Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "Crisis management should also be addressed in human rights"
The December 10 World Human Rights Day Panel organized by Üsküdar University Human Rights Studies Application and Research Center and Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK) was held under the title of "Current Human Rights Problems in the Pandemic Process". Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "If we neglect the psychological aspect of the pandemic, we will seriously neglect the dimension of human rights." Noting that crisis management should be addressed all over the world, Tarhan said, "Crisis management is also very important in human rights. Measures taken against the virus should not increase or deepen inequalities in society. They should not create new inequalities," he warned.
The opening speech of the panel moderated by Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı, Director of Üsküdar University Human Rights Studies Application and Research Center and Head of the Department of Sociology, was delivered by Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Board of Üsküdar University, while Süleyman Arslan, President of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK) and Türkan Halilova from Hamburg University Faculty of Law participated as panelists.
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı: "Human rights should be kept on the agenda during pandemic days"
Moderator Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı stated that the coronavirus outbreak constitutes the most important agenda item of the world in the panel held online due to pandemic conditions and said, "The Covid 19 pandemic, which emerged at the end of 2019 and spread rapidly around the world, has changed the usual life cycle and habits of all segments of society. Following the corona pandemic, which has a universal impact, risks to international human rights have also started to increase. In particular, the fact that countries had to take extraordinary measures while trying to cope with the pandemic caused these measures to be realized in very different ways, both in terms of implementation and quality. Legal regulations in the world due to the pandemic also vary. Although we do not yet have concrete data on the problems experienced during the pandemic, it is the general opinion of experts that discriminatory and rights violations in normal periods have become more severe in this process. In these days of crisis, it is high time to keep the fundamental rights and freedoms on the agenda, which should be reminded and insistently defended by lawyers, human rights defenders, professional organizations, universities and all civil society. We have devoted today's panel to this agenda item."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "Justice and equality are essential for global peace"
Üsküdar University Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out the importance of ensuring human rights under equal conditions in ensuring global peace and said, "If we want global peace, we need to demand global justice and equality. We need to demand this especially in terms of fundamental rights. There is a study conducted on kindergarten children. In this study, four chocolate bars are given to each child in a class of 40-50 children. Observations are made throughout the lesson. After eating their chocolate, the children play calmly. A harmonious classroom environment is created. Then, in the same group, some children are given one chocolate bar, some seven chocolates and some children are not given any chocolate bar at all. They observe that there are fights, arguments and tension in the same class. Voices get louder. They are investigating what happens when the conditions are not equal, when children cannot share chocolate equally, and whether there is a genetic code here. That is to say, human beings have an inherent tendency to have equal rights in their biological and psychological nature. This is a genetic tendency and when it is prevented, there is a reaction."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "The psychological aspect of the pandemic should be neglected"
Emphasizing that this is the age of freedoms, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "This is the age when the world is a global village. It is an electronic village. In such an age, no state can manage its society in isolation, it is not possible. Therefore, human rights are sacred in this age. Just as we cannot change the skin on our body, human rights cannot be abolished. A state cannot say that it has abolished human rights. Can human rights be restricted? Yes, they can be restricted in extraordinary circumstances, and this has been determined. The pandemic is one of them. Is coronavirus infection a biological or medical issue? It is a medical issue, but the Covid-19 pandemic is a psychological phenomenon. Therefore, it is very closely related to human rights. It is very closely related to human social behavior. For this reason, infection specialists should have the last word in infectious diseases, but epidemiologists should have the last word in pandemic management. The biggest helpers of epidemiologists should be psychology and sociology professionals. No decision should be taken without consulting sociologists and psychologists. If we neglect the psychological aspect of the issue, we will seriously neglect the dimension of human rights."
Reminding that people have fundamental rights such as fair trial, life, travel, access to health, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and conscience and the right to expression, Tarhan said, "Access to these rights has been disrupted by the pandemic. But this access has also created a serious inequality. There are problems in children's access to education."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "Inequality is the weakest link in the pandemic"
Stating that there are two important points in crises, Tarhan said, "The strongest link of the chain is the weakest link of the chain. When there is a crisis, it breaks from the weak link. In the pandemic, the weakest link of society and humanity is inequality. About 2 billion people in Africa do not have access to clean water. Very few segments of society live at a high level. Currently, the US accounts for 5% of the world's population but consumes 25% of the world's resources. There is such an income injustice."
Stating that in societies where there is no income, justice and equality in the world, social explosions may occur if measures are not taken, Tarhan said, "The marches on the streets in America and France seem to be against discrimination, but there is a disproportionate reaction of the society. There is an accumulation of anger in society. Even in the US society there is an accumulation of anger, there is a serious injustice in access to health. Covid causes an explosion in such weak points. Generally 50% of societies all over the world are disadvantaged. This group includes the unemployed, the disabled, the sick, the elderly and children. Societies that do not take this group into consideration will collapse."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "Decision-makers need to take measures"
Emphasizing that measures should be taken in advance for the problems that will arise later in the pandemic crisis, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "The second thing to do in crises is to take precautions. If the event is left to its natural course in crises, problems will remain behind. If you do not treat a person with a broken leg on time, if you do not put the leg in a cast, the leg will remain lame when the fracture passes. Precautions must be taken. In crises, it is necessary to find the breaking points and inequality points of the society, where the management and decision-making mechanisms should act proactively and take measures."
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: "Crisis management should be addressed all over the world"
Stating that crisis management should be addressed all over the world, Tarhan said, "Crisis management is also very important in terms of human rights. Measures taken against the virus should not increase or deepen inequalities in society. They should not create new inequalities. These temporary measures should not turn into democratization. For this, it is necessary to build a relationship of trust with society. There are three ways to build trust with society: Being open, transparent and honest."
Süleyman Arslan "Human rights have entered a very delicate period with the pandemic"
Süleyman Arslan, President of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK), said that as a result of the pandemic that caused the global crisis, there were 68 million confirmed cases in the world as of December 8, 2020, 47 million people recovered, and 1.5 million people lost their lives due to the virus. Arslan said, "Due to the pandemic, societies around the world have faced very serious devastation. In the face of such a major humanitarian crisis, states have taken measures within their means to protect and guarantee the right to life and the right to health. Undoubtedly, the situation that emerged with the Covid-19 pandemic constitutes one of the crisis moments that crystallized the need for human rights. Human rights have thus entered a very delicate period. From the right to life to ill-treatment, discrimination, violation of discrimination, limitation of freedoms, each of the fundamental rights, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights have had to be limited. Sometimes they have been completely violated."
Süleyman Arslan "Those at fault for the pandemic must be punished"
Stating that the rights of people all over the world have been violated by the pandemic, Süleyman Arslan stated that the cause of the pandemic should be investigated and said: "In an event that has caused the death of millions of people, skipping or ignoring the cause of the virus may become an indicator that other problems will continue tomorrow. We do not know whether it came out naturally here or whether there was a development within a plan, as it is widely expressed in the public opinion, but we think that this should be clarified regardless. In any case, in terms of clarifying that it is a situation that violates human rights. I think that the people who are at fault for an epidemic in which 1.5 million people died should be punished and sanctions should be imposed on states."
Türkan Halilova: "95 states declared a state of emergency during the pandemic"
Türkan Halilova from Hamburg University Faculty of Law said that during the pandemic process, there were developments regarding human rights violations in many countries of the world. Türkan Halilova said, "95 states declared a state of emergency, 47 countries imposed restrictions on freedom of expression, 128 states restricted freedom of assembly, and 50 states imposed some restrictions on private life." Türkan Halilova stated that disadvantaged groups are the most affected by human rights violations and that the elderly, especially the elderly living in nursing homes, those in prisons, the disabled, foreigners and asylum seekers, minorities, women and children are among these groups.
