E/CN.4/1999/61/Add.1
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11.
In the course of the 1990s there have been improvements in the framing
of legislation (see chaps. II and III) and in human rights education.
Educational measures have included the introduction of human rights courses in
school curricula and in training programmes for the security forces, as well
as for prison staff and other public administrators. Also, in the past few
years, the Ministers of the Interior and Justice have organized workshops on
human rights throughout Turkey for governors, prefects and the security forces
and, in 1998, two seminars on human rights for governors and chiefs of police
and jandarma.
12.
The Human Rights Coordinating High Committee was established
on 9 April 1997, under the chairmanship of the Minister of State in Charge of
Human Rights and consisting of under-secretaries from the Prime Minister's
Office and the Ministries of Justice, the Interior, Foreign Affairs, National
Education and Health, as well as representatives of other bodies necessary for
the implementation of its functions. This body has undertaken important
initiatives, drafting or amending legislation, to prevent the use of torture
and punish those who practise torture and ill-treatment.
13.
However, these developments apparently have not yet been successful in
eliminating the use of torture. Many non-governmental sources maintained that
these measures were merely “cosmetic”.
14.
The pattern of torture appears to have changed in the past few years,
with the practice becoming less brutal in some places. Now, owing to shorter
custody periods, some security forces carrying out interrogations avoid
leaving visible signs on detainees. As can be seen from the annex, they use
methods such as blindfolding, stripping the victims naked, hosing them with
high-pressure cold water and then exposing them to a ventilator, squeezing the
testicles, using grossly insulting language and intimidation, such as threats
to their life and physical integrity or those of their families. Similarly,
instead of outright rape, sexual harassment and threat of rape are used
against women. With regard to common criminals, beating is sometimes used,
more as a means of correction than of extracting a confession. Falaka
(beating on the soles of the feet), “Palestinian hanging” (hands tied behind
the back and the body suspended by the tied hands), and electric shocks are
reportedly used less frequently, especially in Ankara and Diyarbakir but,
nevertheless, still occur in some areas of the country. Some patterns of
torture previously typical of the south-east of Turkey have recently appeared
in cities like Aydin and Manisa, allegedly because police officers were
transferred there from the south-east. The Turkish Parliamentary Commission
for Human Rights is itself reported to have found evidence of torture in
police custody in the south-east. A Reuters despatch on 3 April 1998 quoted
Dr. Sema PiÕkinsüt, Head of the Parliamentary Commission, as declaring at a
news conference that she had “seen the signs of torture ... electric and
telephone cables, truncheons, pipes, water in interrogation rooms”.
15.
The sources indicated that most cases of torture or ill-treatment
occurred in the custody period before remand or release. Torture is allegedly
still widely practised on those suspected of crimes falling under the
jurisdiction of the State Security Courts (in particular terrorist offences)
and, among common criminals, on those charged with theft. According to some