2010 ilerleme raporu - Avrupa Birliği Bakanlığı

The draft Law on the Establishment of a Monitoring Commission on Security Forces was
submitted to the Parliament in October. The draft foresees the establishment of a Supervisory
Commission for the registration and monitoring of disciplinary procedures and measures
against law enforcement officers.
However, disproportionate use of force by law enforcement bodies continued. Reports to
NGOs of disproportionate use of firearms by security forces resulting in death have increased.
Ratification of OPCAT has been pending since 2005. (See the chapter on Observance of
international human rights law)
Law enforcement bodies frequently launch cases against persons who allege torture or illtreatment.
Such legal proceedings may deter complaints. In many instances these cases are
given priority by Turkish courts.
No forensic doctors are recognised by courts, apart from the Forensic Medicine Council,
which is under the Ministry of Justice. Law enforcement officers are sometimes present
during medical examination of prisoners.
As regards the fight against impunity, the case concerning the death in detention of Engin
Çeber 12 was brought to conclusion in June 2010. The court sentenced three prison guards and
the deputy director of the prison to life in prison for murder. Two police officers received 7.5
year prison sentences and one police officer received 2.5 year in prison. This is the first
verdict where a court has convicted a senior prison official. However, the efforts to fight
impunity for human rights violations have not sufficiently addressed the backlog of judicial
proceedings. The ECtHR found that the criminal proceedings were still not finalised as
regards members of the security forces who took part in an operation at Diyarbakir prison on
24 September 1996, which had led to the death of eight prisoners and injured six. The ECtHR
condemned Turkey, on several accounts including the lack of an effective investigation into
this case (article 3 of the ECHR). In 2009 the Human Rights Committee of the TGNA found
that very few lawsuits filed against police officers for ill-treatment or torture resulted in a
conviction 13 . Administrative investigations into allegations of torture or ill-treatment are still
carried out by fellow police officers.
Overall, the positive trend on prevention of torture and ill-treatment continued. Some highprofile
cases of human rights violations have resulted in convictions. However,
disproportionate use of force by law enforcement authorities continued and is of concern. The
efforts to fight impunity for human rights violations have not sufficiently addressed the
backlog of judicial proceedings.
There has been some improvement in access to justice in rural areas. However, access to free
legal aid was limited, especially in the south-east. The Istanbul bar boycotted the legal aid
12
13
Engin Çeber was arrested for distributing a legal journal on 28 September 2008. Çeber died as a result
of injuries sustained during torture in a police station in Istanbul and Metris prison on 10 October 2008.
The Human Rights Investigation Committee noted that none of the 35 lawsuits filed against 431
members of the Istanbul police for ill-treatment or torture resulted in a conviction. The committee
concluded that this gives rise to suspicions about the effectiveness of proceedings initiated against law
enforcement agents. According to the same report, only 2% of police officers accused of ill-treatment or
torture are subject to disciplinary sanctions as a result of an administrative investigation into allegations
of torture or ill-treatment. The committee concluded that such investigations should not be carried out
by fellow police officers.
EN 18 EN