Recommendations A/HRC/33/51/Add.1 Situation during the visit A/HRC/33/51/Add.1 Measures taken/current situation Level of implementation and observations (to be completed by the WGEID) As enforced disappearance is not classified as an autonomous criminal offence and remains being prosecuted as elements of other crimes, acts of enforced disappearance remain subject to the statute of limitations applicable to those crimes. Therefore, most of the investigations into cases of enforced disappearances from the 1990s are, or will soon be, facing the 20-year statute of limitations, although these crimes are not to be subject to statutes of limitation under international law. result of the disappearance are to be considered victims of the enforced disappearance and are therefore entitled to obtain reparation. For the purposes of reparation, a broad definition of the victim, not linked to the establishment of the criminal liability and conviction of the accused, should be adopted. ICJ A statute of limitation of 20 years applies to investigations and prosecutions of enforced disappearance that were committed in 1990s. The statute of limitation was extended with a new criminal law approved by Parliament in 2005. However, no other amendments have been made in criminal law since 2005. 83. Investigate the perpetrators and instigators of such crimes, as well as those hierarchically accountable under the principle of command responsibility. Paragraph 34 Ministry of Justice The letter of the law does not correspond to a blank check for police as it neither excludes judicial scrutiny possible for all types of detention nor provides any kind of impunity in case of misuse of power. National legislation devotes particular attention to the rights of individuals deprived of their liberty in a manner consistent with the principles of international human rights law. In this regard, the Working Group recalls the obligation of Turkey to take any lawful and appropriate action A/HRC/45/13/Add.4 37 Truth Justice Memory Center - the Human Rights Joint Platform – Human Rights Watch The entrenched culture of impunity for human rights violations perpetrated by state agents has continued to be the main obstacle in ensuring accountability for enforced disappearances. In the indictments of the few of the enforced disappearances, the defendants are accused of establishing and/or being a member of an organization to commit crimes. In this regard, the organizational structure of JİTEM (Turkish abbreviation for the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism) is described in detail in some of the indictments as an underground Turkish nationalist organization formed within the Turkish Gendarmery to enforced unlawful measures in the fight against the Kurdish The Working Group observes that the entrenched culture of impunity for human rights violations perpetrated by state agents has been a main obstacle to holding officials accountable in Turkey. While there are various factors that foster a culture of impunity in the criminal justice system, the lack of judicial independence and impartiality are reported to have been most critical ones. In addition, the recent tendency to incriminate actual or perceived supporters of the Hizmet/Gulen movement by the country’s leadership is presumed to have curtailed independent and effective investigations into these abuses.