Turkey’s Record of Abuse Numerous human rights bodies, including the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture,220 intervened with the Dutch government on behalf of Kesbir. In three separate letters to the Dutch Minister of Justice, Human Rights Watch argued that torture in Turkey continues, affecting PKK detainees in particular; the Turkish authorities had not developed and implemented effective supervisory mechanisms to ensure that law enforcement officers on the ground—police, in particular—were observing recent legal reforms; and that as a woman, Kesbir would be at increased risk of torture and illtreatment in the form of sexual violence.221 Human Rights Watch also argued that any assurances from Turkey allegedly guaranteeing Kesbir’s safety could not be trusted: [T]orture and ill-treatment persist in Turkey—especially in cases where a detainee has been labeled a suspected terrorist—despite some recent improvements in law and practice. Torture continues as a result of Turkey’s negligence in supervising and monitoring compliance with legal safeguards to prevent torture; indeed, such monitoring systems are either moribund or do not exist at all. As a result, Turkish authorities do not maintain effective control over those persons—police, gendarmes, and security forces—primarily responsible for on-going acts of torture in Turkey. Diplomatic assurances from Turkish officials that Ms. Kesbir would not be tortured or ill-treated could not be relied upon because the authorities offering such guarantees have not developed systems that actually control and hold accountable those forces that perpetrate such abuses. Continuing irregularities in the system, such as denial of lawyers’ access to detainees, failure to inform detainees’ families of detentions, and problems with accessing and authenticating medical reports indicate a lack of transparency that undermines the reliability of any assurances that a person will not be tortured or ill-treated…In the face of such irregularities and continuing governmental passivity, diplomatic Supreme Court did not deem them sufficient. Letter from Consular Affairs Department, Legal Consular Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands to the Embassy of Turkey, Reference No. CJ/GJ-04/299, May 19, 2004, copy on file with Human Rights Watch. 220 The Special Rapporteur on Torture sent an urgent and confidential communication calling on the Dutch authorities to secure “unequivocal guarantees,” including a plan for effective and adequate post-return monitoring in the event that Kesbir were to be extradited. 221 See, Human Rights Watch Letters to Piet Heit Donner, Dutch Minister of Justice, in the matter of Nuriye Kesbir, dated May 24, 2004 [online] http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/24/turkey10316.htm (retrieved March 18, 2005); October 28, 2004 [online] http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/10/28/turkey10317.htm (retrieved March 18, 2005), and December 17, 2004 [online] http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/12/17/turkey10318.htm (retrieved March 18, 2005). 73 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17 NO. 4(D)