586.html> and <http://nos.nl/artikel/2166073-tsjetsjeense- mensenrechtenchef-homoseksualiteit-erger-dan-oorlog.html>.
129 See: <https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/20/russia-court-bans-jehovahs-witnesses>; and <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/20/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses. 130 European Commission, Turkey 2016 report, SWD(2016) 366 final, 9 November 2016, p. 5. 131 On the night in question the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs contacted his Turkish counterpart by
telephone to condemn the coup.
132 Article 15 (1) of the ECHR provides for this possibility and reads as follows: ‘In time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any High Contracting Party may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law.’
government has repeatedly stated that it is considering reintroducing the death penalty. The president immediately laid responsibility for the coup at the door of the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, with whom he had worked closely between 2001 and 2013 to reduce the influence of the secular Kemalists within the ranks of the civil service and the army. The allegation was that under Gülen’s direction the public sector and society at large had been infiltrated by his supporters. After the coup attempt, over 120,000 military personnel, police officers, judges, teachers and public servants were dismissed or suspended on suspicion of having ties with Gülen. More than 40,000 citizens were arrested and over 1,000 schools and universities were closed, as were some 1,500 civil society organisations. In addition, businesses belonging to Gülen supporters were expropriated.133 The speed with which this happened created the impression that the government had lists of names ready. Often action was taken on the basis of suspicions (guilt by association), for example if someone worked at a so-called Gülen school or had an account at a bank associated with the Gülen movement.
Since August 2016 the post-coup measures have also extended to groups other than the Gülenists, in particular Kurdish organisations as well as journalists and academics critical of the government. In September 11,000 Kurdish teachers were suspended for alleged links to a terrorist organisation (PKK). Thirteen pro-Kurdish HDP members of parliament were arrested, including the party leader Selahattin Demirtas. This was possible because the parliamentary immunity of members of the Turkish parliament had been lifted in May 2016. Before the attempted coup the number of imprisoned journalists was 36. By April 2017 this number had risen to over 200. On 31 March three judges in Istanbul, in response to a proposal by the public prosecutor, ordered the release of 21 journalists who had been detained on suspicion of membership of the Gülen movement. After criticism of this decision from the government and the media, the journalists were rearrested even before their release. The public prosecutors and the judges were then suspended on suspicion of having links with the Gülen movement. The narrowly won referendum on amendments to the constitution in April 2017 was followed by a fresh wave of dismissals and arrests of several thousand public sector employees, military personnel, police officers and academics.134
133 Various figures are mentioned in the media reports on this subject. This advisory report uses conservative estimates. An anonymous group of young Turkish journalists keeps daily track of the figures at <http://www.turkeypurge.com>. This website reports higher figures.
134 See: <http://nos.nl/artikel/2170231-meer-dan-800-gulen-aanhangers-van-hun-bed-gelicht-in-turkije.html> and <http://nos.nl/artikel/2170783-opnieuw-massa-ontslag-onder-turkse-ambtenaren.html>.