06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Arrest and detention (as of 2006) ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19000]

"Warrants issued by a prosecutor are required for arrests unless the suspect is caught in the commission of a crime. A suspect may be detained for 24 hours, with prosecutorial discretion to extend the period to 48 hours, excluding transportation time, before being arraigned by a judge. There is a functioning bail system. After arraignment, the judge may release the accused upon receipt of an appropriate assurance, such as bail, or order detention if the court determines that the accused is likely to flee the jurisdiction or destroy evidence. The law provides that detainees are entitled to immediate access to an attorney and to meet and confer with an attorney at any time. The law provides that indigent detainees be provided a public attorney at government expense.

Private attorneys and human rights monitors reported irregular implementation of these regulations, particularly with respect to attorney access. According to a number of local bar associations, attorney access for detainees improved during the year, but varied widely across the country. Numerous bar association representatives and human rights organizations reported that in urban areas most detainees consulted with attorneys soon after being detained, while in rural areas, particularly the southeast, there was a higher number of cases where defendants did not have immediate access to an attorney. The HRA observed an increase in the percentage of detainees consulting with attorneys but maintained that the numerous detainees did not exercise this right.

Human rights observers noted that in most cases where a defendant could not afford an attorney, one was provided; however, in terrorism-related cases an attorney was frequently not provided until after the suspect had been detained and interrogated by security forces. Provincial bar associations reported that they faced increasing difficulties providing such attorneys because the government was behind on compensation payments for such work. The Izmir Bar Association reported that the government owed it between $5.6 and $9.2 million ($8-13 million lira).

HRA claimed police often intimidated detainees who asked for attorneys, for example by telling them a court would assume they were guilty if they consulted an attorney during detention. Detainees were generally allowed prompt access to family members; however, human rights organizations reported that since October, they have been hindered from helping families find out whether a relative has been detained because the government began to refuse to release such information to the organizations.

During the year police routinely detained demonstrators (see section 2.b.). Police detained several members of the former DEHAP on various occasions (see section 3). Police continued to detain and harass members of human rights organizations and monitors (see section 4). Police continued to detain persons on suspicion of links to Turkish Hizballah.

Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. The law provides detainees the right to request speedy arraignment and trial; however, judges have ordered that some suspects be detained indefinitely, at times for years. Approximately half of the prison inmates held during the year were convicts; the other half were either awaiting trial or held during trial proceedings."

Document(s): Open document

10.2005 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

Detention ("Country Report - October 2005") [#40563],  [ID 13613]

"5.71 The EC 2005 report stated that:

“Article 141 of the Constitution limits the length of pre-trial detention by providing for the right to be judged within a reasonable time. Under Article 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a person who has been arrested shall in general be brought before a court within twenty four hours; in exceptional cases, this period may be extended to a maximum of four days. A person who has been remanded in custody awaiting trial may be detained, under Article 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code, for up to six months if accused of a minor offence and two years if accused of a serious offence; in exceptional cases, this period may be extended to three years.” [71e] (p105-106)

5.72 As outlined in the January-February 2005 issue of Newspot:

“According to the new law [the new Penal Procedural Law (CMUK)], suspects cannot remain in police custody for more than 24 hours. Those arrested and brought to court will not be handcuffed. Police will inform individuals taken into custody of their legal rights. Prosecutors will have the right to extend the period of detainment for a consecutive three days, if gathering evidence is difficult…Detainees suspected of crimes which stipulate punishment for less than two years will no longer be imprisoned for the duration of the trial.” [36l] On 27 May 2005, the Turkish Daily News reported that the parliamentary General Assembly had passed a bill that amended the Criminal Procedures Law (CMK) effective from 1 June 2005. “The maximum time in custody before appearing in a relevant court will be 24 hours. Suspects facing charges carrying a fine or prison sentence of less than a year will not be detained beyond arrest and booking.” [23ah]

5.73 The USSD 2004 noted that “Except when police apprehend suspects in the commission of a crime, a prosecutor must issue a detention order for a person to be taken into custody. The maximum detention period for persons charged with individual common crimes is 24 hours. Persons charged with collective common crimes can be held for 48 hours.” [5c] (Section 1d)

5.74 The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre ‘Report of fact-finding mission to Turkey (7-17 October 2004)’ related that:

“According to Mr. Islambay, law enforcement authorities are required to report to the Public Prosecutor on each case-inquiry. This report – Fezleke – contains all information available on the case, such as the type of the crime, names of witnesses, victims, suspects, date of the crime and so on…According to Mr. Islambay, the attorney is entitled to receive a copy of the documents from the Prosecutors Office and would thus have access to this subject index if verification was required…A person claiming to have been summoned to criminal proceedings or to commencement of sentence should be able to give documentary evidence of that…Both Mr. Islambay and Mr. Turan claimed that persons on the run could not get access to en [sic] (authentic) warrant. He or she (or the attorney) would get a copy of the document at the earliest after detention.” [16] (p22-23)

5.75 The Turkish Ministry of the Interior stated in a report of September 2003: “In our country [Turkey] detention is carried out by the security forces whereas arrest is a court decision. Nonetheless the police can detain a person on their initiative but have to inform [the] Public Prosecutor’s Office within 24 hours.” [17]

5.76 According to figures obtained from the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD/HRA) large numbers of Turkish citizens are detained by the police but never arrested.

Date Number of persons detained Number of persons arrested
1998 42,991 3,659
1999 50,318 2,105
2000 35,007 1,937
2001 44,181 2,955
2002 21,612 1,148
2003 9,648 1,196
2004 6,391 774
[73a] (p1) [73b] (p1) [73c] (p1) [73d] (p1) [73e] (p1) [73f] (p3) [73g] (p2) [4j]"

Document(s): Open document

10.01.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Arbitrary detention of family members of wanted persons (an alleged member of PKK in the present case) still common (expert opinion, in German) ("Stellungnahme vom 10.1.2005 an VG Sigmaringen - A 8 K 10281/03 -") [#28406],  [ID 13614]

Document(s): Open document