06.11.2007 - Source: European Commission

Promotion and enforcement of human rights ("Turkey 2007 Progress Report [SEC(2007) 1436]") [ID 22349]

"As far as the promotion and enforcement of human rights is concerned, the Human Rights Presidency under the Prime-Minister's office and the 931 Human Rights Boards received more applications in 2006 than during the previous year. Visits by the Human Rights Boards to places of detention and state-sponsored social services continued.

However, there remains a need for better public awareness of the work of these institutions and for the allocation of adequate resources, in particular as regards staffing. Some NGOs invoke the lack of independence of the Human Rights Boards as a reason for refusing to take part in this institution. Furthermore, the Human Rights Advisory Board - a body composed of NGOs, experts and representatives of Ministries under the Office of the Prime Minister – has not been operating since the publication of a report on Minority Rights in October 2004. Legal proceedings were initiated against the two main authors of this report. The initial acquittal has been overruled by the Court of Cassation in September 2007, and an appeal procedure is ongoing.

Overall, further efforts are needed to improve the institutional framework for human rights."

Document(s): Open document

15.11.2006 - Source: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Human Rights Boards in all 81 provinces and in 850 districts ("Gelassene Reaktion auf den EU-Fortschrittsbericht in der Türkei: Politischer Kurzbericht") [ID 18531]

"Trotz politischer Reformen in der Türkei, mit denen dass Land umfangreich umgestaltet werden soll, halten sich Vorurteile oder althergebrachte Verhaltensmuster hartnäckig. So wurden schon vor sechs Jahren in allen 81 türkischen Provinzen und 850 Bezirken „Menschenrechtsräte“ eingerichtet. Diese Institutionen sollten die Menschen ermutigen, Verstöße gegen Menschenrechte zu melden. Im vergangenen Jahr sind insgesamt in allen diesen Räten jedoch nur 377 Beschwerden eingegangen und die meisten davon betreffen auch Themen wie Umweltverschmutzung etc. Die Provinz Diyabakır verzeichnet bisher in diesem Jahr 21 Beschwerden, wobei Im Vergleich dazu beim türkischen Menschenrechtsverein in Diyarbakır bisher über 1.000 Beschwerden eingingen. Dies zeigt das sehr schwache Vertrauen der Menschen in staatliche Institutionen in diesem Bereich."

Document(s): Open document

08.11.2006 - Source: European Commission

Promotion and enforcement of human rights (Human Rights Presidency; Parliamentary Human Rights Committee; Human Rights Advisory Board) ("Turkey 2006 Progress Report") [ID 18907]

"With regard to the promotion and enforcement of human rights, the Human Rights Presidency and the 931 District Human Right Boards continued to provide training on human rights and process applications on alleged human right violations. Between January and June 2006, 778 applications were received. The vast majority of applications related to health and patients' rights, non-discrimination, right to property, and social security rights.

However, the Human Rights Presidency lacks independence from the government, is understaffed and has a limited budget. Furthermore, a new president has not been appointed since the resignation of the previous one in September 2005. The Human Rights Advisory Board under the Office of the Prime Minister has not been operating since the publication of a report on minority rights in Turkey in October 2004. This is a body composed of NGOs, experts and representatives from ministries.

The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee continued to play an active role in collecting complaints on human rights violations and conducting fact-finding visits to the regions. The Committee received 864 applications between October 2005 and June 2006. It has conducted several investigations and finalised three reports since January 2006. The Committee has no legislative role, and is thus not consulted on legislation affecting human rights."

Document(s): Open document

10.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Monitoring of human rights violations ("Country Report - October 2005") [#40563],  [ID 13425]

for more detailled information seek out the original document page 164

"6.387 The USSD 2003 reported that:

“Parliament has established numerous bodies to monitor the human rights situation, including:

(i) The High Human Rights Board, an interministerial committee responsible for making appointments to human rights posts;
(ii) A Human Rights Consultation Board, designed to serve as a permanent forum for the exchange of ideas between the Government and NGOs;
(iii) A Human Rights Investigative Board, a special body to be convened only in cases where lower-level investigations are deemed insufficient by the Human Rights Presidency. The Human Rights Investigative Board has never been convened.” [5d] (p23)

6.388 The USSD 2004 reported that:

“The Government’s Ten Year Human Rights Education Committee held regional seminars to educate civil servants and others on human rights problems. Regional bar associations and the EU held training seminars with police, judges and prosecutors in several provinces and in Ankara headquarters, focusing on EU human rights standards. The Justice and Interior ministries conducted numerous training programs for law enforcement and security officials, judges, and prosecutors on recent legal reforms and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) case law.” [5c] (Section 1d)

6.389 The European Commission 2005 report noted that “With regard to the promotion and enforcement of human rights, the institutional framework has not been modified. While institutions such as the Reform Monitoring Group, the Human Rights Presidency and the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee continue to carry out important work, there is an urgent need to consolidate and strengthen the capacity of these institutions.” [71e] (p20)

6.390 The European Commission Regular Report on Turkey’s progress towards Accession 2004 published 6 October 2004 reported that “With regard to the promotion and enforcement of human rights, Turkey has established a number of bodies since 1999 such as the Reform Monitoring Group, the Human Rights Presidency, the provincial and sub-provincial Human Rights Boards, the Human Rights Advisory Committee and several investigation boards.” [71c] (p32)

6.400 The European Commission 2005 report noted that:

“The Human Rights Presidency has continued to intensify its work to provide training on human rights, process complaints and address specific cases. Efforts have focused, in particular, on increasing awareness of the existence of the Presidency and the provincial Human Rights Boards. Nevertheless, the impact of the Presidency remains low as it has a limited budget, its role in relation to line ministries is poorly defined and it is not consulted on legislative proposals. In September 2005, the President of the Human Rights Presidency resigned.” [71e] (p21)

6.401 The EC 2005 report also noted:

“From October 2004 to March 2005, the Human Rights Boards and the Presidency received complaints of human rights abuses from 565 individuals. This figure represents less than one complainant per board, suggesting limited awareness of the existence of the boards and/or low levels of trust. In practice, the boards are under-resourced and their effectiveness varies depending on the approach of the deputy governor chairing them. Two important Turkish human rights NGOs, the Human Rights Association and Mazlum Der have maintained their policy of not participating in these Boards, although in a handful of cases individuals from these NGOs have participated in a personal capacity.” [71e] (p21)

6.406 As outlined in ‘The Activity Report of the Human Rights Investigation Commission from 3 November 2002 – 20 May 2004’ provided by the Turkish Embassy in London in August 2004, a number of sub commissions were formed during this period to visit provinces and cities and to investigate specific cases of human rights abuses. In January 2003 sub commissions visited the provinces of Diyarbakir, Bingol, Batman, Mardin, Mus, and Tunceli to monitor how the situation in these provinces had changed after the lifting of the State of Emergency. In May 2003 a sub committee visited Andac village, Uludere in Sirnak province in order to investigate the shooting of Haci Olmez by Gendarmes on the 8 April 2003. [60a] (p1-2)

6.407 The Activity Report also stated that the Human Rights Investigation Commission received 804 applications relating to human rights issues in the period 3 November 2002 to 10 May 2004. Of these 244 (30%) were related to prisons, 142 (15%) to judicial problems and 75 (9%) were related to torture and ill-treatment. During the period 549 of the 804 applications were concluded, 207 were still being processed and 47 were still pending. [60a] (p8-9)"

Document(s): Open document

06.10.2004 - Source: European Commission

Bodies for enforcement of human rights: the Human Rights Presidency ("Regular Report 2004 on Turkey´s progress towards accession") [#26161],  [ID 13426]

"With regard to the promotion and enforcement of human rights, Turkey has established a number of bodies since 1999 such as the Reform Monitoring Group, the Human Rights Presidency, the provincial and sub-provincial Human Rights Boards, the Human Rights Advisory Committee and several investigation boards. This reflects a new approach in developing a constructive relationship between human rights organizations and the Turkish State. However, the impact of these bodies has as yet been very limited.

Since January 2004, the Human Rights Presidency has intensified its work to raise awareness on human rights, process complaints and address specific cases. Individuals are now able to register complaints of human rights abuses by completing a form with a list of questions inspired by the ECHR, which can be posted in complaint boxes. At the local level, the number of provincial and sub-provincial Human Rights Boards increased from 859 to 931. A regulation published in November 2003 removes representatives of the security forces from these Boards and facilitates greater participation by civil society representatives.

However, the Human Rights Presidency has not yet succeeded in having a nationwide impact; some Boards have received no applications and some have never convened meetings. According to official statistics, 388 individuals filed complaints of human rights violations from January to June 2004. Their complaints concerned inter alia torture and ill-treatment and the right to liberty and security. The independence of the Boards has been brought into question, in particular because they are chaired by Governors and include participation from the Governors’ administrations. Consequently, two major Turkish human rights NGOs, the Human Rights Association and Mazlum-der, still refuse to participate in the work of these Boards."

Document(s): Open document

09.10.2002 - Source: European Commission

European Commission: Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights ("2002 Regular Report on Turkey's Process Towards Accession") [#10217],  [ID 13427]

"The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights resumed its activities and has met 8
times since last October. The committee organised special visits to police stations,
prisons, orphanages and NGOs in Antalya, Eskisehir, Kocaeli, Trabzon,Van and Siirt,
and produced reports after each visit. Two additional sub-committees were established to
investigate the issue of illegal telephone tapping and human rights violations during
demonstrations in Istanbul."

Document(s): Open document

09.10.2002 - Source: European Commission

European Commission: There are currently Human Rights Boards in 81 provinces and 831 sub-provinces ("2002 Regular Report on Turkey's Process Towards Accession") [#10217],  [ID 13428]

"With regard to the enforcement of human rights, the Turkish government made efforts
to strengthen its monitoring and reporting mechanisms, as well as the dialogue with civil
society in the field of human rights. The Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation
Committee carried out inspections in detention centres, and in December 2001 an Inter-
ministerial High Human Rights Board was set up, comprising representatives of the
Ministries of Interior, Justice and Human Rights. The Committee should convene on a
monthly basis and is intended to monitor the implementation of legislation and the
human rights situation on the ground.
There are currently Human Rights Boards in 81 provinces and 831 sub-provinces. The
Boards have begun to work, but are not fully operational. The Human Rights Presidency
in Ankara, which is in charge of monitoring the implementation of legislation in the area
of human rights, is organising awareness campaigns in the local media, and special
hotlines and complaint boxes. Every provincial and sub-provincial Board has an
application desk, and should evaluate all applications and ensure appropriate follow up.
All Boards should meet every month and report back to the Human Rights Presidency on
a quarterly basis. Between October 2001 and June 2002, 1192 applications were filed. Of
these, 924 were related directly to human rights violations. Four hundred and twenty of
these cases were investigated, and 146 cases were referred to the judiciary.
There is considerable reluctance on the part of some NGOs to participate in the Human
Rights Boards. This is due to their reservations regarding the composition of the Boards,
which, in some cases, includes members of the security forces."

Document(s): Open document