NEWS CENTER – In the 172-page 2023 report of Comité T, attention is drawn to “deviations in the fight against terrorism when it comes to people from Kurdistan”. In this part of the report on the Kurds, attention is drawn to an approach similar to the statements of the Turkish state.
The report states that “The situation of people coming from countries with Kurdish minorities in Belgium is a special case in that the majority of them come as political refugees. It is seen that a large part of this diaspora broadly supports the Kurdish nationalist movement and even sympathizes with various movements that fight for the political rights of the Kurds, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party,” the statement said.
THE OPINIONS OF THE TURKISH STATE ARE EFFECTIVE
It is emphasized that the notes of the Belgian intelligence service VSSE (State Security) on people suspected of being PKK sympathizers contain “worrying comments” and that the Turkish state vision is influential on Belgian officials.
“State Security Notes in cases involving persons suspected of being pro-PKK sometimes contain an alarming commentary on issues considered inappropriate political considerations or threats,” the report said. In the background, it is seen that the views of the Turkish state influence the perceptions of the Belgian authorities about the elements considered as threats of the intelligence and security services law of 30 November 1998.”
THE TURKISH STATE’S ARGUMENTS ARE ACHIEVING
When Comité T says, “There are some problematic points among the notes we observed,” it gives the following examples:
“For example, the claim that the PKK ‘promotes an anti-Turkish ideology’ emerges. We question the meaning of this claim; Rather than an analysis of the political motivations of this movement against the local government, which does not imply the existence of the Turkish state, it looks more like a part of the Turkish state’s arguments. It is also known that Turkey is accused of an authoritarian tendency by many analysts and that the fundamental rights of individuals and groups are especially violated. However, it should be noted that the Turkish state accuses many movements, including Amnesty International, of developing an ‘anti-Turkey ideology’ and follows their leaders as members of a terrorist organization. Finally, we underline that Turkey is a persecuting actor for Turkish citizens who are recognized as refugees in Turkey,”
PKK DOES NOT THREAT BELGIUM SECURITY
In the report, it is stated that there are other allegations regarding the PKK in the intelligence service notes without citing a source or establishing a basis. While intelligence claims that the PKK organizes “ideological camps” in Belgium, the report continues: “It is also remarkable that it is stated that the PKK’s “insurgent” and “revolutionary” character and its participation in armed conflicts in the Middle East “may be problematic”. Indeed, although these elements are undeniable due to their involvement in a conflict in the Middle East as an insurrectionary and revolutionary movement, there is nothing to suggest that they pose a threat to Belgium’s security. On the contrary, the role of the Kurdish movements in Syria and Iraq,
VIOLENCE IN BELGIUM DOESN’T COME FROM THE PKK, THE KURDS ARE THE TARGET OF VIOLENCE
Comité T, “Finally, although it is stated in these notes that ‘the PKK can create violence or at least disrupt public order’, it should be noted that the violence and disruptive events that have taken place in Belgium so far have mostly targeted Kurdish circles.”
TERROR LIST IS POLITICAL, NOT LEGAL
The “terror lists” created in the report are also being questioned and brought under suspicion.
“In these notes, the State Security classifies Kurdish organizations, including the PKK, as terrorist organizations. Although the Belgian authorities act in this way, a large part of this is because they are on the list of European terrorist organizations. However, this European-level registration is a political event and not a legal one: these lists are determined primarily by political interests, a wide variety of groups are or may be included in these lists, and registrations may be based on variable criteria. Also, any armed group is generally considered to be at least terrorist by the state it is fighting.
As regards the PKK in particular, this registration (inclusion on the terrorist list) was initially made in 2002 at the request of the Turkish state. However, these records were later repeatedly canceled by judicial decisions.
With the decision of the European Union Court of First Instance dated 15 November 2018, it canceled the PKK’s inclusion in the relevant list and all subsequent decisions moving in the same direction (the list is reviewed every six months and these reviews lead to new decisions).”
BELGIUM SHOULD BE LIMITED TO ITS OWN LEGAL DEFINITION
The report draws the following conclusions from the terror lists:
“This ultimately means that Belgian authorities should remain confined to the Belgian legal definition of terrorism and not be influenced by foreign authorities’ pressure to designate a particular movement as a terrorist organisation. The European list of terrorist organizations is an administrative document and its inclusion in this list depends on the Council of Ministers of the European Union, that is, its executive power.
For this reason, intelligence and security services should refrain from describing Kurdish movements as terrorists on this basis alone. However, in particular, the inclusion of these movements on the European list of terrorist organizations should not have an impact on how Kurdish citizens are treated in Belgium, whether they sympathize with the Kurdish movement or not.”
Reminding the court decision that the PKK would not be defined as a “terrorist organization” in Belgium, Comité T noted that the notes of the Belgian intelligence services based on terrorist lists cannot be contented with.
REFUGEE STATUS IS RETURNED BY THE OPINION OF INTELLIGENCE
Comité T stated:
“The contamination of Belgian management decisions with such inappropriate considerations also has an impact on foreigners’ law.
Indeed, there have been people whose applications for Belgian citizenship have been rejected on the basis of such views of the State Security, without charges or litigation. In this situation, they were faced with a situation where they did not have the opportunity to challenge and question the information contained in these views.
Even more worrying, the State Security considerations required in the process of obtaining Belgian citizenship were later used by the Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless People (CGRA) to justify the revocation of individuals’ refugee status. Here we see the cyclical risk of this kind of reasoning: activists are recognized as refugees because of their participation in the Kurdish movement, while their refugee status is revoked for the same actions.
In some cases, recall decisions are based on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization. Whereas, the Court of Justice has held since 2010 that simply being a member of a “terrorist” organization does not automatically entail exclusion from refugee status.”
A DIFFICULT SITUATION
Comité T concludes his analysis as follows: “It seems that the Turkish state is waging a legal war against dissidents, with serious consequences also for refugees in Belgium. It is both alarming and difficult to understand, given the disastrous state of human rights in Turkey, that some government agencies, such as the State Security or the CGRA, would assist in such an attack.”
WHAT IS COMITE T?
The Counter-Terrorism Vigilance Committee (Comité T) was established in 2005 under the leadership of civil society actors. The committee was created to express citizens’ concerns about the proliferation of anti-terrorism legislation that has a potentially harmful effect on human rights and fundamental freedoms.
While emphasizing the legitimacy of the fight against terrorism, Comité T acts from the protection of the rule of law and the fundamental guarantees it contains. The committee states that they aim their work to be both observational and critical. Annual reports are prepared, which aim to examine in depth counter-terrorism measures and their impact on human rights.
