A proposal to amend Turkey’s penal code and laws on sentence execution has drawn criticism from legal experts and human rights defenders, who warn the changes could institutionalise arbitrary practices and exacerbate judicial inequality, particularly for political prisoners.
Formally known as the “Law Proposal on Amendments to the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures and Some Other Laws,” the bill was introduced to the country’s parliament on 29 May by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with support from its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Despite strong objections from civil society and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, the legislation was swiftly approved by the parliament’s Justice Commission on 1 June.
Critics argue that far from addressing long-standing calls for fair sentencing, freedom of expression or humane prison conditions, the bill instead reinforces Turkey’s repressive legal framework, especially targeting Kurdish political activists and other government critics.
DEM Party MP Zülküf Uçar, a member of the Justice Commission, warned that the bill aims not to promote justice but to intimidate. “This is not about justice, it is about scaring people into silence,” he said during the debates.
Uçar and fellow DEM MP Onur Düşünmez accused the government of codifying “enemy law” — a term used to describe legal frameworks that selectively criminalise dissent. One clause, for example, would require mandatory prison sentences for attending “unauthorised” demonstrations, even for offences carrying terms as short as one month. Parole options currently available for such charges would be abolished.
“You find one magic word — deterrence — and reduce the whole of law to it,” said Uçar. “But real justice means addressing the roots of crime, not just repressing it.”
“This bill offers no glimmer of hope for peace,” said Eren Keskin, co-chair of the Human Rights Association. She noted that the proposal fails to reform the punitive Anti-Terror Law, and does not address discriminatory practices in sentencing or the harsh treatment of sick prisoners. According to her organisation, over 1,400 seriously ill individuals remain behind bars, with the bill continuing to rely solely on evaluations from the state-run Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), which widely seen as being politically biased.
“If political pressure on the ATK were lifted and decisions made in line with medical ethics, many sick prisoners would be released as a matter of course,” she said. “The issue is not one of legal reform, but of political will.”
Keskin also highlighted stark inequalities in sentencing practices. While individuals convicted of crimes such as theft or fraud may be released after serving half their sentences, political prisoners — especially those convicted under the Anti-Terror Law — often serve three-quarters or more before being considered.
“Turkey’s penal system is fundamentally discriminatory,” she added, “and this package leaves that intact.” Prisoners sentenced to ‘aggravated life imprisonment’, a status disproportionately applied to Kurdish political prisoners, will be excluded altogether from the bill’s limited benefits.
Her remarks chime with those made last week by DEM Party parliamentary group leader Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit warned that the government’s legal reforms fail to address fundamental inequalities. “Political prisoners are excluded from early release, while violent offenders walk free,” she said, urging parliament to prioritise sentencing reform as part of broader efforts towards justice and peace.
The proposed reforms arrive at a sensitive point politically. With tentative signs of a renewed Kurdish peace initiative, legal reform is widely viewed as a prerequisite for meaningful progress. Civil society organisations and Kurdish representatives have consistently stressed the need to amend or repeal the Anti-Terror Law and to address the status of political prisoners.
Instead, critics say, the government’s reform package doubles down on authoritarian measures, further entrenching the very policies that have long fuelled unrest.
“A legal reform that claims to be a step forward but fails to touch the foundations of injustice — inequality in sentencing, abuse of anti-terror laws, silencing of dissent — cannot be part of a peace process,” said Keskin.
