Gov’t’s rights plan comes under fire
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 23, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Human rights organizations criticize the government for excluding them while drafting a law that would create a human rights institution outside of the government. They are not informed about the draft law, human rights organizations say in a joint statement
The government’s plan to pass a law anticipating the establishment of a separate human rights institution drew reactions from country's human rights organizations. In a joint statement, they said they were excluded in the preparation process of the draft law.
"We learned from government spokesman Cemil Çiçek’s speech May 18 that the government prepared a draft law on the establishment of a human rights institution in Turkey," read the statement.
"This is the third such initiative from the government to attempt to establish such a unit since 2004. The government’s former two initiatives were likewise met with our criticism as our contribution and support have not been taken into consideration. We have come across a similar move today; our institutions weren’t even informed of the draft law," according to the statement.
The law is also not in accordance with the Paris Principles, which includes recommendations on the role, composition, status and functions of national human rights instruments, according to the statement, released jointly by the Human Rights Association, or İHD; the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, or TİHV; Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly; the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People, or Mazlum-Der, and the Turkey branch of Amnesty International.
The Human Rights Presidency, which runs under the Prime Ministry’s office, will be converted into an autonomous and separate human rights institution, an objective voiced by the European Union since 2004. In its 2008 progress report on Turkey, the EU said Turkey’s institutional framework for human rights promotion and enforcement did not meet the independence requirement and lacked financial autonomy and transparency. As part of Turkey’s EU bid, the anticipated human rights institution is supposed to assume the task of ensuring the promotion and enforcement of human rights in Turkey independently from the government.
In his speech at the Alliance of Civilizations’ International Human Rights Conference on Friday, Çiçek said the human rights unit under the Prime Ministry was inefficient in pursuing Turkey’s objectives in the field with its limited personnel and budget. The unit should be independent, conduct investigations about human rights violations, and take incidents to court. He said the prepared draft law included these details.
A senior official of the Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Presidency told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the establishment of such a separate unit was the culmination of a long process that started in 2004 and that human rights organizations have already revealed their thoughts on the issue in their reports and in meetings.
He said that countries usually adapted the Paris Principles in line with their own structures and social circumstances and that most of the articles of the law were in line with the principles.
"We learned from government spokesman Cemil Çiçek’s speech May 18 that the government prepared a draft law on the establishment of a human rights institution in Turkey," read the statement.
"This is the third such initiative from the government to attempt to establish such a unit since 2004. The government’s former two initiatives were likewise met with our criticism as our contribution and support have not been taken into consideration. We have come across a similar move today; our institutions weren’t even informed of the draft law," according to the statement.
The law is also not in accordance with the Paris Principles, which includes recommendations on the role, composition, status and functions of national human rights instruments, according to the statement, released jointly by the Human Rights Association, or İHD; the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, or TİHV; Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly; the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People, or Mazlum-Der, and the Turkey branch of Amnesty International.
The Human Rights Presidency, which runs under the Prime Ministry’s office, will be converted into an autonomous and separate human rights institution, an objective voiced by the European Union since 2004. In its 2008 progress report on Turkey, the EU said Turkey’s institutional framework for human rights promotion and enforcement did not meet the independence requirement and lacked financial autonomy and transparency. As part of Turkey’s EU bid, the anticipated human rights institution is supposed to assume the task of ensuring the promotion and enforcement of human rights in Turkey independently from the government.
In his speech at the Alliance of Civilizations’ International Human Rights Conference on Friday, Çiçek said the human rights unit under the Prime Ministry was inefficient in pursuing Turkey’s objectives in the field with its limited personnel and budget. The unit should be independent, conduct investigations about human rights violations, and take incidents to court. He said the prepared draft law included these details.
A senior official of the Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Presidency told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the establishment of such a separate unit was the culmination of a long process that started in 2004 and that human rights organizations have already revealed their thoughts on the issue in their reports and in meetings.
He said that countries usually adapted the Paris Principles in line with their own structures and social circumstances and that most of the articles of the law were in line with the principles.