A bill to address the wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens and diplomatic staff by the Government of Turkey was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week.
The Defending United States Citizens and Diplomatic Staff from Political Prosecutions Act of 2019 (S. 1075) was co-sponsored by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Tillis was instrumental in securing the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, who was facing an effective life sentence in Turkey for crimes he did not commit. The Turkish Government finally released Brunson in October 2018.
“While the Turkish government took a step in the right direction with the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson last October, more needs to be done for Turkey to show good faith and act like a NATO ally,” Tillis, co-chair of the Senate Human Rights Caucus, said. “This bipartisan legislation will impose sanctions on those responsible for the wrongful imprisonments of American citizens and diplomatic staff, and I hope progress will be ultimately made through the release of Serkan Gölge and other U.S. citizens currently imprisoned in Turkey.”
Gölge is a U.S. citizen and NASA scientist who was caught up in the sweeping government-led purge that followed the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, along with Brunson. While Brunson was released in October 2018, Gölge remains in jail serving a five-year sentence on “fabricated terrorism charges.”
The bill would require the U.S. administration to impose sanctions on all senior Turkish officials responsible for the wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens and staff. This would include barring the officials from travel to the United States and freezing any U.S. assets. The bill also calls on President Donald Trump to urge Turkey to restore due process guarantees and respect for the fundamental freedoms of all its people, thousands of whom are victims of the same politically-motivated prosecution and indefinite detention.