- 39 Proper managerial control and supervision of law enforcement officials must also be ensured, including
through the institution of effective independent monitoring mechanisms possessing appropriate powers. Neither
should the issue of the conditions of service of such officials be overlooked, as satisfactory conditions of
service are indispensable to the development of a high-calibre police force.
Application of the recently drawn up Custody Regulations, which relate inter alia to material
conditions of detention, must also be vigorously pursued throughout the whole of Turkey. Considerable
progress in this area has been made in Ankara and Diyarbakır, in pursuance of the CPT's recommendations.
However, the situation found recently at Adana Police Headquarters (in particular in the Anti-Terror
Department) suggests that in other parts of the country, persons detained by the police or gendarmerie may still
be held under totally unacceptable conditions.
27.
Particular reference must be made to the recently adopted Law amending some provisions of the Code
of Criminal Procedure and of the Law relating to the organisation and procedure of State Security Courts,
which entered into force on 1 December 1992. This is a revised version of the text returned to the Grand
National Assembly earlier in the year by the President of the Republic. The new Law inter alia clarifies the
existence of certain fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment, such as the right to have a relative notified of
one's custody and the right of access to a lawyer (safeguards which had been provided for previously but which
had been largely inoperative in practice), regulates in detail the mechanics of the interrogation process,
introduces a right to apply to a judge for the immediate release of an apprehended person and shortens the
maximum periods of police/gendarmerie custody. The introduction of these provisions is a most welcome step
forward. However, it is a matter of great regret to the CPT that their application to offences within the
jurisdiction of State Security Courts has been specifically excluded. Admittedly, the number of offences under
the jurisdiction of such courts has also been reduced by the new Law, but it remains considerable: crimes
against the State; terrorist offences; drugs and arms-related offences, etc..
28.
The CPT wishes to take this opportunity to underscore that it abhors terrorism, a crime which is all the
more despicable in a democratic country such as Turkey. The Committee also deplores illicit drug and arms
dealing. Further, it is fully conscious of the great difficulties facing security forces in their struggle against
these destructive phenomena. Criminal activities of this kind rightly meet with a strong response from state
institutions. However, under no circumstances must that response be allowed to degenerate into acts of torture
or other forms of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. Such acts are both outrageous violations of human
rights and fundamentally flawed methods of obtaining reliable evidence for combatting crime. They are also
degrading to the officials who inflict or authorise them. Worse still, they can ultimately undermine the very
structure of a democratic State.
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