26 June was the "International Day in Support of Victims of Torture". The Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) and the Human Rights Association (İHD) marked the day with a press conference at the TİHV Istanbul branch on Saturday (25 June). Representatives of the human rights organizations described the problems regarding the prevention of torture and talked about their struggle against torture with special emphasis on the "statute of limitation" for cases of torture and ill-treatment.
The human rights defenders said that Turkey should sign the United Nations (UN) International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. They furthermore called on the Turkish government to implement the International Prevention Mechanisms base on the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) that was approved on 12 March this year.
The press conference was chaired by the Secretary General of TİHV, Metin Bakkalcı, the Branch President of İHD Istanbul, Abdülbaki Boğa and lawyer Gülizar Tuncer. Moreover, brief statements were made by representatives of the Istanbul Medical Chamber and the Turkish Medical Association.
İHD Branch President Bakkalcı emphasized that it was not possible to prevent torture with the enforcement of certain laws only as long as the applications have not been implemented.
"Torture is strictly forbidden by law but still applied by several governments" Bakkalcı said and reminded the incidents around anti-government demonstrations in Hopa (north-east) just prior to the parliamentary elections on 12 June. Demonstrators mostly from pre-dominantly Kurdish provinces protested against the death of demonstrator Metin Lokumcu and were exposed to ill-treatment, Bakkalcı indicated.
"Autohriy based on violence"
"Ever since the amendments in the Police Duty and Authority Law (PVSK), the violence frequently used by the police forces in police vehicles, on the street and in public became a method of punishment and suppression. This way, a kind of authority was being established" Bakkalcı criticized.
"The violence applied by the police forces in recent years and especially before the elections was dominated by the uncontrolled and intensive use of tear gas".
"In 2010, 363 people applied to the TİHV Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres because of torture. 280 people applied by 21 June 2011, 134 of whom claimed that they experienced torture".
"İHD data for 2010 revealed that 280 persons were exposed to torture in police custody and 138 in detention centres. The number of people tortured and ill-treated in prison amounted to 512".
"The struggle against impunity and the closure of torture cases by prescription are vital issues. Applying the statute of limitations to this sort of trials is irrational. Several cases related to torture have been closed by prescription in Turkey".
"Moreover, Turkey has to sign the UN OPCAT agreement that has been signed by 88 countries. After having signed OPCAT, the member states are obliged to establish International Prevention Mechanisms"
"The effective investigation and documentation of torture is one of the most important measures to prevent torture. Also the UN 'Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment', commonly known as the Istanbul Protocol (IP) is none of the most crucial tools", Bakkalcı concluded. (AS/VK)