PRESS RELEASE Turkey’s terror list: An attack on lawyers and human rights
POLICY BRIEF
14 February 2023 The undersigned organisations deplore the recent arbitrary designation of Günay Entreprises droitsat humains : Dağ as a “terrorist”. Günay Dağ is et a lawyer the International Bureau of the La Tunisie doit se saisir pleinement des instruments People's Law Office and a member of the Progressive Lawyers’ internationaux Association (ÇHD). On 30 December 2022, he was added to the list called "list of wanted terrorists" published on the official website of the Ministry of Interior. For the past three years, Günay Dağ has been a political refugee. Although Günay Dağ has never been convicted of a criminal act of terrorism by a court, he is now being labelled as a “wanted terrorist” and member of a terrorist organisation. We fear that Günay Dağ is being identified with his clients or his clients' causes as a result of discharging his professional functions, in contravention of international and universal law and standards relating to the role of lawyers. Alleged “terrorists” placed on the official list are subdivided into five categories: red, blue, green, orange and grey, according to the ascribed level of threat and/or importance. Günay Dağ has been included in the “green category,” with a reward of two million Turkish Liras offered for information leading directly to his arrest. This list published by the Ministry of Interior is solely based on the provisions of the "Regulation on Rewards to be Offered to Those Who Help in Exposing Terrorist Crimes or Seizing Evidence or Arresting Criminal Perpetrators", which is known as the "rewards regulation". However, this regulation does not provide any authorisation to the executive power to establish such a list, nor does it explain how the categories are to be determined or administered. Since the five colours have different amounts of monetary award, it is only known that the green category represents the medium level. This list has become an important tool for persecuting and prosecuting those who are considered as political opponents to the government. Critically, the list contains not only those accused of being directly involved with “terrorism”, but also lawyers that are representing them. With such financial incentives for tips leading to an arrest, which can go up to almost five hundred thousand EURO, it appears that the authorities are trying to reach even persons who have fled and are no longer on Turkish territory.