Turkey: Commissioner Hammarberg concludes his visit to Diyarbakir and Ankara

KIEV, May 27. (UKRINFORM). The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, concluded today a three-day visit to Diyarbakir and Ankara during which he continued his dialogue with the Turkish authorities, following up on his two reports published in October 2009 regarding the human rights of minorities and refugees, UKRINFORM was told at the Council of Europe Press Service.

In Diyarbakir the Commissioner met with regional and local authorities and NGOs and visited the E-type prison. In Ankara Commissioner Hammarberg held high-level meetings with officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice, as well as with UNHCR and NGOs.

The Commissioner remains deeply concerned by the continuing practice of arresting, detaining and prosecuting children who participate in Kurdish demonstrations in southeast Turkey. In the E-type prison of Diyarbakir, he met with eighteen Kurdish minors aged from 15 to 18, including two girls, who were held in detention for six to nine months for allegedly causing disturbances during their participation in demonstrations considered to be supporting terrorism.

Commissioner Hammarberg stressed that the imprisonment of children is an exceptional measure which should be avoided in principle. Systematically resorting to the detention and imprisonment of children, occasionally with very heavy sentences of more than ten years, runs counter to the fundamental principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the guidelines contained in the Issue Paper on children and juvenile justice, issued by the Commissioner in 2009.

The Commissioner expressed his worry at the dissolution of the pro-Kurdish party DTP last December by decision of the Constitutional Court and at the subsequent arrest of a number of notably Kurdish mayors, including members of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Ms Leyla G?ven, with whom the Commissioner met in Diyarbakir prison, is in detention since last December without any indictment so far.

Commissioner Hammarberg welcomed the legislative reforms under way and invited the Turkish authorities to translate into practice the positive signs of goodwill aimed at resolving persistent issues pertaining to the protection of the human rights of minorities, especially in southeast Turkey. He underlined that in order to achieve this, criminal and anti-terrorism law and practice should be fully and effectively aligned with the established case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

In this context, the Commissioner also drew the attention of the authorities to the question of the internally displaced persons in and out of southeast Turkey and the need to fully respect their right to return home, resettle or integrate locally. An acceleration of the implementation of all relevant action plans is necessary, including the immediate demining of all contaminated areas and the review of the system of village guards. The Commissioner underlined the need to establish an independent, effective complaints mechanism regarding the village guards, in accordance with the guidelines contained in his relevant 2009.

Back to news