[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 12, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1325-S1326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE PUBLIC STATEMENT ON 
                                 TURKEY

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I recently learned about a public 
statement by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 
[CPT], concerning the problem of torture in Turkey. The CPT is a 
respected international organization established in

[[Page S1326]]

1989, which visits prisons in countries that have ratified the European 
Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading 
Treatment or Punishment. All countries that have ratified the 
Convention agree to permit these visits, and presumably to pay 
attention to the Committee's recommendations.
  The CPT publishes public statements only when states party to the 
Convention refuse to follow its recommendations. The group has only 
issued public statements on two occasions in its 8 years of existence. 
Both of these statements, the most recent of which was issued in 
December, discuss the ongoing problem of torture in Turkey.
  The CPT acknowledges the serious threat of terrorism that Turkey 
faces and the security and humanitarian crises that have resulted, 
especially in the southeastern part of the country. The CPT also 
recognizes that the Government of Turkey has expressed concern about 
the use of torture and has responded by circulating memoranda and 
designing human rights programs for its law enforcement officials. 
However, the CPT concludes that in practice these measures, along with 
the legal framework to protect detainees from torture and ill-treatment 
and to discipline those who have used torture, are inadequate and 
ignored by Turkish authorities. A recent example is the decision by the 
Turkish Government to reduce to 4 days the length of time a suspect can 
be held incommunicado, without access to a lawyer. There is ample 
evidence that torture routinely occurs immediately following arrest. 
Any period of incommunicado detention is an invitation for these kinds 
of abuses to continue.
  The facts contained in the CPT's December public statement are very 
troubling. In a September 1996 visit to prisons in Turkey, the CPT 
reported:

       A considerable number of persons examined by the 
     delegation's three forensic doctors displayed marks or 
     conditions consistent with their allegations of recent ill-
     treatment by the police, and in particular of beating of the 
     soles of the feet, blows to the palms of the hands and 
     suspension by the arms. The cases of seven persons . . . must 
     rank among the most flagrant examples of torture encountered 
     by CPT delegations in Turkey.

  As in October 1994, the CPT again found ``material evidence of resort 
to ill-treatment, in particular, an instrument adapted in a way which 
would facilitate the infliction of electric shocks and equipment which 
could be used to suspend a person by the arms.''
  Mr. President, this report shows that despite the Turkish 
Government's efforts in recent years, the practice of torture continues 
unabated. The latest State Department Country Reports on Human Rights, 
which was released on January 30, confirms this. It illustrates, once 
again, that good intentions and training programs, while important, are 
no substitute for holding people accountable. Only when people who 
engage in this abhorrent conduct believe they will be punished, will it 
stop.
  This should concern us all, because Turkey is a valued NATO ally with 
which we have many shared interests. Turkey is going through a 
difficult period in its history, and I for one want to see our 
relationship strengthen. I raise these concerns because I believe that 
Turkey, and relations between our two countries, would benefit greatly 
if it were clear that vigorous, effective action were being taken to 
eradicate this curse.
  I urge the administration and Members of Congress to raise the issue 
of torture at the highest levels of the Turkish Government, and to work 
with Turkish officials to pursue aggressively the necessary measures to 
end the practice of torture and the impunity that persist in Turkey 
today.

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