HL Deb 05 November 1996 vol 575 cc49-50WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have regarding state sponsored persecution of members of the Human Rights Association of Turkey, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, the Union of Turkish Physicians; of the families of missing persons, particularly in Beyoglu (Istanbul); and of journalists and defence lawyers.

Lord Chesham

We continue to receive reports of alleged cases of harassment of human rights organisations, relatives of missing persons, journalists and lawyers in Turkey. Our Embassy in Ankara maintains close contact with Turkish human rights organisations and regularly raises concerns about them, and others working in the human rights field, with the Turkish Government.

Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have concerning disappearances, extra-judicial killings and torture in each of the last three years, and whether the trend is rising or falling.

Lord Chesham

Amnesty International reported in September more than 50 disappearances in 1994, and more than 35 in 1995. The difficulty of obtaining precise and reliable information on disappearances, extra-judicial killings and torture makes it impossible to draw clear conclusions about trends. But we will continue to raise our concerns about these issues with the Turkish Government.

Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are aware of any derogation by Turkey from the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the detention of suspects for eight days at judge's discretion, for 15 days for those accused of offences within the jurisdiction of State Security Court, and for 30 days regarding offences committed in regions under martial law; and whether they will discuss these matters with the Turkish Government.

Lord Chesham

Turkey has a derogation from Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights for the 10 south eastern provinces under emergency rule. We remain concerned at excessive detention lengths. We therefore welcome the intention announced by the Turkish Government on 17th October to reduce maximum detention lengths for suspects. We hope this will be implemented as soon as possible.