RIGHTS GROUP SAYS TURKEY’S STRUGGLE AGAINST TORTURE FAILING
Agence France Presse — English
February 27, 2007 Tuesday
Turkey’s main human rights group charged Tuesday that the government’s
bid to curb torture is failing, with no significant progress recorded
in 2006.
The Human Rights Association (IHD) said in a report on countrywide
rights violations last year that the number of incidents of torture
and maltreatment fell only to 708 from 825 in 2005.
"This figure shows that there is no real effort to eradicate torture,"
IHD chairman Yusuf Alatas said. "If about 700 cases are still recorded
in a country whose government pledges zero tolerance to torture,
then something is wrong."
"If the struggle is genuine, then it is insufficient," he said.
The report alleged an increase in rights violations in several
categories, including arrests at demonstrations, police searches at
non-governmental organisations and the banning of publications.
The IHD also highlighted restrictions on free speech and the
prosecution of intellectuals, one of the most contentious issues
on Ankara’s political agenda since the January 19 killing of ethnic
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
The report said 513 people were taken to court and 226 convicted last
year in cases which the IHD said breached the freedom of thought,
expression and conscience.
Alatas said the main reason behind the increases was the rekindled
Kurdish insurgency in the southeast, which had resulted in heavy-handed
responses by the local authorities.
Torture has long been a black mark on Turkey’s rights record and the
government has pledged a policy of "zero tolerance" to the practice.
The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, said in a
report in November that cases of torture and ill-treatment were on
the decline, but said cases of torture outside detention centres and
the impunity of accused officials remained a concern.
Alatas said the figures in the IHD report were compiled from the
association’s own investigations, complaints filed to the group and
media reports.