COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS REPORT OF TURKEY ON SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD PROSTITUTION AND PORNOGRAPHY

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning considered the initial report of Turkey on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

In introductory remarks to the Committee, Professor Dr. Hamit Hanci, Chair of the Forensic Science Department of the Faculty of Medicine of Ankara University in Turkey and Head of the Turkish delegation, said that the most significant legislative amendments had been introduced to the Turkish Penal Code and the Penal Procedural Law, including the clear definition of sexual abuse and its articulation as a separate crime.

Mr. Hanci said the National Task Force in the Fight Against Human Trafficking was established in 2002. The Task Force, in 2003, prepared a National Action Plan on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, which was approved by the Prime Minister’s Office. Most of the objectives of the Plan had already been achieved. Turkey cooperated effectively with the International Organization for Migration and the European Union in combating human trafficking.

Committee Expert Awich Pollar, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Turkey, thanked the State party for the efforts it had made in implementing the provisions of the Optional Protocol. He asked if legal provisions existed to punish crimes committed through the Internet and how the State could punish the authors of the crime without any law. He believed that there was a lacuna in the law with regard to the crime of pornography. The National Plan of Acton was elaborated in a more detailed manner; it was achievable and covered all aspects of the Convention.

Other Committee Experts raised questions related to, among other things, budgetary allocation to the National Plan of Action; collaboration with non-governmental organizations working in the field of child rights; measures to expand rehabilitation centres for victims of sexual abuse; complaint lodging procedures; the role of the juvenile police; legislation against crimes via the Internet; victims of trafficking and baby kidnapping from hospitals; girl kidnapping for marriage; and general preventive campaigns against child prostitution and sexual exploitation.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Turkey on the Optional Protocol towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on 2 June.

The delegation of Turkey also consisted of representatives of the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Prime Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Directorate General for Social Services and Child Protection, Directorate General of Security, Ankara University and the Ankara Bar Association.

As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Turkey is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the meeting to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.

When the Committee’s Chamber B, reconvenes in public at 3 p.m., it will take up the initial report of Qatar on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSA/QAT/1). Chamber A of the Committee is today holding, in private meetings, a technical review of the reports of Canada and the Czech Republic’s on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Report of Turkey

The initial report of Turkey on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSA/TUR/1) notes that the existing legislation in Turkey includes provisions prohibiting child pornography, child prostitution and the sale of children. Moreover, the new Turkish Penal Code, which entered into force in June 2005, brings more effective sanctions. For the implementation of the Protocol in domestic law, according to the Turkish Constitution, the international treaties that enter into force in accordance with due process carry the force of law and the rights thereof can be claimed directly at the courts by individuals. Furthermore, the Constitution has been amended to ensure that international treaties on fundamental rights and freedoms prevail over laws in case of contradiction or divergence between them. The cooperation among the Social Services and Child Protection Agency, the Ministries of Health, Interior and Justice, universities and non-governmental organizations concerning the issue is ensured under the coordination of the Ministries at the central level, and their rural organizations in the regions. This coordination is undertaken in the form of training seminars, symposiums, and projects.

The report notes that according to the data from the General Directorates of Security, the most common type of information crimes in Turkey is the copying and sale of pornographic material. There has been a significant increase in cases of incest, physical and emotional exploitation by family, accounting to 7 per cent in 2000. In 2002, this figure increased to 12 per cent. In Turkey, there are legal regulations aimed at protecting children from sexual harassment. The law on kidnapping, sale and trading of children is in compliance with the Convention.

Introduction of Report

HAMIT HANCI, Chair of the Forensic Science Department at the Faculty of Medicine of Ankara University in Turkey and Head of the Turkish delegation, said Turkey signed the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of children in armed conflicts on 8 September 2000, after they were adopted by the General Assembly in May 2000. The report had been prepared by a commission comprised of 31 representatives from the relevant Ministries, universities, bar associations and civil society organizations, in coordination with the General Directorate of Social Services and Child Protection.

Turkey had also amended its legislation prior to the ratification of the treaties, Mr. Hanci said. The most significant legislative amendments had been introduced to the Turkish Penal Code and the Penal Procedural Law, which had been re-codified. The definition of the child had been incorporated for the first time in the Penal Code, according to which every individual who had not completed the age of 18 had been defined as a child in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The other significant amendment to the Turkish Penal Code was the clear definition of sexual abuse and its articulation as a separate crime. Furthermore, penalties envisaged for sexual crimes against children had been aggravated. Immaterial damages, as well as material damages, suffered by the victims had been explicitly recognized and entailed punishment by the law. Encouraging the child to prostitution, facilitating, procuring for and mediating child prostitution, giving materials containing obscene images and reading had been defined as crimes in the new Turkish Penal Code. With the new Turkish Penal Code, the treatment of victims of prostitution had been granted a state guarantee.

Mr. Hanci said that with the new Turkish Code of Criminal Procedure, which entered into force in June 2005, the rights of the victim were introduced to the Turkish law for the first time and the appointment of a lawyer to the child victim had been made compulsory. In order to prevent a further exploitation of the child, it was made compulsory to hear the victim only once in principle during the prosecution, to take visual and sound recording of the hearing process and to ensure the presence of an expert accompanying the child during the hearing at the court.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for national coordination for the issues relating to trafficking in human beings in Turkey, Ms. Hanci said. A “National Task Force in the Fight Against Human Trafficking” was established in 2002. The Task Force, in 2003, prepared a National Action Plan on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, which was approved by the Office of the Prime Minister. Most of the objectives of the Plan had already been achieved. Turkey cooperated effectively with the International Organization for Migration and the European Union in combating human trafficking.

Discussion

AWICH POLLAR, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur to the report of Turkey, thanked the State party for the efforts it had made in implementing the provisions of the Optional Protocol. He asked if legal provisions existed to punish crimes committed through the Internet, further questioning how the State could punish the authors of the crime without any law. He believed that there was a lacuna in the law with regard to the crime of pornography. The National Plan of Acton was elaborated in a more detailed manner; it was achievable and covered all aspects of the Convention.

Mr. Pollar said the report had indicated that penalties were introduced against those enterprises that violated the Optional Protocol, however, it was not clearly defined the manner in which they were penalized. The report had made reference to the draft Penal Code; when was it entering into force? Paragraph 48 of the report said that there was a challenge for the police organization due to the lack of legal provisions that facilitated cooperation with police organizations of the relevant countries when the routes in several countries were used or a foreign service provider was utilized in the crimes committed via the Internet. Was there a problem in passing a law on this issue? He asked if the National Plan of Action was adequately financed.

Another Expert said the National Plan of Action appeared not to have adequate resources. The Plan could not be realized unless adequate financial resources were allocated. He wanted to know about the characteristics of the training programmes for professionals connected to assistance and rehabilitation of children who had been the victims of violations. He also asked if there were rehabilitation centres throughout Turkey and if such centres had the necessary human and financial resources. With regard to centres to assist children who were victims of sexual abuse, he asked if they were made available to such victims in the regions of the country. What was the role of the Gendarmerie in the area of child protection? Were non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the protection of children against sexual abuse? He wanted to know if NGOs were empowered to set up centres for victims of sexual violence.

On the complaint mechanisms, an Expert asked if the State respected the rights of children to lodge complaints. He asked if a centre was in place to hear child complaints. He wanted to receive information on the legislative provisions with regard to the protection of victims of trafficking or sexual abuse through the Internet. Victims should be protected from further exploitation in courts or in the office of the prosecutor; were there legislative provisions to protect such child victims?

An Expert said she had seen herself in Turkey the efforts made towards street children during her recent visit of that country. With regard to trafficking in children, she noted that the report mentioned only two cases of child victims of trafficking. It seemed that enough information was not included in the report, given that Turkey was a large country with a population of 80 million. She requested further information on the issue. Concerning adoption, there was no statistical data made available with regard to international adoptions. In 2003, there had been 1,649 girls kidnapped for marriages. Did the girl have a say in such operations or it was just an old love game? Babies were also kidnapped from hospitals; what was the purpose of such kidnapping? To which category of the population did the kidnapped children belong?

With regard to extradition, another Expert asked if a foreigner who committed a crime in Turkey, violating the provisions of the Optional Protocol, was extradited to his or her country of origin. She also asked if a Turk who committed a similar crime in another country could be extradited to Turkey.

An Expert referred to the treatment of minors and other vulnerable groups and noted with satisfaction that Turkey was engaged in efforts to raise awareness through different programmes by training police agents, judges, lawyers, doctors and teachers. However, he did not see any general preventive programme launched through the media. He asked if Turkey had campaigns of general prevention on the issue of child prostitution and pornography. Did the campaign use the appropriate mass media, the press, the audiovisual and the virtual media, which could also reach the children? Did children participate in the preparation of the preventive programmes? Was it a taboo in Turkey to speak of sexual exploitation?

Comparing the situation of his country with that of Turkey, another Expert said that since Turkey was a Muslim country, where people in the remote regions still firmly stuck to their traditions, it might be difficult to deal with the issue of child sexual exploitation. He asked how Turkey was dealing with the issue. Did it organize roundtable discussions on television and in universities? Did the article of the Penal Code on obscenity include pornography?

Another Expert appreciated the effort of Turkey to modernize the country and indicated the gaps existing in the legislation with regard to the Protocol. She said the spirit of the Protocol was missing in the amended Penal Code. The new amendments did not refer to minimum age. No statistical data was made available and research was low. Prostitution among adults was legal in Turkey and it was reported that the owners of such centres might forge the age of the girls involved in prostitution. Why did Turkey not ratify the 2001 convention against cyber crimes?

Response of Turkey

The delegation said Turkey was making efforts in all fields to uphold the rights of children and to implement the provisions of the Convention and its Protocols.

In the new Turkish Penal Code, provisions were included with regard to crimes committed through the Internet. When there were divergences arising between the national legislation and international law, the latter would prevail. A new law was also being drafted to strengthen crimes related to the Internet. Turkey was still preparing the ground with the view to ratifying the convention against cyber crimes.

The assets of a legal entity could be confiscated if its involvement in crimes such as child prostitution and pornography was proved, the delegation said. The perpetrator of the crime, such as the manager was also penalized if found guilty. If a company was involved in money laundering, for example, the manager could be charged with the crime and the assets of the company would be seized.

Turkey had initiated an important task force to set up shelters for victims of abuse, in collaboration with UN agencies and NGOs, the delegation said. Already the first shelter was operational in Ankara and the second one was being constructed.

On child trafficking, Turkey was a country of destination, the delegation said. In 2005, there had been seven children involved in trafficking operations. In the Ankara shelter there were at present four child victims of trafficking. Trafficking in human beings and immigration was a serious problem to Turkey. The Government believed that the figures of victims might not reflect the reality of the situation, instead it believed that further training of the legal experts was essential to resolve the problem.

With regard to budgetary allocation, the delegation said each entity received its own budget to carry on its activities. However, it was not possible to provide a separate item to each institution dealing with child rights. There was a technical problem to indicate the allocation of the Ministries to each entity. The Inter-Ministerial Council, which was established in conjunction with UNICEF, had a separate budget and did not have a problem of coordination.

Concerning the kidnapping of babies from hospitals, the delegation said these were rare cases and that such incidents might be carried out by individuals who wished but could not have babies. Each hospital had its own security system and kidnapping could not take place easily. About 82 per cent of births took place in child-friendly maternities and hospitals.

The average rate of fertility in Turkey was 2.2 per cent, with the rate increasing a little in rural areas, the delegation said. The allegation that parents with many children sold their children was not true.

In a joint venture with UNICEF, children received appropriate treatment with regard to adoption, the delegation said. A number of Turkish children had been adopted by Turkish families, and others had been put in foster families.

Maternity hospitals should provide information on the new births for official registration, the delegation said. Also, births that took place outside hospitals with the help midwives should be reported to the officials. The civil service officers provided official certificates to the parents.

Turkey cooperated with international police organizations, including the Interpol, with regards to child pornography and the sale of children, the delegation said. The Government was dealing with all crimes relating to children and the police was active in clarifying information received from foreign organizations.

The relevant sections had already been set in all areas of Turkey with regard to juvenile police, the delegation said. Because of the vast territory, 20 per cent of the population was covered by the protection of the Gendarmerie. The police closely collaborated with the General Directorate for the protection of children. The activities and organizations of the juvenile Gendarmerie were similar to those of the national police.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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