WRITTEN QUESTION P-1680/03 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. Torture and inhuman treatment of women in Turkish jails.
Date: 2003-05-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Türkiye, accession to the European Union, prison system, torture, women's rights

C 88 E/366

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0372)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1680/03

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(15 May 2003)

Subject: Torture and inhuman treatment of women in Turkish jails

On 13 June, the first trial will be held in Turkey involving two women, Mrs Naziye Tsogaltaf, 22 years of
age, and Mrs Sounai Yesildag, 28 years of age, who were tortured whilst in prison in Instanbul. The two
women were arrested on 23 September 2002 for alleged membership of an illegal organisation. During
their imprisonment they were tortured as confirmed by forensic medical examination. Specifically, the
women were beaten, subjected to electric shock treatment and then obliged to open their mouths into
which their torturers spat and to swallow the spittle.

The barbaric conditions of imprisonment in certain Turkish prisons are contrary to fundamental human
rights and directly violate international agreements and the principles of democracy and freedom. Does the
Commission intend to intervene to end torture in prisons, humanise the prison system in Turkey, an
applicant country, giving priority to respect for the human rights of women?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(10 June 2003)

The Commission is aware of the problems in Turkey regarding torture (which mainly occurs during pre-
trial detention under police custody), violence against women and detention conditions. In its 2002
Regular Report on Turkey (1), the Commission outlined the key concerns in these areas. The recently
adopted revised Accession Partnership with Turkey sets out the priority areas with respect to these
concerns.

Priorities include the need to implement measures to fight against torture, in line with Article 3 of the
European Convention on Human Rights and the Recommendations of the European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture. They also include the need to adopt further measures to ensure that prosecutors
conduct timely and effective investigations of alleged cases and that courts impose adequate punishments
on those convicted of abuses. With respect to detention conditions, the Accession Partnership outlines the
need for Turkey to guarantee in practice the right for detained and imprisoned persons to have access in
private to a lawyer and to have relatives notified, from the outset of their custody,
in line with the
European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey is also asked to continue to bring conditions in prisons
into line with standards in Member States.

As acknowledged by these priorities, the Commission notes that whilst some progress has been made, with
respect to the implementation of legislation there is still need for considerable improvement. Recent
reports by the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Amnesty International, and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) have all suggested that torture during pre-trial detention, including
sexual and physical violence against women, is still a major concern in Turkey.

The Commission notes that Turkey has, however, made considerable progress in terms of legal reform in
the fight against torture. In particular, Turkey has lifted the requirement to seek permission from a
superior officer in order to open investigations on a police officer for torture allegations; prison sentences
for torture cannot now be reduced to fines, a suspension of the police officer in question or any other
measure; and defendants under the competence of the State Security Courts (cid:1) like all other defendants (cid:1)
have now been granted access to a lawyer from the outset of custody.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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As a Candidate Country, Turkey aims to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria. This includes the need to
end torture of all kinds as well as to guarantee the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and relevant international
and European instruments to which Turkey is party. The Commission will continue to monitor all
developments related to allegations of torture in Turkey as well as the implementation of the above-
mentioned legislation.

(1) COM(2002) 700 final.

(2004/C 88 E/0373)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1708/03

by Emma Bonino (NI) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Murder of Joyce Miamuna Katai, State Commissioner for women’s affairs and social development

of the Nigerian State of Nasarawa

Joyce Miamuna Katai, Commissioner for women’s affairs and social development of the State of Nasarawa
in central Nigeria was assassinated on 5 May in Toto. Two of her assistants were killed at the same time
and only a third, Phoebe Ayenajeh, managed to escape the massacre. This triple murder occurred inside a
police station and amounted to nothing less than a lynching, according to a spokesman of the forces of
law and order.

The local population had asked Joyce Miamuna Katai for help and protection from an organised gang
which was trying to remove ballot boxes in order to falsify the results; the Commissioner tried to help by
involving the local police, but they were not even able to guarantee her safety.

The institutional role taken on by Joyce Miamuna Katai as Commissioner for women’s affairs and social
development was part of the programme of the government of President Obasanjo and the Governor of
the State of Nasarawa, Abdullahi Adamus, which made the education, training and social emancipation of
women a key policy in Nigeria’s transition to democracy.

Obasanjo’s Presidency has given and is still giving a strong impetus to the democratic process in Nigeria, a
country which up until 1999, the year in which Obasanjo was elected, suffered continuous coups d’état.
Since the government declared certain aspects of Islamic law to be unconstitutional in 2002, following the
case of Amina Lawal, there has been an upsurge in tension between ethnic Moslems and Christians, which
also led to the massacre of civilians at the time of the Miss World contest which was to have taken place
in Nigeria.

The First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, has backed the President’s policy of supporting women’s rights by
encouraging women to go to university, stand for election, and play an active role in the social and
political life of the country, and promoting an international campaign against the practice of female genital
mutilation, still suffered by 40 % of young women and girls in Nigeria.

Is the Commission aware of these horrendous events in the State of Nasarawa?

Has the Commission already expressed its indignation at what happened on 5 May 2003 to President
Obasanjo and the representatives of the democratic states of Nigeria?

In view of the very grave nature of these events, what measures does the Commission intend to take to
facilitate the transition to democracy in the democratic states of Nigeria?