article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Turkish Human Rights Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress makes the following findings: (1)(A) The Department of State, in its 1996 ``Country Reports on Human Rights Practices'', documented a systematic and widespread pattern of human rights abuses by the Government of Turkey. (B) According to the portion of the report relating to Turkey, ``torture, excessive use of force, and other serious human rights abuses by the security forces persisted throughout 1996.''. (2) Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the European Parliament, the International Human Rights Law Group, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Physicians Without Frontiers, Freedom House, the Humanitarian Law Project, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, and other human rights monitoring organizations have documented extensive and continuing human rights abuses by the Government of Turkey, including the widespread use of torture and extrajudicial killings. (3) The actions of the Government of Turkey are in violation of several international human rights agreements to which Turkey is a party, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the United Nations and European Conventions Against Torture. (4) The Government of Turkey continues to deny the legitimate civil and human rights of its 15,000,000 citizens of Kurdish origin and has used military force to deny them an identity, destroying more than 2,000 Kurdish villages and uprooting more than 2,000,000 Kurds. (5) Turkey continues its illegal military occupation of Cyprus and has obstructed efforts to reach a just and lasting resolution to the division of Cyprus and the massive uprooting of Greek Cypriots caused by the 1974 invasion by Turkey. (6) The Government of Turkey continues to blockade Armenia, obstructing the delivery of United States and international humanitarian relief supplies. (7) Turkey continues to place prohibitive restrictions on the religious leadership of Christian communities within Turkey and has failed to protect these communities adequately from acts of violence and vandalism. (8)(A) The Congress, in the fiscal year 1997 appropriation for foreign assistance, reduced assistance under chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the economic support fund) to Turkey to $22,000,000 because of Turkey's human rights record and its hostile and antagonistic policies toward its neighbors. (B) The Government of Turkey has stated that it would reject any United States assistance tied to its human rights record. SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON ASSISTANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY. (a) In General.--Assistance under chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the economic support fund) may not be provided for the Government of Turkey for fiscal year 1998 unless the Secretary of State determines that there has been significant progress in the following areas: (1) The Government of Turkey permits domestic and international human rights monitoring organizations, including, but not limited to, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, to monitor and report on the human rights situation within its territory without fear of reprisal or prosecution. (2) The Government of Turkey-- (A) has ceased all efforts to deny the recognition of the civil, cultural, and human rights of its Kurdish citizens; (B) has ceased its military operations against Kurdish civilians; and (C) has taken demonstrable steps toward a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue. (3) The Government of Turkey-- (A) has taken actions and instituted policies to demilitarize Cyprus and provide for the total withdrawal of Turkish military forces from Cyprus; and (B) provides support for a settlement for the Republic of Cyprus based on a constitutional democracy with key United States principles of majority rule, the rule of law, the protection of minority and human rights, and the provision for and implementation of the 3 basic freedoms, namely, freedom of movement, of property, and of settlement. (4) The Government of Turkey has ceased its blockade of United States and international assistance to Armenia. (5) The Government of Turkey-- (A) has ceased its official restrictions on Christian churches and schools; and (B) provides sufficient protection against-- (i) acts of violence and harassment directed at members of the clergy and religious minorities; and (ii) acts of vandalism directed at church and school property. (b) Report.--The Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the Congress a report containing a documentation of the determinations made by the Secretary under subsection (a).
summary: Turkish Human Rights Act - Prohibits economic support fund (ESF) assistance to the Government of Turkey unless the Secretary of State determines that there has been significant progress by such Government in: (1) permitting international human rights monitoring organizations to report on the human rights situation in Turkey; (2) ceasing to deny human rights to the Kurdish people; (3) taking action to demilitarize Cyprus and provide support for democracy there; (4) ceasing to blockade U.S. and international assistance to Armenia; and (5) ceasing its restrictions on religious freedom.