Monday, October 12, 2009

Turkey Is Not A Human Rights Hotbed

But Their Human Rights Czar Gets Free Speech

Maybe we could do a trade!

Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review reports on "Silencing media a human rights violation, says Turk rights czar".

Sounds good what he had to say:

It is the responsibility of those with political power to defend and promote a free media, according to Turkey’s human rights czar, who added that the West often perceives Turkey as underdeveloped in terms of human rights even though some rights violations in Europe are far worse.

Speaking on the subject of the freedom of the press, Zafer Üskül, president of Parliament’s Human Rights Commission said obstacles placed in front of the public from accessing news are themselves breaches of human rights. “Next to the freedom of the press stands the right to access news. If the issue of the freedom of press stands in the way of the public obtaining news, then this suggests there is a problem,” Üskül said, adding that in the same way there can be problems in the realm of security, there can also be problems in the media. Mistakes can be made and during this process people’s rights can be neglected, he said.

When asked by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review whether the government should protect the freedom of the press, Üskül said yes, adding that political powers should not, in any way, hinder the freedom of the press. He said they should instead encourage freedom as part of their responsibility in the world.

Just can't picture J Ly saying it, though.

The article speaks of other issues and things going on in human rights in Turkey, which is not a world leader in cause at this time.


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