Metin Bakkalcı1
As in previous years, we are sharing with you the “Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers Report” on the work of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) in providing treatment and rehabilitation services to individuals subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
The HRFT was established in 1990 by 32 human rights defenders and the Human Rights Association (İHD) as a result of efforts within the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Human Rights Association (İHD).
Since its establishment in 1990, the HRFT has provided treatment and rehabilitation services to more than 22,750 individuals subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. It is a human rights organization recognized nationally and internationally for its scientific work on the identification, documentation, and reparation of torture and other ill-treatment. Furthermore, the HRFT’s founding objectives include producing periodic or non-periodic publications and documentation, conducting scientific research, and providing education aimed at preventing torture and other serious human rights violations, as defined in international human rights documents and domestic law.
The services offered by the HRFT to address the physical, mental, and social problems faced by torture survivors are carried out by interdisciplinary teams of hundreds of professionals and volunteers from a wide range of fields, primarily healthcare workers.
The HRFT continues its work on the treatment and rehabilitation of torture survivors at four treatment and rehabilitation centers in the provinces of Diyarbakır, İstanbul, İzmir, and Van. In 2024, 722 individuals applied to our centers requesting an assessment of the torture processes they or their relatives had been subjected to. Comprehensive data and assessments regarding our applicants for treatment and rehabilitation processes are included in the following sections of our report.
The HRFT has become a school in terms of documenting and reporting torture cases and contributing to the treatment and rehabilitation processes of torture survivors. The HRFT has been one of the key actors in the preparation of the 2022 edition, regarding all stages of the İstanbul Protocol’s creation process, including the first meeting in 1996 when the idea of creating the İstanbul Protocol was first proposed, and in ensuring that its fundamental approach, scope, and principles are strictly preserved. Following the agreement signed between the UN and the HRFT granting the latter the right to translate the 2022 edition of the İstanbul Protocol into Turkish, without it being an official translation, just as was the case 22 years ago with the first edition of the İstanbul Protocol, the Turkish translation and publication of the İstanbul Protocol was completed by the HRFT and shared with the public on 10 June 2023. Based on the updated training modules, which were revised using the 2022 edition of the İstanbul Protocol as a reference, the İstanbul Protocol Trainer Training program was conducted in 2024. We would like to share that our colleagues who participated in the Trainer Training will also launch İstanbul Protocol training programs in 2025.
Many torture and ill-treatment survivors are also affected by other components of complex trauma. In order to achieve the most comprehensive recovery possible, the HRFT has been working since 2004 to develop a holistic and multidisciplinary program, in addition to medical support, to address complex and ongoing social trauma.
The HRFT regularly monitors human rights violations in Turkey and publishes daily and annual human rights reports in two languages (Turkish and English), as well as reports specific to particular violations and incidents, with the aim of revealing them accurately, quickly, and continuously, thereby preventing violations.
In an environment where the entire country has been transformed into a place of torture, where human rights violations have become the norm and the exercise of rights an exception, and where civil society has been shut down in an attempt to destroy values, the HRFT contributes to the consolidation of public life based on the foundational role of human rights through new programs developed based on its accumulated experience. Within this scope, a comprehensive project/program was carried out between 1 March 2021 and 31 August 2024, in collaboration with İHD, FIDH, and OMCT. This project/program sought to broaden the base of the human rights struggle in six regions of Turkey (Çukurova, Eastern Anatolia, Aegean, Southeast, Central Anatolia, and Marmara); to build bridges between local and national efforts; and to strengthen human rights actors at all levels, including the establishment of preventive and protective mechanisms. The follow-up project/program, which started on 1 January 2025 and will last for three and a half years, is entitled “A Bottom-up Approach for Supporting and Protecting Human Rights Actors”.
Undoubtedly, all of these efforts are being realized through the joint efforts of the members of the Founders’ Board, the Board of Directors, and the HRFT’s staff, who have been working with great dedication, both materially and spiritually, for years, as well as hundreds of sensitive individuals from different social groups and fields of expertise, primarily health workers, lawyers, and human rights defenders, who have come together for the same purpose across the country.
Finally, we would like to once again express our gratitude to all of our friends who contribute to our work and stand by us, and to all relevant institutions, particularly the Turkish Medical Association and the Human Rights Association, which have supported our work from the very beginning.
1 M.D., HRFT Chairperson