HDP files criminal complaint about internet outage in east and southeast regions
HDP has filed a criminal complaint against private internet provider companies and public officials with regards to the outage of internet and blocking of communication in eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey since October 26.
BİRGÜN/ANKARA
Filed on behalf of HDP, as well as of its co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, the criminal complaint is against the Information Technologies and Communication Institution, Association of Access Providers, Türk Telekom, Türksat, Vodafone, Turkcell Superonline, D-Smart, Turkcell Communication Services, Doping Internet, Turknet Communication Services, and Digiturk Internet for their role in the ‘blocking of communication in the regions’, as well as, for being ‘discriminatory’ and for ‘misconduct in their duty.’
Discriminatory approach of public and private institutions responsible for providing communication services
In the complaint filed at Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office, it has been reported that in numerous cities in east and southeast regions of the country, including Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, Ağrı, Bingöl, Erzincan, Mardin, Batman, Siirt, Van, Elazığ, Tunceli, Gaziantep, Urfa, Kilis, and Adıyaman, internet access and communication have been being blocked, especially during the day time, both on land and mobile lines, ‘indicating a discriminatory and hateful approach based on political view, language, and race perpetrated by both public and private institutions that are responsible for providing internet and communications services.’
An arbitrary blockage on freedom of communication
The letter of the complaint also includes the following references: “Freedom of communication is protected under TCK (Turkish Penal Code). Communication is a fundamental right of the people. In the 8th article of the European Convention on Human Rights, where protection of personal and family life is emphasized, a very clear assertion is made on the importance of respecting right to communicate.”
There is an effort to stop people from gathering
While it has been highlighted that internet blockage has been experienced immediately after the detention of Diyarbakır municipality heads Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı, it has also been asserted in the complaint that the outage has been put in force in order for the people of the region to be unable to demonstrate support for their elected leaders, by using public services such as internet access.
Current outage stands as a ‘hate crime’
Furthermore, the discriminatory approach of certain public and private institutions in providing services in the region has been marked as a ‘hate crime’ and their perpetrators are demanded to be determined and punished in accordance with laws.
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/dogu-illerindeki-internet-kesintisi-yargiya-tasindi-133432.html