Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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Parliamentary Human Rights Commission/Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee
16.22 In correspondence from the British Embassy in Ankara dated 5 February 2007 noted that the membership is MPs only and their role is to oversees all aspects of human rights in Turkey, including petitions to Parliament on human rights issues, and Turkey's response to international human rights issues (e.g. the bombing of Lebanon, invasion of Iraq). In addition to its scrutiny role, it carries out research visits abroad and in Turkey, making visits to prisons and police stations etc. [4c]
16.23 In the European Commission 2005 report it was noted that:
“The Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee continued to collect complaints on human rights violations and, in relation to some high-profile cases, requested that the relevant authorities follow up and redress the situation when necessary. It received 1 307 complaints between October 2004 and June 2005.” [71d] (p21)
16.24 The EC 2006 report however noted that:
“The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee continued to play an active role in collecting complaints on human rights violations and conducting fact-finding visits to the regions. The Committee received 864 applications between October 2005 and June 2006. It has conducted several investigations and finalised three reports since January 2006. The Committee has no legislative role, and is thus not consulted on legislation affecting human rights.” [71a] (p13)
16.25 The USSD 2005 report recorded that “The parliamentary Human Rights Committee, which has a mandate to oversee compliance with the human rights provisions of domestic law and international agreements, investigated alleged abuses, prepared reports, and carried out detention center inspections.” [5b] (Section 4)
16.26 As outlined in ‘The Activity Report of the Human Rights Investigation Commission from 3 November 2002 – 20 May 2004’ provided by the Turkish Embassy in London, in August 2004 the Human Rights Investigation Commission received 804 applications relating to human rights issues in the period 3 November 2002 to 10 May 2004. Of these 244 (30%) were related to prisons, 142 (15%) to judicial problems and 75 (9%) were related to torture and ill-treatment. During the period 549 of the 804 applications were concluded, 207 were still being processed and 47 were still pending. [60a] (p8-9)
Ministry of Interior’s Investigation Office
16.27 As confirmed by the British Embassy in Ankara on 5 February 2007 the

Ministry of Interior's Investigation Office membership is of Civil Servants and

their role is to deals specifically with the investigation of allegations against the

police. Anyone can apply, via the on-line application form. [4c]
16.28 The European Commission 2005 report recorded that:
“The Ministry of Interior’s Investigation Office, which was established in February 2004, has received 1,003 complaints of human rights abuses from the public. These complaints are assessed by inspectors, who follow them up with the relevant authorities within the ministry at local or central level. Most complaints received have been made against the police. To date, on only one occasion has a complaint led to disciplinary action being taken against a public official. This Office has also carried out inspections of a number of the provincial police disciplinary boards and has inspected detention procedures and places of detention in 26 provinces.” [71d] (p21)