14 bars urge authorities to prevent male violence

* Photo: Evrim Kepenek / bianet (We are here, we don't fear, we don't hush)

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Bar association chairs of 14 eastern provinces of Turkey have released a joint statement after meeting upon the call of Bingöl Bar Association.

Commemorating the healthcare workers who have lost their lives due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on the occasion of March 14 Medicine Day yesterday, the bar association chairs have raised concerns over a series of current issues on Turkey's public agenda such as the ongoing hunger strikes in prisons and male violence against women.

Noting that the general assembly meetings of bar associations have been unlawfully prevented due to the pandemic since October 2020, the bar associations have also urged the authorities to remove the obstacles standing in the way of bar elections and to introduce a legal arrangement to eliminate the current chaos in that regard.

'There is a need for a reform'

Underlining that "Turkey has major deficiencies in terms of its legislation," the bars have stressed that "the real problem stems from practice."

"We would like to once again emphasize that there is a need for a mental reform as much as for a legislative reform," the bars have said.

"The first and most important step to be taken for a reform is, without a doubt, to ensure that the domestic courts enforce the ECtHR and Constitutional Court judgements without delay," the bar associations have said, noting that "it will also be a sign of sincerity about reforms."

"We, as the undersigned bar associations, will meticulously follow up the steps to be taken by the government about this issue. We demand that the legal arrangements be introduced so that the targets and aims expressed in the human rights action plan will be put into practice as soon as possible," the bar associations have stressed further.

Hunger strikes

The 14 bar associations have also commented on the hunger strikes in Turkey's prisons. "It is a known fact that hunger strikes lead to highly grave consequences for prisoners' health," they have said.

"The legal demands must be met and hunger strikes must be ended so that no grave consequences will be faced. We would like to indicate that we are ready to take up the necessary duties and responsibilities in ending hunger strikes, as we did in the past," the bars have noted.

Raising concerns about strip search of prisoners while they are being admitted into prisons and transferred to another prison, the bar associations have defined strip search as a form of torture and ill treatment and demanded an immediate end to this practice.

Referring to the allegations of torture and ill treatment during detentions and house raids by security forces as well, the bar associations have also requested an effective and swift investigation into the related allegations and an end to the policy of impunity for such actions.

'Enforce the İstanbul Convention'

Concluding their statement, the 14 bar associations have also elaborated on male violence against women in Turkey.

According to the statement of the bars, at least 67 women lost their lives as a result of male violence in Turkey in the first 3 months of 2021. Underlining that dozens of times more women were subjected to physical and psychological violence in this period, the bars have said:

"In order to prevent these incidents of murder and violence against women, we request that the authorities fully enforce the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women and the İstanbul Convention, which we are a party to, and that specialty units be formed within the law enforcement and judiciary about this issue."

Expressing their disapproval for the debates on Turkey's possible withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention in such a context, the bars have said, "We urge the state, with its all institutions and means, to wage a struggle so that violence against women and feminicides can be prevented."

The undersigned bars: Adıyaman Bar Association, Ağrı Bar Association, Batman Bar Association, Bingöl Bar Association, Bitlis Bar Association, Dersim Bar Association, Diyarbakır Bar Association, Hakkari Bar Association, Mardin Bar Association, Muş Bar Association, Siirt Bar Association, Şırnak Bar Association, Urfa Bar Association, Van Bar Association.

(EMK/SD)