AK PARTY HAS ROOM TO IMPROVE IN HUMAN RIGHTS REFORM — REPORT
AyÞe Karabat Ankara
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 16 2007
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has given a
number of reassurances relating to the health, welfare and freedoms
of its citizens during its time in power. However, although it has
kept some of these promises, it has also fallen short of the mark in
many instances.
One of the promises of the AK Party government, as stated in its
"emergency action plan," was that — within one month — "arrangements
related to basic rights and freedoms will be speedily made within
the framework of universally recognized standards and norms and the
EU criteria." However one the obstacles to freedom of expression
in Turkey, namely Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), was
actually prepared by the AK Party government. This article makes
insulting "Turkishness" a crime. Since this article became law,
charges have been brought in more than 60 cases, some of which
have been against high-profile figures, including Nobel Laureate
Orhan Pamuk. Despite the fact that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, in
the wake of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink —
earlier prosecuted under Article 301 — declared that "in its current
form there are certain problems with Article 301. We see now that
there are changes that must be made to this law" the article still
remains intact.
The AK Party government also promised that "all the amendments required
to be made to judicial services and procedures for establishment of
justice shall be realized quickly in a fast and timely manner." It
said that this would be done within a period of one year. The
government made some changes in the TCK and also to the Code of
Criminal Procedures. These changes in the law honored most of the
promises, but were not implemented; instead some steps back were
taken. For example, without the permission of public prosecutors,
the police will not be allowed to carry out searches or detentions.
However this principle was criticized by some segments of society as
a way of tying the hands of the police, so the government gave on
its implementation. Some reforms were made in order to enforce the
defense in the courts, such as cross examination, but these needed
amendments to the structure of the courts that have not yet been made.
Another promise in the emergency action plan was as follows: "Turkey
will urgently be based on a state of law. To this end all kinds of
legal arrangements will be made and related applications will be
followed up very closely," but the government was not able to shed
light on some controversial cases, such as Þemdinli.
Two noncommissioned officers and a former member of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been jailed for their role in the
bombing of a bookshop in the eastern township of Þemdinli near Hakkari
in 2005. For many the bombing confirmed suspicions that the military
in Turkey sometimes acted outside the law. Local prosecutor Ferhat
Sarýkaya — who indicted some high-ranking army personnel, including
the now Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt, who called one of
the soldiers concerned a "good boy" — was later removed from office
and barred from the legal profession. Buyukanýt called the Þemdinli
affair a "legal disaster" that he said had involved an attempt to
defame the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan, in a statement, termed the remarks by the top commander
"proper" and "statesmanlike."
The government also promised to increase transparency by holding
regular meetings with other political parties, nongovernmental
organizations and media organizations for information sharing and
an exchange of opinions. Erdoðan once held a meeting with "Kurdish
intellectuals," but did not take further steps in this regard.
As far as the social policy goes, the government kept its promise
to "urgently identify the families below the starvation line and
implement effective support programs for such families within
three months." However, its statement that "correcting income
distribution and protecting poor segments of society will be taken
into consideration in all kinds of arrangements to be made in the
field of social policies" was not totally adhered to. Mean while the
promise that "basic education and health support will be provided
to children of poor families" was also kept; poor families now get
regular state aid for their school-age children.
Meanwhile there were scandals in state-run childcare, like that
at the Malatya orphanage where toddlers were seriously beaten and
abused. Elsewhere some youngsters supposedly under state protection
were proven to be missing.
The government at the education sector promised administrative and
academic autonomy along with the restructuring of the Higher Education
Board (YOK). The government prepared a draft bill on the matter, but
since it included the removal of obstacles to imam-hatip high school
graduates entering universities, the bill was vetoed by President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The government did not pursue the matter.
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