Three prominent human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch, the Platform for Families in Pursuit of Justice, and the Citizens’ Assembly, have strongly urged the Turkish government to reveal details of investigations into civil servants linked to the building collapses during the catastrophic earthquake in January 2023. This disaster caused the collapse of over 160,000 buildings, resulting in the deaths of more than 53,000 individuals and extensive dislocation.
The groups are advocating for greater transparency and accountability, emphasizing that justice must prevail to prevent future tragedies. They stress the importance of holding public officials accountable, arguing that impunity in such cases could lead to a repeat of the disaster. As it stands, only a handful of government officials are being scrutinized, although many private contractors are facing probes regarding alleged violations of building regulations.
Efforts by Citizens’ Assembly and Human Rights Watch to gather information from Turkish authorities have thus far been met with resistance. According to Human Rights Watch, their requests to various governmental agencies for insights on ongoing investigations were either rejected or not addressed. Notably, the Turkish Ministry of Interior’s decision to withhold the number of investigation authorizations, citing confidentiality, was overruled by the Council on the Right to Information, a decision now under appeal.
Hugh Williamson, the Director of Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, stated that transparency is crucial for the public to understand which officials have been held accountable. Williamson notes, “withholding information about the extent of efforts to hold municipalities and politicians accountable is tantamount to admitting that they have impunity for their crimes.”
Access to information is considered a fundamental right according to international law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This right plays a critical role in scrutinizing government conduct and potentially holds ramifications under the right to life, which was notably cited by the European Court of Human Rights in the aftermath of a previous earthquake in 1999. In that incident, Türkiye was determined to have violated the right to life due to inadequate investigations.
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