US embassy cable - 04ANKARA126

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: POLICE REMOVED FROM HUMAN RIGHTS BOARDS UNDER NEW 
RULES 
 
 
Classified by Deputy Political Counselor Charles O. Blaha; 
reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Under a new GOT regulation, police and 
Jandarma have been removed from the provincial and 
subprovincial Human Rights Boards, and the overall proportion 
of public officials on the boards has been reduced.  The 
regulation also provides more specific guidelines on how the 
boards are supposed to function.  The head of the Human 
Rights Presidency, who drafted the regulation, says the new 
rules are part of a broad effort to improve the GOT's human 
rights monitoring system.  But NGO leaders complain they were 
not consulted, and argue the regulation does not go far 
enough in making the boards independent.  End Summary. 
 
 
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Police, Jandarma Removed 
------------------------ 
 
 
2. (U) The GOT in November adopted a new regulation governing 
the operations of the provincial and subprovincial Human 
Rights Boards.  Under the new rules, law enforcement agencies 
will no longer participate on the boards and there will be 
fewer public officials overall.  The new regulation is much 
more detailed than the previous one, spelling out how the 
boards should conduct their duties.  The author of the 
regulation, Vahit Bicak, appointed in October as head of the 
Human Rights Presidency of the Prime Ministry, told us the 
new language is designed to improve the efficiency of the 
widely criticized boards and build confidence among human 
rights observers.  Under the previous regulation, the 
majority of board members were public officials, and human 
rights NGOs often refused to participate, accusing the boards 
of covering up abuses rather than exposing them.  The new 
rules increase the proportion of elected officials and 
representatives of professional organizations and NGOs.  The 
boards operate in all 81 provinces and 849 sub provinces. 
They are charged with: investigating human rights complaints 
and, when deemed appropriate, referring cases to the 
prosecutor's office; making recommendations to governors and 
law enforcement authorities on human rights issues; 
organizing public awareness and training programs; and 
issuing regular reports. 
 
 
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New Standards for Membership, Operations 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
3. (U) Key elements of the new regulation include: 
 
 
-- Membership: Police and Jandarma representatives have been 
removed from the boards.  Board meetings will be chaired by 
the governor or a deputy governor (who are appointed 
officials).  Other members will include the mayor or deputy 
mayor (who are elected) and representatives from:  political 
parties; bar associations; the Turkish Medical Association; 
provincial general assemblies; universities; the media; the 
Association of Mukhtars (elected officials who validate 
documents); school-parent unions; trade and industry 
organizations; and NGOs. 
 
 
-- Complaints: All provincial and sub-provincial governors 
are required to establish a desk staffed by one full-time 
employee for receiving formal complaints of human rights 
abuses.  In addition, the boards are required to install 
boxes in all public institutions and other locations for 
written complaints, and to enable applicants to submit 
complaints by telephone and email.  Boards must respond to 
applicants in writing within 30 days of receiving a complaint. 
 
 
-- Reporting: Boards are required to submit monthly reports 
on their activities to the Human Rights Presidency. 
 
 
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Broader Effort to Reform System 
------------------------------- 
 
 
4. (U) Bicak, a law professor specializing in human rights, 
said the new regulation is part of a broader effort to give 
meaning to the boards and the Human Rights Presidency, which 
he said have generally been ineffective.  In addition to the 
new regulation, he has developed a standardized form for 
reporting human rights abuses, in order to keep more detailed 
statistics.  He has also divided the Human Rights Presidency 
into six departments and begun work on a Presidency website, 
where he plans to post the boards' monthly reports, which in 
the past have not been publicly released. 
 
 
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NGO Leaders Dissatisfied 
------------------------ 
 
 
5. (C) Human rights observers, however, are skeptical about 
the new regulation, and complain that they were not 
consulted.  Emirali Turkmen, Human Rights Association 
secretary general, said to us that removing the police and 
 
SIPDIS 
Jandarma representatives is a positive step, but it falls 
short of what is needed -- truly independent boards.  Like 
other NGO contacts, Turkmen criticized the regulation for 
maintaining the authority of unelected governors and 
subgovernors as board chairmen.  Turkmen argued that the 
boards should elect their chairmen, and said the regulation 
should have specified which NGOs would provide members, to 
ensure that legitimate human rights groups are represented. 
Metin Bakkalci, secretary general of the Turkish Medical 
Association and deputy secretary general of the Human Rights 
Foundation, said he and his colleagues were "very saddened" 
that they were not consulted on the regulation.  He noted 
that in addition to acting as chairmen, governors also retain 
the authority to name some of the other board members. 
 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
 
6. (C) FM Gul, the top GOT official responsible for human 
rights, personally asked Bicak to replace an ineffective 
predecessor as head of the Human Rights Presidency, according 
to our contacts.  A long time Embassy contact, Bicak is 
sometimes seen as arrogant and aloof, which explains his 
failure to consult with human rights NGOs on this regulation. 
 However, he is respected as an authority on human rights 
issues, and he is clearly trying to provide much-needed 
structure to a chaotic human rights monitoring system that to 
date has served as mere window-dressing.  As an indication of 
the system's low status in the GOT, Bicak's office, part of 
the Prime Ministry, does not have a separate budget.  And it 
is woefully underfunded -- Bicak has asked a number of 
embassies to donate 10 computers to supplement the two his 
office currently has. 
 
 
DEUTSCH