Despite Reforms, Torture Claims Persist in Turkey

The investigation of the case was part of the New Turkey, at least initially. After the February arrest, the man, identified by his initials, A.C., enlisted the services of a lawyer who helped him publicly denounce the treatment by police, something that might not have happened in the past.

And then the Old Turkey intervened. A few weeks ago, with international attention growing, the man dropped his allegations and has refused to continue with the case after out-of-uniform police stalked and threatened him, his advocates said.

Ending torture is a key and still unfulfilled requirement in Turkey's bid to join the European Union, the 25-nation bloc that is expected to issue its formal invitation today to begin membership talks.

Prime ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed on Oct. 3 as a proposed date to start talks; the only sticking points involved conditions to be set and whether Turkey, a Muslim country of nearly 70 million people, would accept them.

In its quest to become a full-fledged member of the European community, Turkey has made remarkable strides in rewriting its laws to better protect human rights. A sweeping new criminal code was approved by parliament last week, a fresh openness is evident in airing allegations of abuse, and government-sanctioned, systematic torture is widely regarded to have ended. Yet incidents appear to persist, and the reluctance to investigate is acute, especially at the local and regional levels of government, where most of the abuse is reported to occur.

In September in the Kurdish southeast, for example, a third of all people detained said they were tortured, according to the Turkish Human Rights Assn. About 700 people filed torture claims with the association in the first half of 2004.

In addition to eliminating torture, Turkey has been required by the EU to adopt reforms, including reducing the role of the military in government, recognizing cultural rights for such minorities as the Kurds, and changing laws that discriminated against women. Turkey also repealed the death penalty.