Committee on the Rights of the Child reviews report of Turkey

Committee on the Rights of the Child

1st June 2012

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the combined second and third periodic report of Turkey on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Fatma Sahin, Minister of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, said that constitutional and legal amendments in 2008 and in 2010 had identified the obligations of the State concerning the rights of the child and the protection of the family and had strengthened the constitutional infrastructure in this regard.  Turkey had established the National Child Strategy and had invested in education and health to prepare its 29 million children for the future, focusing on the education of poor and rural girls, maternal and child health, universal health coverage, and free access to healthcare.  Remaining challenges included strengthening of the rehabilitation system for child victims of violence and juvenile offenders, protection of children living and or working in the street, and protection of children from abuse within families.

Among the concerns raised by Experts during the interactive discussion were the lack of a legal framework to combat discrimination and specific measures to protect children and minorities from discrimination, reports of torture and ill treatment of children, holding of children in adult prison facilities, and illegal interrogation of children without a lawyer or parent present.  A number of questions were asked on the system and mechanism in place to monitor the spending for health and education and to ensure that the most vulnerable had been reached; on adoption and foster care system; and on the protection of children with disabilities.  Turkey had made considerable progress in the area of birth registration and Experts asked about other measures to identify and address obstacles to timely birth registration, particularly among nomads and the rural population.  In the context of growing regional disparities, Experts wondered how Turkey addressed child poverty and deprivation, particularly in eastern regions and in rural areas.

In concluding remarks, Hatem Kotrane, the Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Turkey, said the commitment of this country to improve the rights of children was obvious.  Remaining challenges included education in school, education on human rights, and education of minorities in their own language; as well as children in need of more protection such as refugees, asylum-seekers and juvenile offenders.  The Committee understood and appreciated the efforts of Turkey and wished to see more done in guaranteeing and protecting their rights.

Also in concluding observations, Ms. Sahin said that Turkey would strive to include the recommendations of the Committee in its National Child Strategy.  Turkey would be following up on the suggestions and recommendations concerning juvenile justice and would work to ensure that juvenile offenders remained members of society. 

The delegation of Turkey consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ministry of National Defense.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, 4 June when it will consider the initial report of Nepal on its implementation of 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 (CRC/C/OPSC/NPL/1).

Report

The second and third periodic report of Turkey can be read here: (CRC/C/TUR/2-3).

Presentation of the Report

FATMA SAHIN, Minister of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, said that the rights of the child overlapped with the aims and objectives of the Turkish Republic, which had developed a national strategy and structure for respect of the rights of the child.  This strategy included the development of children in arts, sports, education, child-friendly media and juvenile justice.  The constitutional amendment of 2010 had identified obligations of the State with regard to the rights of the child, the protection of the family, and had in general strengthened constitutional infrastructure in this regard.  Measures had been taken to protect children from violence in the 2008 document.  While legal infrastructure had been established, Turkey had also undertaken a number of measures in education and health to prepare its 29 million children for the future.  Education of girls, particularly poor girls from rural areas, had been a focus of the Government.  Turkey had undergone a sort of a revolution and many people had benefitted from the changes, particularly women and children.  Universal health coverage had been introduced and all persons in the country enjoyed free access to health care.  The impact had been important on mother and child health and reduction of infant and child mortality.  Hospital birth had been promoted and women from rural areas were now transported to hospital centres two weeks before their due date.  Special efforts had been made to ensure that children remained in the loving care of the family, and support had been provided to families in need. 

Further strengthening was needed in the rehabilitation system for children victims of violence and juvenile offenders and Turkey was in search of the best system in this regard.  Children living and or working in the street were another priority Turkey needed to address and it had established Child and Youth Centres to protect those children.  Another aspect of child protection included child abuse in families whereby the Government had promulgated legal measures to protect children abused within families.  In the future, Turkey would strengthen its child protection work and put children at the heart of its policies.  The collaboration with the Committee on the Rights of the Child was therefore crucial and Turkey looked forward to Committee Experts comments and suggestions. 

Questions by Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Report of Turkey, commended Turkey on the progress made in protecting and advancing the rights of the child in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and asked if Turkey intended to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and a number of Optional Protocols to other international treaties.  The Committee welcomed the constitutional amendments establishing the primacy of international instruments above the national law and wondered how the training of judges and lawyers was being done in this regard.  The Committee shared the concern expressed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concerning forced evictions and the compensation system in the country, including in Istanbul for urban development projects and in provinces for dams construction.  The Committee took note of the efforts of Turkey to combat discrimination and expressed its concern about the lack of the legal framework.  What measures did Turkey take to protect children and minorities from discrimination?  What improvements had been made in the judicial system to protect them from corporal punishment?  The Committee Expert further expressed concern about cases of torture and ill treatment of children, holding of children in adult detention facilities, and the illegal interrogation of children without the presence of a lawyer or parent.

ASEIL AL-SHEHAIL, Committee Expert acting as Co-Rapporteur for the Report of Turkey, said that spending for health and education in Turkey, even though it had been increased, had not reached international standards as yet.  What were the systems in place to monitor the spending and to ensure that the most vulnerable had been reached?  Significant gaps existed in data collection methods in the country and the Expert asked whether there were policies aiming to address particularly disadvantaged children.  The Committee Expert congratulated Turkey on establishing the Ministry of Family and Social Policies and asked about operational plans to implement the Convention and coordinate with other state bodies.  What was the current status of the National Child Strategy and what human and financial resources had been made available for its implementation?  How were the views of the child brought into the decision-making process?

A strong civil society was needed to promote and protect children’s rights, said another Expert, and asked the delegation to comment on the involvement of children in the reporting process and in the implementation of the Convention.  Turkey had made considerable progress in the area of birth registration and an Expert asked about other measures to identify and address obstacles to timely birth registration, particularly in rural and eastern regions and among poor and uneducated parents. How was the right of privacy of children respected and did children have the right to private communications?  What monitoring systems existed in the country and how were complaints dealt with? 

How could a child express his or her views in case of divorce?  Everyone should exert all efforts to overcome the custom of honour killings and the Committee Expert welcomed the legal measures undertaken by the Government of Turkey to eradicate this heinous custom.  Some alarming reports indicated that some women and children who took refugee could not been protected by the Government from the killing.  The delegation was asked to expand on the measures to eradicate this crime and protect victims, including the number of prosecutions, status of shelters, hotline and data on children victims of honour killings.

How would Turkey evaluate the knowledge and awareness of the rights of the child and the Convention among the citizens, children and political and opinion leaders?  Were the provisions of the Convention included in the primary and secondary curricula in schools and were there plans to include it as compulsory curriculum in teacher training and training of other key officials in contact with children, such as social workers or police officers?  Another Expert asked the delegation to comment on the degree of violence against children and legal measures explicitly prohibiting physical or any other type of violence against children?  What mechanisms did children have to make complaints?  What was Turkey doing to induce the cultural change necessary to combat violence against women and children?

Response by Delegation

International law was reflected in the national law in Turkey and that was why it had eliminated its reservations on a number of conventions and international instruments.  Constitutional consultations had been undertaken in the 81 provinces of the country in which children’s views had been taken into account and incorporated in the new Constitution.  Very serious training programmes were being organized on the rights of the child, especially after 2005.  Turkey was implementing an important juvenile justice project which had a budget of over 3 million Euro; juvenile courts were being established and close cooperation was being developed with social workers and psychologists.  The juvenile justice system was a very popular subject at the Law School and many seminars were being organized at the University concerning violence against women and children.  Marriage was legal at the age of 17 and this age limit would further be debated by Parliament.  Formal education was organized on the basis of three sets of four years in order to keep girls in compulsory formal education for as long as possible and so to prevent early marriages.

The presence of children in detention and penitentiary facilities together with adults was a serious issue and this was not the case in Turkey.  In some provinces, there were juveniles in adult prison campuses, but they were completely separated from adults.  Turkey had developed plans for prisons that would guarantee separate space for juveniles, with each minor having a separate room and where minors would be grouped by age.  It was impossible that security forces participated in interrogation of juveniles; statements of minors were taken by the juvenile prosecutor with the obligatory presence of a lawyer and a psychologist.  The Turkish Penal Code sanctioned ill treatment of a person in care, even by a parent or teacher of a child.  Corporal and physical punishment was prohibited.  A new law on violence had been enacted in 2012 and child tracking and monitoring centres were strengthened. 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child had been fully taken into account at the First Instance Court and also prevailed over the national law and legislation.  Parliament had worked on the establishment of the child ombudsmen and a draft bill to amend the Constitution was being discussed.  This bill, expected to be put into force before the summer break, would enable Turkish citizens and foreigners to file a complaint against the functioning of the state administration.  Birth registration was compulsory and only two children in a thousand were not registered; those were mainly children of nomads living on the top of mountains.  Those children did get registered when entering a medical facility for the first time; birth registration was required in order to obtain social benefits.

The Turkish Penal Code of 2005 sanctioned torture and ill treatment carried out by a public official; if the victim was a child, this would be considered as an aggravating factor and carried a sentence of 8 to 15 years.  The 2005 Bylaws also set forth the apprehension procedure for a child; a child must be provided with a legal counsel and was medically examined upon his or her release without the presence of a law enforcement officer.  In 81 provinces human rights monitoring units had been established and were composed of members of non-governmental organizations and bar associations.  A new law had been submitted for consideration by Parliament in order to ensure better functioning of the police force and more transparency in dealing with shortcomings. 

Questions by Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Report of Turkey, said that the number of children in institutions remained high.  Were adoptions carried out in the country and what were the numbers?  A high percentage of children was working in agriculture and handicraft and furniture industries and the Expert asked what protective measures were in place to ensure that those children were free from exploitation.  The Committee was concerned about limitations of refugees and asylum seekers to obtain basic social services in Turkey, and particularly about difficulties asylum-seeking children faced in obtaining permits to stay in the country.

ASEIL AL-SHEHAIL, Committee Expert acting as Co-Rapporteur for the Report of Turkey, asked the delegation to comment on measures taken by the Government to reduce disparities in the development of different provinces.  What steps had been taken to support families and to ensure that children with disabilities were raised by the family and community?  How were those children supported in education and how were they protected from violence? 

What provisions were there for children ages zero to three years and what provisions were in place to support children of working mothers?  The efforts of Turkey to expand and strengthen the system of child care were noted and an Expert asked how the early childhood age group was taken care of.  What about the families who could not afford childcare?  How was violence and abuse in institutions prevented?  Another Expert noted that children employed in the agricultural sector were mainly foreigners and wondered what was being done to manage migration flows of children and ensure their access to education.  

The Committee had received information concerning children with disabilities and wondered what early detection system was in place to identify disabilities, particularly in early childhood.  Alarming reports were received about treatment of children with disabilities in institutions and Experts asked what kind of care children received in those institutions.  How was the education of children with disabilities organized?  It was time to discuss refugee children, particularly in light of the high number of Syrian children fleeing the fighting, and the Expert asked what measure were undertaken to guarantee access to health and education for refugee children.  What mechanisms had been established to monitor the well-being of children within families by parents with problems? 

The reports received by the Committee indicated that only 39 per cent of mothers initiated breastfeeding, regardless of the high number of institutionalized deliveries, which might also be a cause of high rates of malnutrition, and an Expert asked what measures were being taken to promote breastfeeding.  What system was in place to monitor disciplining of children in institutions and to ensure they remained legal and ethical?  Some delinquent children were placed in rehabilitation centres and some remained in prisons and the Committee Expert wondered why the difference and what it meant.  Were there judges specialized in juvenile justice?  In prison, did delinquent children receive re-education and were there alternative sentences available?

Questions by Experts

An Expert reminded that in 2001 the Committee had recommended that Turkey prepare a comprehensive study into adolescence health issues and asked if this or a similar study was ever carried out.  Did Turkey have a comprehensive adolescent and reproductive health policy and was the education programme in reproductive health designed according to the age of children and incorporated into school curricula?  Turkey was perhaps the third fastest growing economy in the world today and the Government had been taking steps to balance regional and socio-economic disparities in development.  In 2009, 25 per cent of children under 15 years of age lived below the national poverty line, while in rural areas 50 per cent lived below the poverty line.  The situation was more serious in the eastern areas of the country and the Expert asked the delegation to expand on the steps to address child poverty and deprivation, including the use of exceptional measures. 

Turning to education, another Expert asked for clarification on the provision of universal primary education and hidden costs for families to get good grades and quality education for their children.  There were two Council of Europe conventions that Turkey had signed, one on cybercrime and another on trafficking in human beings and an Expert asked for the status of ratification of those instruments.

Response by Delegation

Children living on the street received services through 38 centres, from boarding to daily stay, education, vocational training, addiction treatment, and others.  Steps to prevent children from becoming homeless included preventive and protective measures, such as comprehensive programmes, training, financial support to families, and others.  There were mobile teams working on the streets which would identify street children, provide services to them and reintegrate them into society.  Until now, over 11,000 children in Turkey had been adopted.  The civil code governing adoption was being revised in order to accelerate the process with the best interest of the child at the centre.  Foster families were getting more importance in the system in order to reduce the number of children in institutions. 

Nine ministries and members of civil society were participants in the Board to monitor the rights of the child which reviewed and approved actions and decisions to be taken with regard to children.  Affection houses were institutions closest to the family system for children not in the foster or institution system.  Each house with a care mother housed five to seven children and children here would get education, socialisation and affection.  Children could file a complaint via a hotline, police and the gendarmerie, and all complaints by children or concerning children were acted upon immediately.  The privacy of children was protected by the national legislation in Turkey and violators faced very serious sanctions, even for family members.

Families with children with disabilities were protected by the 2005 law according to which families received support in order to continue to care for their children in the home environment.  The number of persons with disabilities benefitting from monthly payments was over 300,000 and a significant proportion of them were children.  In addition to financial support, care givers to persons with disabilities would also receive training in providing care and enjoyed access to day care support centres.  Monitoring mechanisms in institutions existed and Turkey was currently working on developing a system of civilian oversight.  There was a great increase in inclusive education; for example, over the past three years of the “Education Enables” campaign, the number of children in education had increased by 109 per cent.  In terms of preventing disabilities, programmes included screening and preventive diagnostic for newborns for hypothyroid, cataract and hip dysplasia; thalassemia screening of couples prior to getting married; and screening for some congenital diseases.  The autism centre was an advanced one for which a long waiting list existed; Turkey wished to increase the number of such centres in the country.  Children with disabilities were considered under special education; the total number of students with disabilities was 238,000.  Turkey believed that inclusive education was needed for the benefit of children with disabilities and Turkey was ready to work with the Committee to further develop the system in the country.

Turning to reproductive health, the delegation said that guesthouses were available to pregnant women with high risk; the use of the service was purely voluntary and women could agree or decline to use them.  Mobile healthcare services provided care to pregnant women in various areas and regions of the country.  A Health Transformation Programme had started in 2002 to address regional disparities and ensure equal access to services; neonatal, infant and maternal mortality were some indicators used to measure the baseline and progress and significant improvements had been achieved.  According to the Millennium Development Goals, the 2015 target for infant and maternal mortality had been achieved in 2009.  Turkey was one of the few countries in the world to achieve this.  Disparities existed not only between regions, but also between families in the same region and even between members of the same family.  Social determinants of health were therefore important and health was one of the priorities of the Government.  The health budget had been increased but had not reached international standards; still, Turkey was a country with 100 per cent access to health care and all this at only 550 US dollars per capita spending, which also meant that Turkey achieved efficient delivery of health service at a lower cost. 

Health and education was provided free of charge not only to Turkish citizens, but also to refugees and asylum seekers.  Ninety per cent of refugees in Turkey were women and children and the Government was providing day care and teachers to children, vocational training for women, translation services and other assistance. 

Turkey had been carrying out the baby friendly hospital certification programme since 1987 and there were over 400 such hospitals in the country in which almost 80 per cent of all deliveries took place.  According to a national survey, over 60 per cent of women exclusively breastfed their children within the first six months in 2010.  Vitamin D and iron supplements were provided free of charge to more than one million children.  A National Action Plan for Reproductive Health was in place and would be assessed in 2015.  The restructuring of the Ministry of Health was done in order to introduce more integrated public health services and the institute for mother and child health was not closed in the restructuring but integrated in these new services.

Turkey carried activities through schools to teach children about the Convention on the Rights of the Child, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and democracy.  Measures to reduce the number of children out of school included the provision of school meals, scholarships, school buses and house to house visits to families to convince them to send their children to school.  As a result, the number of children out of school had been reduced from 7 per cent to 0.5 per cent.  School inspection mechanisms were in place on provincial levels and provinces were in charge of investigating complaints against schools and teachers.  If students did not abide by school rules, they could be removed, suspended and otherwise sanctioned, but prohibition of corporal punishment was explicit.  During their training, all teachers received a course on the rights of the child, and on how to teach it to their students.  Reproductive health was incorporated in primary school curricula from the sixth grade on to secondary school.

A Committee Expert expressed concern about imposing of pre-trial detention on children who committed an offence and wondered why that was the practice.  Further, the length of the judicial proceedings was 414 days which meant that children spent an enormous length of time in detention, suffered long sentences and were exposed to violence, torture and ill-treatment. 

In response, the delegation said that 45 per cent of the budget allocated to combat poverty was destined to children.  Turkey was trying to implement an integrated programme to combat poverty which included conditional cash transfers, special measures to address child poverty and a range of other social services.  Turkey would like to apply social assistance programmes in a holistic and proportional manner for greater impact.  The holistic approach meant that the other needs of the family were taken into consideration, such as food, fuel, shelter and others and together with social services projects, services were provided to the target group.

An Expert noted that combating poverty required many measures of short-term nature but at the same time it required a package of social and economic policies that targeted the underlying roots of poverty and inequality.  So it was not sufficient for a holistic approach to provide subsidies if in a long term people were not enabled to work and receive decent wage. 

In response, the delegation said Turkey had established the Ministry of Family and Social Policies exactly to address this issue in an integrated and holistic manner.  Support to families was the most important project of the Ministry and would always remain in the system.  Social services and employment were connected in that everyone applying for social services was registered with employment services and had an opportunity to participate in vocational and training programmes.  An affirmative employment package had been enacted in 2008, which saw an increase in the number of women and youth in work.

Pre-trial detention and custody were different.  At the moment, there were 241 convicted children; of them, 225 were convicted but their cases were still pending at the Court of Appeals. Over 1,700 were being prosecuted in juvenile court with specialised personnel.  Less that one per cent of children were in pre-trial detention, which was a measure of last resort.  Alternative sentencing was used whenever possible for offences of less than one year imprisonment.  Children never stayed with adults but in separate facilities subjected to special rules for juveniles.  Inside those facilities children were grouped according to age.  Juveniles were prosecuted in a different way from adults and as result of juvenile prosecution, 80 per cent of sentences of juvenile courts were sanctions other than imprisonment.  There were 9 million children with criminal liability in Turkey and therefore the number of children in pre-trial detention was not that high. 

Concluding Remarks

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Report of Turkey, said in closing remarks that Turkey should be proud of the progress it had made.  The commitment of Turkey to improve the rights of children was obvious, through legal and constitutional amendments, and resources and means available to children, particularly for their health and education.  Dissemination of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child would be included in the list of recommendations to the State party, together with remarks on discrimination and corporal punishment, particularly in the family.  Challenges included education in school, education on human rights, and education of minorities in their own language; as well as children in need of more protection such as refugee, asylum-seeker children and juvenile offenders.  The Committee understood and appreciated the efforts of Turkey and wished to see more done in guaranteeing and protecting their rights.

FATMA SAHIN, Minister of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, said in her concluding observations that Turkey would strive to include the recommendations of the Committee in its National Child Strategy and implement them.  Turkey had recently promoted a law on violence which introduced new things such as removal from a household of a person committing violence.  Information that Turkey could not provide today due to lack of time would be provided in writing.  Turkey would be following up on the suggestions and recommendations concerning juvenile justice and would work to ensure that juvenile offenders remained members of society. 

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