PREFACE
The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) is a specialized organization founded in 1990 and aims to provide people who have been subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment and punishments, with physical and mental treatment and rehabilitation services and document cases in five treatment and rehabilitation centers, existing today (Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakır, İstanbul and İzmir).
This report has been written to make a current evaluation of the work of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers of the HRFT and also pursues the aim to achieve a better understanding of the problem in question in Turkey.
By the beginning of the year 2004, a number of 9757 people had applied to our Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers in five cities. With the addition of 692 further applicants, the total number of applicants reached 10449 by the end of 2004. As stated in the previous years, the meaning of the interdependency constituted by this project can be better understood when the families and friends of each applicant are taken into consideration.
Some hundreds of health workers, in both professional and voluntary capacity, give health services in multidisciplinary teams for the treatment of the physical, psychological and social problems of the applicants.
There have been positive developments in 2005 such as a decline in applications to us, a relative decrease in the numbers of people subjected to torture, relatively decreased detention periods and relatively easy access to lawyers. Beyond the European Union Harmonization Process, it should be noted that the HRFT, HRA, and the other concerned institutions have contributed greatly to those developments, which are considered to be positive ones.
There have doubtlessly been positive legal-administrational developments regarding torture in recent times. Despite the positive developments mentioned above, however, the characteristic quality of this whole process is that as yet there is no sincere determination, especially no political determination when it comes to the absolute prevention of torture. The discourse “zero tolerance to torturer” stated by the government officials fall short of reality since impunity is still on the agenda for legal, executive fields, and in practice.
- The applications to HRFT in 2005 refer to a downturn in the number of police headquarters, subjected to torture charges (25.9%). However, a marked increase in the torture cases out of official detention places is extremely crucial considering both their consequences and the general tendency in our country.
- During the course of the year, the torture cases in consequence of seemingly premeditated abduction cases have drawn particular attention. Such cases prove that the torture can be applied when it is needed and that it can absolutely exist favorable political conditions.
- Widespread and systematic use of violence by security forces has been observed especially during demonstrations.
- The fact that the implementations in prisons play a crucial role to reproduce violence has to be fixed by our study.
The torture cases experienced mainly in Diyarbak›r at the end of March 2006 prove that the authority can use force when it needs. The draft law on Law to Fight Terrorism on Spring 2006 refers also a matter of concern on democracy. The amendments in the Turkish Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedures taking effect on 1 June 2005 have eroded some recent positive arrangements.
The Treatment project not only provides treatment services but also includes work on the improvement of the quality of this service by organizing training, scientific research, and scientific events. A large number of national and international meetings were organized and attended with this aim. The HRFT has become a significant source of reference both in Turkey and abroad as time passed, thus its contribution to a large number of the program on the prevention of torture has been demanded by various organizations.
In addition to various training programs implemented by itself or in alliance with other organizations on the national level, the participation of our Foundation in the Istanbul Protocol Training Project in five countries (Morocco, Georgia, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Uganda) along with the IRCT, the World Medical Association, and the PHR-USA, has demonstrated the expertise of the HRFT in this area. The HRFT has also undertaken the task of “training committee coordinator” under the scope of the Istanbul Protocol Training Project which will be implemented in 10 countries in collaboration with the IRCT for 2006-2008.
The meetings, “An Approach to Traumatized Community” held in Diyarbakır on 11-12 December 2004 and “Mental Trauma” held in Istanbul on 1-4 December 2005 were to put forth the importance of “the center for training, research, and implementation on torture and trauma” for consideration.
The HRFT is also a point of reference both in Turkey and abroad for training on torture.
A special issue on our agenda arose from the fact that a large number of the 3000 prisoners naturally applied to our Treatment Centers. These were set free at the end of the year due to the regulations of the New Turkish Penal Code, which came into force on 1st June 2005 and in the drafting of the topics on “torture” of which the HRFT endeavored to be directly involved. This development has shaped itself into an intensive issue on our agenda, at least in the period at hand.
The practice of “isolating prisoners in F-type prisons, especially in single or three-person cells” stayed the agenda, which received a “legal” character, when the “Law on Execution of Sentences” came into force In the last period of 2004. This was especially the case, since the experiences with the Type F prisons and the related hunger strikes were continued, even though the number of the strikers fell considerably. Furthermore, a special issue on our agenda has been the reincarceration of those prisoners facing health problems due to their hunger strike, which had been set free but were put in prison again on the basis of the reports, submitted by the same Forensic Medicine Institute, that their health was returned to norill.
The recent refugee programs, aimed at turning refugees back to their own countries, have created special requests to our treatment and rehabilitation centers. To find out the possibilities for the treatment of refugees, as a foremost condition for turning back, has been one of the fields which we are dealing with.
The studies on documentation and alternative forensic medicine have been sustained in 2005.
According to the article 67/6 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure taking effect on 1 June 2005, “Public prosecutor, participant, assignee, suspected person, defense lawyer or legal representative can ask a scientific opinion on the case from an expert on survey report or in order to evaluate this opinion during the preparation period of the survey report. Depending only on this account, a period of grace cannot be demanded”. Thus, it is estimated that the function of HRFT having expertise knowledge will increase.
The issue of “refugees” has become a more important issue on our agenda with regard to our work on treatment and rehabilitation because of various reasons like growing inequality in the world and especially the efforts of “so-called developed countries” to limit human mobility and, additionally, to accelerate programs aiming to send refugees back to their home countries.
The work of the HRFT is the work of hundreds of sensitive people, health professionals, and human rights advocates, concentrated around a common aim in different cities of the country. We would like to thank all our friends who contributed to our work and to all associated institutions, who supported our work from the very beginning, especially the Human Rights Association and the Turkish Medical Association.