WRITTEN QUESTION P-2728/01 by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Human rights in Turkey.
Date: 2001-09-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Türkiye, accession to the European Union, human rights, hunger strike, prison system

C 160 E/36

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

(2002/C 160 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2728/01

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 September 2001)

Subject: Human rights in Turkey

For the past few months left-wing militants have been on a hunger strike to the death in Turkey. They
have resorted to this extreme form of protest, which to date has resulted in 35 deaths, in response to the
terrible conditions under which political prisoners are held in Turkish jails and, in particular, to the prison
reforms currently being implemented, under which political prisoners are to be transferred to tiny isolation
cells. In late August 2001, demonstrations organised by HADEP in various towns around Turkey, calling
for recognition of the cultural and linguistic rights of the Kurdish people and other minorities living in
Turkey, were violently broken up by the Turkish police.

What are the Commission’s views on the above events? Would it not agree that they are incompatible with
the ‘Copenhagen political criteria’ for accession to the EU?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(19 October 2001)

The Commission shares the concern of the Honourable Member about the hunger strikes and death fasts
in Turkey which have caused, to date, the death of 40 prisoners.

On 21 March 2001, at the occasion of the first prisoner’s death, the Commission issued a statement in
Ankara, together with the Swedish Presidency, urging the Turkish authorities to take all appropriate
measures to avoid further death. It also recalled,
in this context, the recommendations made by the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Furthermore, the Commission expressed its regrets, from a humanitarian point of view, for the continuing
loss of lives of the hunger strikers while stressing that it did not support in any way the political views of
those who were behind them.

The Commission continues to follow closely the developments concerning the situation in prisons,
including the adoption by the Government of a number of legislative measures intended to improve the
overall conditions of detention in prisons.

These measures relate to the setting-up of facilities aimed at alleviating the isolation regime in F-type
prisons, the establishment of enforcement judge offices for the purpose of handling complaints regarding
actions taken in respect to prisoners and the creation of monitoring boards intended to carry out
inspections and to report to the authorities on prisoner’s living and health conditions as well as on
transfers and disciplinary measures affecting them.

The Commission trusts that the implementation of these relatively recent measures will be a positive step
in the settlement of the ongoing crisis. It should also serve as a contribution to an adjustment of the
detention conditions to international standards, which is one of the priorities of the Union Accession
Partnership for Turkey.

In the context of its forthcoming annual Report on Turkey’s progress towards accession to the Union, the
Commission will deal in further detail with this matter as well as with other human rights issues such as
the freedom of association and peaceful assembly, to which the Honourable Member refers.