Publications and reports issued in recent years suggest that degrading, cruel, inhuman and ill treatment, punishment, use of excessive force and disproportionate violence and torture in public facilities and spaces remain one of Turkey's burning and prevalent issues ... The most important element contributing to the continuity of torture and degrading / ill treatment is the phenomenon of impunity in the face of these crimes, both culturally adopted at social and personal level and entrenched at the level of official institutions in terms of customs and functioning. The most salient manifestations of degrading/ill treatment and torture are observed during protests, custody, detention processes and practices in prisons. On the other hand, it is known that there are similar dynamics, prevalent yet ignored, in daily life in many institutional spaces and facilities. Individuals may be exposed to degrading, inhuman treatment and punishment, use of excessive force and violence in many different public spaces from schools to hospitals, from orphanages to barracks. 

Through the action "Our Rights Everywhere", Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (hCa) (now named as Citizens’ Assembly) aims to contribute to the prevention of violation of rights, degrading, cruel, inhuman treatment and punishment, use of excessive force and torture in facilities governed by public administrations, indoors and outdoors in Turkey. In this context, activities intended for elimination of impunity will be undertaken, trying to improve the knowledge and skills of civil society organizations as well as the competence of relevant public actors at the local level and across the country.  The work, to be undertaken through a collective method, will allow for developing structural indicators, operational and result indicators in different thematic areas regarding the detection of abovementioned violations and crimes and putting in place a monitoring practice and experience based on these indicators. The action will also contribute to an effective use of the right to information and to the fight against the avoidance of criminal responsibility of public officials.

This action shall focus on following Institutional facilities and spaces (1) Primary and secondary schools; (2) Orphanages and nursery schools; (3) Psychiatric treatment institutions and rehabilitation centres; (4) Police stations; (5) Prisons and reformatories, (6) Removal and detention centres for refugees; (7) Military barracks and headquarters, and (8) public, open spaces (squares and streets) where citizens exercise the right to assemble and demonstrate.  The main target groups of the project are; civil society organizations and civic initiatives working for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment, platforms, specialists - practitioners and organizations from relevant public service areas, professional organizations representing employees of selected institutions, official institutions, public officials and administrators, political parties and officials.   

The results of the action Our Rights Everywhere will benefit a wide range of people living in Turkey: primary and secondary school students; children and young people in orphanages; those receiving physical or mental treatments at psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation centres; citizens who fulfil compulsory military service obligations, professional soldiers; those in prisons and reformatories; persons held at police stations; refugees held in removal centres and in camps; those who want to exercise the right to demonstration in public spaces as well as the families and relations of the members of all the above mentioned groups. 

Activities: 

As part of this action, guided by an Advisory Board, indicators shall be developed in eight focus areas for monitoring degrading, cruel, inhuman treatment and punishment, use of excessive force and torture. In addition to general indicators, there will be protocols of cooperation signed with various civil society organizations that will carry out collective sub-actions with other organizations and institutions in their respective fields of activity and expertise in order to develop specific sub-indicators relating to each institutional/spatial context in collaborating with hCa. Some funds will be earmarked by hCa from its project budget for these sub-activities. In addition to information initiatives for formulating monitoring indicators, there will be a two-day workshop on Mapping and Indicators for mapping potential intervention areas in order to prevent violations in thematic areas and to transform the dynamics that lead to violations. 

Following the workshop, thematic working groups to be organized by NGOs with the sub-group responsibilities will develop Strategic Maps and Sub-Sector Indicators of the thematic areas in which they operate. The maps and indicators that will emerge as a result of these activities will be discussed and finalized in a one-day workshop to be attended by thematic working groups. Monitoring, intervention and advocacy plans for each of the eight thematic areas will also be prepared. Action plans and indicators will be announced to the media/public through an information event, and thematic working groups will carry out additional media activities. Monitoring, reporting activities, advocacy towards relevant official institutions will be undertaken In the light of the indicators. 

The project Our Rights Everywhere, which will last for twenty months, will be concluded by an Evaluation Conference which will bring together civil society organizations implementing the project, as well as members and representatives of the organizations active in the relevant field, experts, administrative and political party representatives and officials. The methodology and results of the action will be published as a comprehensive report with a rich content with infographics that reflect the feedback from the field to the monitoring, intervention and advocacy activities carried out under the guidance of maps and indicators. 

* January 2016 - October 2017 / Grant provider: European Union, Democracy and Human Rights Fund