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Back International Conference and closing ceremony under the framework of the project “Improving the Effectiveness of Investigation of Allegations of Ill-treatment and Combating Impunity” in Turkey

The closing of the Council of Europe Project on “Improving the Effectiveness of Investigation of Allegations of Ill-treatment and Combating Impunity” was marked with two subsequent events: The International conference on perspectives and challenges in dealing with ill-treatment allegations of disadvantaged groups which took place on 2 May 2019 and the closing ceremony for the project’s achievements on 3 May 2019.

Both events gathered a wide range of national stakeholders from the Turkish judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior/Migration Department, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services; the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman Institution, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, academicians, representatives of civil society organisations and international speakers from European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) and Council of Europe. Closing Ceremony of the Project held in Ankara, hosted approximately 275 participants.

The International Conference enhanced the dialog among relevant stakeholders in relation to national and international standards, perspectives and challenges in investigating ill-treatment allegations against disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The sessions covered Court’s jurisprudence and challenges in executions of its judgments related to migrants, LGBTI, religious minorities, women and children.

At the opening remarks of the Closing Ceremony Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Selahaddin Menteş, reiterated that Turkey has “zero tolerance” towards torture and other forms of ill-treatment. The Ambassador of Denmark, H.E. Mr Svend Olling, highlighted the importance attached of this project towards the rule of law and human rights in the country. On the occasion of this event, Human Rights Director of the Council of Europe, Mr Christophe Poirel, encouraged Turkish authorities to use the project’s results as a tool to further support the implementation of the of the “Action Plan to prevent Human Rights Violations”. Dr Hacı Ali Açikgül, Head of Human Rights Department of Ministry shared project’s results to better safeguard humans’ integrity and dignity. A short video of the Project was displayed at the end of opening speeches.

The closing ceremony increased the visibility of the project’s results in developing needs assessment and recommendation report in the field of effective investigation of allegations of torture and ill-treatment and in enhancing capacities of the judiciary to better apply Court’s standards in this field.