The European Union and its member states, including Ireland, have a fundamental interest in developing and strengthening relations with Turkey, a country associated with the EU under the terms of the 1963 Ankara Agreement and with which the EU has entered a customs union. In seeking to pursue this objective, the European Union has also made clear on many occasions that the observance of the rule of law and the full implementation of basic human freedoms form the basis for the further development of relations between the EU and Turkey. We fully share this approach.
In this regard, I refer also to my reply to Question No. 52 of 13 February 1997, in which I set out the policy of Ireland and our EU partners on human rights in Turkey. As I stated in that reply, human rights in Turkey remain a matter of serious concern. In the meantime, the Turkish authorities have announced new initiatives to amend criminal legislation to diminish the risk of torture. The measures include reducing the period of detention and requiring the registration of detainees and the inspection of detention centres. We welcome these initiatives as steps in the right direction within an ongoing process of reform. However, it will be essential that these measures are rigorously implemented and built upon. We will continue to stress this to the Turkish Government, with the aim of ensuring full respect for and protection of human rights for the citizens of Turkey.
In my reply to Question No. 52 on 13 February, I also addressed the question of a resolution on Turkey at the annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which is now under way in Geneva. The position remains as outlined in that reply. Ireland and our European Union partners will avail of the session to highlight our concerns on human rights in Turkey and to impress on the Turkish authorities the need for tangible progress in this regard.
As regards action within the Council of Europe, the primary mechanism for dealing with human rights abuses is the European Convention on Human Rights, or ECHR, and its control mechanisms, the European Commission and Court of Human Rights. Article 3 of the convention states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Turkey is a party to this convention and, accordingly, persons within its jurisdiction may lodge a complaint with the Commission in Strasbourg. Noting that the ECHR machinery relied on complaints made by the persons allegedly suffering infringements of their human rights, and that this avenue could be denied to persons in custody, the member states of the Council of Europe established the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1987. Under its provisions, the committee referred to by the Deputy in his question was set up. The Council of Europe, through this committee and its other monitoring mechanisms, will continue to press for the necessary reforms in human rights in Turkey.