Friday, October 04, 2013

Blog 4: “Turkish government guilty of human rights abuses, group says”

“Turkish government guilty of human rights abuses, group says”


Summary:
During June last year, a group of protesters gathered in Istanbul to peacefully protest Gezi Park from becoming a shopping mall. Turkish authorities used live ammunition and tear gas, beatings, and sexual abuses against the protestors. The event resulted in many severe injuries and 2 men dead in 2 separate incidents. In a recent report by human rights watchdog Amnesty International, there were “human rights violations on a massive scale”. The Turkish government has begun an investigation into the possible uses of excessive force against the Gezi Park protests. Since this the government has begun many democratic reforms. They have made many progressive reforms like expanding the definition of hate crimes. However, the rights group said fails "to address these violations or to take any serious steps to ensure that they will not occur in the future."
Analysis:
The events that took place at the protests at Gezi Park violate many aspects of human rights. Although the government has begun to reform their government in a progressive way, they still have a long way to go in order to make sure that violent acts do not happen in the future. This incident shows a great sense of inequality. The police force has authority over the citizens. The citizens being at a lower social class makes them inferior to the police’s actions. Their unlawful actions can be overlooked because they are authority figures. This is a social problem because their actions harmed people on a massive scale. Many severely hurt individuals cannot go on with their daily lives and receive no compensation for their medical bills. Some of those hurt had no association with the protests at all. The protestors were peaceful and causing no threat. There needs to be justice.
Kasey Marshall
10-4-13
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/world/europe/turkiy-human-rights/index.html

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