Human Rights Record Still Bleak
Turkeys acceptation of 6th and 7th harmonization packages on July were very important improvements. We released our evaluation concerning the packages with the six month report. It was 4 months ago, but till now there is no broadcasting in different languages and dialects; the courses in these languages and dialects have not been opened either. These applications can not be accepted and clearly violate the will of the legislative body. Recognized rights and freedoms are restricted by the means of proposals of the regulations. In spite of its deficiencies, the EU's progress report is quite objective. It reflects what happened in the area of human rights and freedoms in Turkey. Its findings and evaluation which determines the existing problems concerning the application are also appropriate. All the issues referred in the report are the pointed out issues by the human rights organizations, the visual media and the press in Turkey.
We would like to emphasize that any positive developments including the question of prisons importantly the isolation question has not been experienced in this period in Turkey.
The IHD has pointed out that Turkey is in the changing process towards democracy. As a human rights organization we are not satisfied with the timing, the qualification and the content of the period. It is observed that the amendments in the Constitution and laws have been carried out slowly, there is unstable application in some rights categories which change according to the heads of the Security Directories, governors and officials in charge of the provincial districts governorships; also there are formal changes in some categories of rights. The process can be made speeder, better qualified in other words deeper and might be possible through the will that should be characterized political resolution.
Torture and inhuman treatment
According to the IHD's data, the number of those who were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment:
* 472 people in the period between January and September 1999,
* 508 people in the same period of 2000,
* 762 people in the same period of 2001,
* 456 people in the same period of 2002,
* 770 people in the same period of 2003
In spite of the amendments on several laws concerning torture, torture can not be prevented.
Since the detention period was decreased to four days and especially in 2003 the use of torture method named Palestinian hanging and torture with electric has decreased mainly. Namely the torture is still widespread and continuing systematically but the methods of torture have changed.
In addition torture out of the detention facilities has increased. As we can follow from the media, the police officers with public uniform and plain cloths torture in the streets of the city centers, in the basements of the apartments or shops or the desert areas outside of the cities where the people are forced transferred by police cars.
We demand that the effective measures should be taken into consideration in the report which includes the suggestions for prevention of torture and presented to the Consultative Committee for Human Rights on July 2003.
Freedom of expression
The developments in the area of freedom of expression for five years are as follows:
Concerning the number of the persons against whom trials were launched:
* 103 people in the period of January- September 1999
* 254 people in the period of January- September 2000
* 1,921 people in the same period of 2001
* 2,432 people in the period of January- September 2002
* 1,292 people in the period of January- September 2003 were launched trials.
Concerning the convictions for expression of the ideas, the situation indicates that these cases have decreased to an half comparatively with last year, but the ideas are still considered as crimes. There is no change in the attitudes, if only the five year period's figures are considered.
While the number of closed organizations, political organizations, publication houses and cultural centers was 127 in the nine months of 1999, this figure decreased to 25 in 2003.
The number of raided organizations, political organizations, publication houses and cultural centers was 250 in 1999. This figure is 48 in 2003.
The number for the confiscated and banned publications was 242 in 1999. This number has decreased to 102 in 2003.
The IHD wants Turkey become a democratic country. It wants all the civilians' human rights and freedoms are to be taken under guarantee. We support all positive developments and steps that are to be adopted and the one that have already been adopted towards the improvement in the issue.
We adopt the attitudes which do not change according to political power's political colors; it changes according to activities and process of political power. Our main concern is that human rights and freedoms should be protected and improved. In this view we record any development either good or bad.
We trust in the dynamism of Turkish Society. Cultural, religion, ethnical and linguistic wealth of our country's people is the country's one. This wealth can and should be motivated on the basis of human rights and freedoms, and democracy.
We demand that the inequality between individuals, social classes, the regions and the principle of social justice is carried out. This is a question of democracy directly. (EK)