Turkey under ECHR's microscope

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Turkey was wrong to fine Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, who was convicted in 2012 for tarnishing the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reputation in two political speeches in the parliament.

ECHR also ruled against Turkey in the case of a girl who was forced into prostitution from the age of 12, saying she was not given sufficient legal protection and support. The ECHR said the girl, identified only as N.C. and born in January 1990, had in July 2002 been forced by two women into prostitution.

In January 2003 she lodged a criminal complaint against the pair, as well as the men with whom she had had sexual relations. Twenty-eight people were put on trial, but after 35 hearings the process ended with three defendants acquitted for lack of evidence, and lenient sentences handed to others, the court said.

In the case of N.Ç., the Court found several violations of the Convention, as the Turkish authorities had failed to protect a child who had suffered sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The case concerned shortcomings in the criminal proceedings against suspects charged with prostitution offences in relation to a fourteen-year-old child.

The Court considered that the lack of support for the applicant, the failure to protect her against the defendants, the unnecessary reconstruction of the rape incidents, the repeated medical examinations, the lack of a calm and secure environment at the hearings, the assessment of the victim’s consent, the excessive length of the proceedings, and, lastly, the fact that two of the charges had become time-barred, amounted to a serious case of secondary victimization of the applicant.

Turkey has been a member since 1950 of the Council of Europe, of which the ECHR is part. The court has seen a recent piling up of cases relating to Turkey, finding against Ankara in numerous instances, notably in the cases of philanthropist Osman Kavala and politician Selahattin Demirtas. Despite its rulings, they remain jailed.

Rights groups have also urged Turkey to do more to sharpen legislation to ensure much harsher penalties for those who commit sexual abuse against minors.