首頁   聯絡我們
 
‧人權新知
 
‧世界人權宣言
 
高雄國際人權宣言
 
‧人權影音資料館藏
 
‧人權圖書資料館藏
 

Turkey is worst human rights violator, ECtHR says

In an annual report released on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the top judicial body to rule on human rights violations in Europe, found that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights among the 47 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In statistical data on violation judgments by country for the period between 1959 and 2009, Turkey topped the chart with 18.81 percent of all violation judgments, followed by Italy with 16.57 percent and Russia 6.34 percent. Within this timeframe, 2,295 judgments were entered for Turkey and only in 46 cases did the court find no violations. The most common human rights violation committed by Turkey was the denial of the right to a fair trial. Italy scored second with 2,021 judgments against it. In 2009 alone, Turkey again topped the list in terms of violations of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In a tally of the number of judgments entered for Turkey, 356 cases out of a total of 1,625 put the country in the worst violator class. In only nine cases out of the 356 did the court find there was no violation, while stating that at least one violation occurred in the rest of the cases. Russia followed Turkey in 2009 with 210 judgments against it.

In terms of pending applications as of Jan. 1, 2010, the report found that Turkey has the second highest number of complaints lodged against it with 11 percent of the total 119,300 applications. Russia led the pack in this category with 28.1 percent of the applications. In its report, the court described Turkey as a “high case-count state.”

More than half of the judgments in which the court found a violation included a violation of Article 6 of the convention, the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. In recent rulings, the court found that in most cases Turkey was in breach of this article and noted lengthy trials as a violation the convention. There have been excessive delays, in violation of the “reasonable time” requirement, in civil and criminal proceedings taking place in Turkish courts.

Since 1959, the court has found 16,106 applications lodged against Turkey to be inadmissible or has struck them out.

The European Convention on Human Rights drafted in 1950 places Turkey under the jurisdiction of the ECtHR. In 1987, Turkey accepted the right of individuals to make applications to the ECtHR and in 1990 recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the court. However Turkey has still not ratified some of the protocols of the convention despite signing it.

In October 2009 the European Commission on Enlargement to the European Union attested that Turkey had made some progress on the observance of international human rights law. However, the implementation of some ECtHR judgments requiring legislative amendments has been an outstanding issue for several years. Further efforts are needed to strengthen the institutional framework on human rights, in particular with regards to the establishment of an independent human rights institution and of an ombudsman.


(2010/01/29 - Today's Zaman )
 
  2009 2010 2011 2012
 
1/28:Women's Human Rights Are Key to Successful Reconstruction in Haiti (MADRE)
1/28:Haitian recovery must include strengthening of human rights – top UN official (UN News)
1/29:Human Right Watch: Hamas targeted Israeli civilians (JTA)
1/29:Turkey is worst human rights violator, ECtHR says (Today's Zaman)
1/30:Human Rights Watch Urges Europe to Keep Sanctions on Zimbabwe's Mugabe (VOA)
1/30:North Korea holding second U.S. citizen, U.S. says (Reuters)
1/31:Judi Chamberlin, 65, Advocate for Mental Health Patients (The New York Times)
1/31:Rights Group Says Cambodia's Drug Treatment Centers Rife with Abuse (VOA)
 
 
 
人權學堂 ∣Human Rights Learning Studio

位置:高雄捷運O5/R10美麗島穹頂大廳方向往出口9
Position: Kaohsiung MRT 05/R10 Formosa Boulevard Hall Exit 9
郵寄地址:81249高雄市小港區大業北路436號
Address: No. 436, Daye North Rd. Siaogang Dist., Kaohsiung City 81249, Taiwan
電話Tel:886-7-2357559∣傳真Fax:886-7-2351129
Email: hr-learning@ouk.edu.tw