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) At least, since the amendments in 2013, no statute of limitation shall apply to the torture related offence. [Still, there are many problems in the implementation.] JWF – IAHRA Geneva Enforced disappearance does not constitute an autonomous offence under the Turkish criminal law and the government has not publicly expressed any intention to designate it as an offense in the foreseeable future. The climate of impunity, including over alleged cases of enforced disappearances, was legally “reinforced” with the promulgation of the Decree Law 667 23 which provided that, “Legal, administrative, financial and criminal liabilities shall not arise in respect of the persons who have adopted decisions and fulfill their duties within the scope of this Decree Law.” 24 With a September 2016 decree 25 the government also dissolved the prison monitoring boards, evidently with the intention of preventing allegations of torture making it beyond prison walls. Further to granting impunity for public officials, Decree Law No. 696 issued on December 24, 2017, extended that immunity to civilians (vigilantes) 26 who use violence against anyone who opposes the government or anyone they claim to suspect of opposing the government or of having been involved in the attempted coup of July 15, 2016 (or its continuation).27 In absence of making enforced disappearance an autonomous offence punishable by appropriate penalties that reflect its extreme seriousness, the 20-year statute of limitations applies and 23 24 25 26 27 Decree-Law 667 was published in the Official Gazette on July 23, 2016. Article 9 of Decree-Law 667. Decree-Law No. 672 of September 1, 2016. The paragraph reads in pertinent part: “regardless of an official title or duties or the lack thereof, people who played a role in the suppression of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and subsequent events and terrorist activities will be exempt from criminal, administrative, financial and legal liability.” Pursuant to the provisions of the decree-law, vigilantes would go unpunished thereafter. A/HRC/45/13/Add.4 18 Recommendations A/HRC/33/51/Add.1