The Dersim (tr: Tunceli) branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) has sharply criticized the mass establishment of checkpoints for ID checks and criminal record check (GBT) in the province and called for their immediate removal. The measures severely disrupt public life and create a climate of intimidation, said a written statement made by the association on Tuesday.
According to the IHD, checkpoints have been set up by the Turkish police and army not only at entrances to the city, but also on roads connecting districts, access roads to villages, ferry connections between Dersim and. Elazığ, and in the city center itself. “This density of checkpoints has a negative impact on civilian life and causes great uncertainty among the population,” the association underlined.
IHD emphasizes that the constant use of the so-called Criminal Record Check (GBT) – even on the way to one’s own home – should not be understood as a regular security measure. “Rather, it is an expression of an authoritarian, security-obsessed mindset that makes the criminalization of everyday civilian life the norm.”
Remarking that the daily presence of the checkpoints has a concrete impact on fundamental rights, IHD said: “They restrict freedom of movement, interfere with private life, and effectively lead to restrictions on freedom of expression.” Especially in the summer months, when tens of thousands of visitors come to Dersim, travelers sometimes have to wait in queues for hours in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius—a situation that, according to the IHD, is hazardous to health and degrading.
The statement pointed out that the number and placement of checkpoints—even within residential areas—suggest that the issue is not security, but rather constant surveillance. The fact that people are checked multiple times on their way home sends the message that everyday life is under general suspicion, it noted.
“The targeted alteration of road layouts, the cordoning off of neighborhoods, or the erection of temporary barriers at public events does not serve to protect public order, but rather to control the population,” according to the association. IHD stated that this practice conveys a sense of insecurity, suspicion, and potential danger to the entire social environment, calling it a systematic policy of intimidation.
The IHD listed the following key demands:
▪ Removal of all checkpoints in the city and surrounding area, especially in residential areas
▪ Ending the blanket criminalization of citizens through GBT checks
▪ Refraining from arbitrarily blocking roads and access routes during public events
▪ Guarantee of freedom of movement and privacy for all citizens
▪ An end to security-motivated interventions under the pretext of public order
▪ Demilitarization of civilian life and a return to the primacy of law and human dignity
Finally, the IHD called on the competent authorities to respect constitutional fundamental rights and to put an immediate end to the “arbitrary and disproportionate practices that have been going on for years.”