E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.2
page 36
152. Recommendation (c) stated: Pilot projects at present under way involving automatic
audio- and videotaping of police and jandarma questioning should be rapidly expanded to
cover all such questioning in every place of custody in the country.
153. According to the information received from non-governmental sources, there is no
indication that in practice video/audio-taping is being used anywhere, despite some information
from the Turkish authorities that there are plans to introduce such measures.
154. The Government reported that the police are pursuing their work on modernizing
detention facilities and interview rooms within the limits of available budgetary resources. As
part of this process, it is planned to introduce a system of electronic recording of statements with
a view to preventing ill-treatment. During its September 2003 visit to Turkey the CPT delegation
observed that interrogation facilities were gradually being brought into line with the standards
recently introduced for such premises and in practically all of the establishments visited, the
material conditions of detention were, on the whole, adequate for the periods of custody
involved.
155. Recommendation (d) stated: Medical personnel required to carry out examinations of
detainees on entry into police, jandarma, court and prison establishments, or on leaving
police and/or jandarma establishments, should be independent of ministries responsible for
law enforcement or the administration of justice and be properly qualified in forensic
medical techniques capable of identifying sequelae of physical torture or ill-treatment, as
well as psychological trauma potentially attributable to mental torture or ill-treatment;
international assistance should be given for the necessary training. Examinations of
detainees by medical doctors selected by them should be given weight in any court
proceedings (relating to the detainees or to officials accused of torture or ill-treatment)
equivalent to that accorded to officially employed or selected doctors having comparable
qualifications; the police bringing a detainee to a medical examination should never be
those involved in the arrest or questioning of the detainees or the investigation of the
incident provoking the detention. Police officers should not be present during the medical
examination. Protocols should be established to assist forensic doctors in ensuring that the
medical examination of detainees is comprehensive. Medical examinations should not be
performed within the State Security Court facilities. Medical certificates should never be
handed to the police or to the detainee while in the hands of the police, but should be made
available to the detainee once out of their hands and to his or her lawyer immediately.
156. According to the information received from non-governmental sources, the Forensic
Institute is institutionally bound to the Ministry of Justice and is therefore not independent. This
has been an issue of concern among medical practitioners and the Medical Chambers in Turkey,
mostly recently in relation to the diagnosis of and approach to Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome, an
incurable condition entailing long-term memory loss, and, in Turkey, found among political
prisoners, who participated in a prolonged hunger strike in 2001/02 in protest against the
introduction of F-type prisons. In the fall of 2003, the Forensic Institute issued health reports on
those suffering from this condition, stating that those persons had recovered. This led to the reimprisonment of prisoners despite their condition. In general, resources to permit adequate
forensic medical examination, identification of physical torture or ill-treatment, as well as
psychological trauma potentially attributable to mental torture or ill-treatment are lacking in
Turkey. It could be argued that the public health system in general is extremely underresourced.
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