District Human Rights Councils to act as Measuring Device

The Prime Ministry Human Rights Commission President, Assoc. Prof. Vahit Bicak, announced that human rights violations will no longer remain hidden. He said that 930 centers were established to act as district human rights councils. Bicak disclosed that these centers will act as a sort of "measuring device" for human rights violations.

(Today's Zaman, 21.03.2004) The Prime Ministry Human Rights Commission President, Assoc. Prof. Vahit Bicak, announced that human rights violations will no longer remain hidden. He said that 930 centers were established to act as district human rights councils. Bicak disclosed that these centers will act as a sort of "measuring device" for human rights violations. The 'Human Rights Council 6th Regional Round Table Meetings', organized by the European Commission-Europe Council and Prime Ministry Human Rights Commission, are underway in Antalya Falez Hotel. Bicak spoke at the opening ceremony of the meetings, which are expected to continue for two days, and he pointed out that serious steps were taken in Turkey towards democratization. "Our biggest performance so far is establishing 930 human rights standard measuring devices. What are these devices? We formed human rights councils in 930 town and city centers. These councils send performance reviews to the presidency at every end of the month. These applications are converted to numerical data by State Statistics Institution and presented to the public," said Bicak Bicak said human rights violations were hidden in the past and that this blocked the solution. "A Policy of denial was followed. We have to change this. There can be problems. Denial is not the solution. We should accept that there are problems. Acceptance is the first step for a solution," acknowledged Bicak Bicak announced that there were 76 claims concerning human rights violations in Turkey for January 2004. Bicak said that claims fell under such categories as, 'torture and poor treatment', 'personal freedom', 'security' and 'justice'. 21.03.2004 Enver Ozturk Antalya

Haberin Tarihi : 27.04.2008