Cop violence up due to the culture of impunity
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 06, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - The 80-page report, ’Closing Ranks against Accountability - Barriers to Tackling Police Violence in Turkey,’ reveals that at least 28 cases of police violence since June 2007 and seven police shootings since June have been fatal.
’Complaints have increased and convictions have decreased since 2007, according to data. If governments do not take action to change that, then it means the reforms are in trouble,’ says Kenneth Roth
The latest amendments to Turkey’s police laws are a contradiction to the government’s reform agenda to prevent cases of torture and other human rights violations, a recent human rights report has revealed.
These laws, in combination with a failure to prosecute abusive police officers, have also led to a rise in police violence, the report also said.
"There is an entrenched culture of impunity, especially among police officers," said Kenneth Roth, head of the New York-based Human Rights Watch in a press conference. "We call on the government to remove the culture of impunity, which is the main reason behind the increase in police misconduct and violence," Roth said.
The 80-page report, "Closing Ranks against Accountability Ğ Barriers to Tackling Police Violence in Turkey," has revealed at least 28 cases of police violence since June 2007 and seven police shootings since June 2008 have been fatal.
Other data released by the Prime Ministry Human Rights Commission, but not included in the report, revealed in 2007 around 133 people had complained to the commission of ill-treatment and 29 people of torture. During the first six months of 2008, the numbers had already exceeded the previous year with 178 ill-treatment and 60 torture complaints. "There are a series of government polices and practices that have contributed to the rise in police violence," said Roth, who added the legal changes in June 2007 that granted police broad powers to use lethal force and to arbitrarily stop and search have worked against Turkey’s reforms.
The report said those people who filed complaints against police were often prosecuted, while investigations into complaints were often tainted by police interference. Police officers obfuscate evidence or do not call the prosecutors to the scene in time.
The justice ministry said 2,854 complaints were filed against the police in 2006 for alleged torture or excessive force. In 2007 there were 3,339 such complaints and 21 police officers had been convicted and sent to prison for using excessive force, according to Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher of Human Rights Watch.
"Complaints have increased and convictions have decreased since 2007, according to the data. If governments do not take action to change that, then it means the reforms are in trouble," Roth said.
A new law that authorises the police to arbitrarily stop people and ask for proof of identity has also been controversial. "People feel they are stopped without any justification and police misconduct cases have increased since that amendment came in," Roth said.
Another amendment to the law that has resulted in an increase in torture cases is the anti-terror law, which enables the detention of suspects for 24 hours without being allowed any contact with anyone but police, not even a lawyer. "We all know these types of laws enable torture to occur all over the world," Roth said.
Roth said he understood that Turkey was fighting terrorism and understood the situation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
"I stood against the Bush administration in the cases of violation of human rights in the name of the fight against terrorism. My position is same for the Turkey," he said.
Politicians do not
accept the rise in violence
The group met with three politicians in Ankara and Roth said, "the most disappointing meeting was with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek." Roth said Çiçek "refused to acknowledge there was any problem of police violence. He refused to acknowledge any problem with the law. He gave examples of human rights violations in European countries without acknowledging that these do not change Turkey’s situation."
"To the contrary, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay was very positive in his approach to us," said Roth.
The latest amendments to Turkey’s police laws are a contradiction to the government’s reform agenda to prevent cases of torture and other human rights violations, a recent human rights report has revealed.
These laws, in combination with a failure to prosecute abusive police officers, have also led to a rise in police violence, the report also said.
"There is an entrenched culture of impunity, especially among police officers," said Kenneth Roth, head of the New York-based Human Rights Watch in a press conference. "We call on the government to remove the culture of impunity, which is the main reason behind the increase in police misconduct and violence," Roth said.
The 80-page report, "Closing Ranks against Accountability Ğ Barriers to Tackling Police Violence in Turkey," has revealed at least 28 cases of police violence since June 2007 and seven police shootings since June 2008 have been fatal.
Other data released by the Prime Ministry Human Rights Commission, but not included in the report, revealed in 2007 around 133 people had complained to the commission of ill-treatment and 29 people of torture. During the first six months of 2008, the numbers had already exceeded the previous year with 178 ill-treatment and 60 torture complaints. "There are a series of government polices and practices that have contributed to the rise in police violence," said Roth, who added the legal changes in June 2007 that granted police broad powers to use lethal force and to arbitrarily stop and search have worked against Turkey’s reforms.
The report said those people who filed complaints against police were often prosecuted, while investigations into complaints were often tainted by police interference. Police officers obfuscate evidence or do not call the prosecutors to the scene in time.
The justice ministry said 2,854 complaints were filed against the police in 2006 for alleged torture or excessive force. In 2007 there were 3,339 such complaints and 21 police officers had been convicted and sent to prison for using excessive force, according to Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher of Human Rights Watch.
"Complaints have increased and convictions have decreased since 2007, according to the data. If governments do not take action to change that, then it means the reforms are in trouble," Roth said.
A new law that authorises the police to arbitrarily stop people and ask for proof of identity has also been controversial. "People feel they are stopped without any justification and police misconduct cases have increased since that amendment came in," Roth said.
Another amendment to the law that has resulted in an increase in torture cases is the anti-terror law, which enables the detention of suspects for 24 hours without being allowed any contact with anyone but police, not even a lawyer. "We all know these types of laws enable torture to occur all over the world," Roth said.
Roth said he understood that Turkey was fighting terrorism and understood the situation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
"I stood against the Bush administration in the cases of violation of human rights in the name of the fight against terrorism. My position is same for the Turkey," he said.
Politicians do not
accept the rise in violence
The group met with three politicians in Ankara and Roth said, "the most disappointing meeting was with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek." Roth said Çiçek "refused to acknowledge there was any problem of police violence. He refused to acknowledge any problem with the law. He gave examples of human rights violations in European countries without acknowledging that these do not change Turkey’s situation."
"To the contrary, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay was very positive in his approach to us," said Roth.