01.09.2004

Foreign Ministry Report Said to Allege Torture

Less than a week after the Turkish prime minister received the German government's backing on its EU bid, a foreign ministry report takes aim at the country's poor human rights record. Deutsche Welle staff reports

The Foreign Ministry's Asylum Situation Report on Turkey, kept under wraps by the ministry but reported on by Der Spiegel magazine this week, said that the Mediterranean country had made some improvements over the past year, but cases of torture and mistreatment continued to take place, "also in 2003."

The Hamburg newsmagazine wrote that the report documented acts of torture in Turkey including electro-shocks, sleep deprivation and eye-binding during interrogations. The Turkish justice and police authorities routinely ignore rules in handling prisoners, according to the Spiegel report.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman wouldn't confirm the Spiegel article to Deutsche Welle. She said the ministry praised the recent human rights reforms passed by the Turkish parliament, but also warned that "they now need to be implemented."

Germany firmly behind Turkey's aspirations

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder took similar stances during Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Berlin (photo) last week. Schröder planted himself firmly behind Turkey's EU candidacy, criticizing comments by Germany's conservatives that such a stance was "political suicide."

"The expectations that have arisen [in Turkey] cannot and may not be disappointed," Schröder said at a joint press conference with Erdogan in Berlin.

Army's control over country loosened

The Turkish premier is the first to significantly loosen the grip Turkey's army has had on the political, social and economic reigns of the country. Reforms passed in August reduce the powerful military-influenced National Security Council to little more than an advisory body and added to a new law that ended punishment for criticism of the generals.

Erdogan's obsession with joining the EU has led to wide-reaching human rights reforms as well. In August 2002, the parliament passed laws that, among other things, abolished the death penalty and increased the rights of the country's Kurdish minority.

The government continues to come under criticism from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International that say it is lagging on implementing reforms, like giving prisoners promised access to lawyers after being arrested.

"In practice, this right is being frequently impeded," said Amke Dietert, Amnesty International Germany Turkey expert before Erdogan's visit. "And when suspects are allowed to see their lawyers, they're allowed only a few minutes in the presence of a police officer."

Deutsche Welle staff