20.06.2008 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Gendarmerie (Jandarma): Deployment of Kurdish conscripts ("a-6169 (ACC-TUR-6169)") [ID 23649]

Document(s): Open document

20.06.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Trial of 2 gendarmerie intelligence officers in connection with the November 2005 bombing of a bookshop in Hakkari province ended yesterday; both men are sentenced to imprisonment of 39 years, 5 months and 10 days ("Court convicts two in Semdinli bombing case, but questions remain unanswered") [ID 17672]

Document(s): Open document

10.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Gendarmerie ("Country Report - October 2005") [#40563],  [ID 14451]

"5.97 The EC 2005 report recorded that “The Gendarmerie is connected to the General Staff [army] in terms of its military functions, but affiliated to the Ministry of Interior in terms of its law enforcement functions. The control of the Ministry of Interior, of governors and district governors over the Gendarmerie should be strengthened in order to allow full civilian oversight on internal security policy.” [71e] (p14)

5.98 The USSD 2004 reported that “The Jandarma, paramilitary forces under joint Interior Ministry and military control, are responsible for policing rural areas. The Jandarma are also responsible for specific border sectors where smuggling is common; however, the military has overall responsibility for border control.” [5c] (Section 1d)

5.99 The Netherlands report on military service July 2001 reported that:

“As police powers are restricted to towns and cities, the area outside them falls within the competence of the Jandarma. The Jandarma maintain a network of police posts throughout Turkey. Police duties include both maintaining public order and enquires into offences. This means that the Jandarma are responsible for police duties in 93.5% of Turkish territory.” [2b] (p7)

5.100 The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2002 reported that “In addition to policing, the Jandarma also have to combat smuggling, guard the outer perimeters of prisons and trace fugitives evading military service. Conscripts make up 90% of their strength. The jandarma have their own intelligence service: the JITEM.” [2a] (p21)"

Document(s): Open document

07.07.2004 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

Women at particular risk of being subjected to sexual torture ("Violence Against Women - 10 reports - year 2003") [#24621],  [ID 14452]

"Women in Turkey are particularly at risk of being subjected to sexual torture. Forms of torture inflicted upon women include electro-shocks to the genitals, standing for long periods of time, being forced to strip and stand naked in front of male guards, forced virginity tests, beatings targeting the genitals and breasts, use of high-pressure water hoses, and sexual abuse including rape and threats of rape. Moreover, threats of rape are often compounded by police taunts that rape will deprive women of their virginity and their honour.
These kinds of torture and ill-treatment of women are part of the broader context of widespread and systematic use of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the police and gendarmes in Turkey. [...]"

Document(s): Introduction and Contents
Cover Turkey

20.10.2003 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

Report focussed on internal displacement as a major concern in the OSCE area/ 3 million people who were forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflict or human rights violations still wait for durable solutions to their plight ("Protecting internally displaced persons in the OSCE area: A neglected commitment") [#17054],  [ID 14453]

"The most common form of displacement was the forced eviction of entire villages by Turkish security forces. The Government justified this practice as a means of protecting civilians and depriving the PKK of logistical support. Another factor leading to displacement has been the "village guard" system. Village guards, comprised of villagers pressured to join, and their families have been the target of deliberate and arbitrary killing by the PKK. The refusal of villagers to join the guard has often been followed by the evacuation of their villages by Turkish security forces, carried out in the most brutal ways, with reports of property destruction, rape, torture and extra-judicial executions. The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey responsible for violations of the European Human Rights Conventions in numerous cases of arbitrary evictions, property destruction, disappearances and torture. [...]

However, a number of serious impediments to return remain. According to Human Rights Watch, inadequate government assistance and continued violence and harassment by security forces and village guards discourage returns or even cause returnees to flee again. The Government's return plans have failed to meet international standards and have therefore not attracted international funding. With regard to the `Back to the Villages' programme, only a few villagers have in fact been given permission to return to their homes. Moreover, "authorised" returnees have often not been allowed to enter their villages by the local military, or have been forced to sign forms stating that they were displaced due to terrorism. HRW has criticised the programme as being largely fictional with most abandoned settlements remaining no-go areas."

Document(s): Open document

30.09.2003 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Report focused on latest human rights developments in the member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ("Interventions and Recommendations by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) on the Occasion of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting Warsaw, 6-17 October 2003") [#16408],  [ID 14454]

"In addition to the above, there has been poor progress in the return of the estimated 380,000 to one million people who had been internally displaced from the south-eastern regions. According to Human Rights Watch, the Turkish government, security forces and paramilitaries were obstructing the return although active hostilities ceased in 1999. As a result, it appears that no more than 10% had ventured home by late 2002. In some cases local authorities forbid people to return, in others return is officially permitted but returning villagers are greeted with harassment, detention and attacks by the gendarmerie and village guards. Some have to flee a second time."

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2002 - Source: Council of the European Union

Netherlands delegation to CIREA: In the countryside, policing is performed by the jandarma ("Note from the Netherlands delegation to CIREA: Official general report on Turkey, January 2002" Rf. 7838/02") [#7991],  [ID 14455]

"In the countryside, policing is performed by the jandarma, who take their orders from more than one source. For training and special duties, the jandarma come under the General Staff, for arms and equipment under the army and for security and public order under the Ministry of the Interior.
Policing involves both maintaining law and order and investigating any offences committed. The jandarma are thus responsible for policing throughout 93,5% of Turkey. In addition to policing, the jandarma also have to combat smuggling, guard the outer perimeters of prisons and trace fugitives evading military service. Conscripts make up over 90% of their strength. The jandarma have their own intelligence service: the JİTEM.
For the purposes of combating the PKK, the armed forces have some 200 000 troops stationed in the south-east, including highly trained commandos. There have also all along been special teams (Özel Tim, plural: Özel Timler), coming under the army, police or jandarma, involved in combating the PKK. Some 15 000 to 20 000 members of such teams, all of whom have volunteered upon completion of their national service, are heavily armed and specially trained in anti-guerrilla warfare."

Document(s): Open document