Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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Prison Inspection Committees/Prison Monitoring Board
16.29 In correspondence from the British Embassy in Ankara dated 5 February 2007 noted that the Prison Inspection Committees / Prison Monitoring Board

membership is also set up by law. Their remit does not include military prisons. Each has 5 members, serving a 4 year term. Members must be over the age of 35 and professionally qualified in fields such as law, medicine, psychology, education etc. They cannot be members of a political party. They observe prison conditions, regimes, internal security etc in situ and write reports at least every 3 months which goes to the Justice Ministry and the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission. [4c]
16.30 The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs report 2002 reported that:
“Special Prison Inspection Committees were set up pursuant to a law adopted in June 2001. An inspection committee has to be set up for the area of jurisdiction of each criminal court. The committee is to be made up of five members chosen for four years by a commission of judges from the relevant area. The members must have university education and practise the profession of doctor, lawyer, psychologist or similar.” [2a] (p67)
16.31 The European Commission 2006 report however recorded that, “Civil and military prisons are not open to independent monitoring, pending the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT).” [71a] (p14)
16.32 The USSD 2005 report noted that:
“The government permitted prison visits by representatives of some international organizations, such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT); however, domestic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) did not have access to prisons. The CPT visited in March 2004 and conducted ongoing consultations with the government. Requests by the CPT to visit prisons were routinely granted.” [5b] (Section 1c)