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 The head of the Prime Ministry's human rights department, Assistant Professor Vahit Bıçak, unveiled a new initiative on Thursday to inform the Turkish people of their individual rights and freedoms by promoting a booklet the department prepared on the rights possessed by people accused or suspected of having committed crimes.
(ANKARA - Turkish Daily News, Friday, August 26, 2005)
The Prime Ministry"™s human rights department prepares a booklet on the rights of individuals suspected and accused of committing crimes, around 3 percent of the population each year, to teach Turks what their rights actually are
The head of the Prime Ministry's human rights department, Assistant Professor Vahit Bıçak, unveiled a new initiative on Thursday to inform the Turkish people of their individual rights and freedoms by promoting a booklet the department prepared on the rights possessed by people accused or suspected of having committed crimes.
He said around 3 percent of the population was suspected or accused of a crime every year, and the rights of such individuals was not a marginal problem but rather concerned all. In 1986, 1.08 million people were considered suspects or were accused of wrongdoing, while this figure increased to 2.11 million in 2003, he said.
In order for the government's "zero tolerance for torture" drive to succeed, each individual needed to commit to memory what rights he or she had, said Bıçak.
Bıçak said the Prime Ministry was focusing on the need to broaden awareness of rights and freedoms and had prepared a booklet titled "Rights of Suspects and the Accused under the Protection of Provincial and Municipal Human Rights Boards."
He also blamed the media for confusing the difference between a suspect and a convicted criminal and said, "Sometimes they portray a person under investigation as a criminal."
He said people need to be taught about their rights and that the booklet was a fundamental step toward preventing mistreatment. "On the cover it says, 'Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty,' as stated in Article 38 of the Constitution."
Bıçak said they initially printed 300,000 copies and sent 200,000 of them to provincial and municipal human rights boards for distribution, with the rest being handed out by the Prime Ministry. |
