Universal Periodic Review – 4th Cycle – Türkiye
About this submission
This stakeholder submission was prepared by the Security Studies and Rule of Law Association (SRL Swiss) for Türkiye’s fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The submission reviews the implementation of selected recommendations from Türkiye’s previous UPR and presents SRL Swiss’s assessment of continuing human rights concerns. It focuses in particular on judicial independence and impartiality, torture and ill-treatment, prison conditions and the execution system, enforced disappearances and abductions, and discrimination.
Document Information
Document Type: Civil Society / Stakeholder Submission
Mechanism: United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Country Review: Türkiye – Fourth Cycle
Working Group Session: 49th Session, 28 April–9 May 2025
Stakeholder Submission Period: October 2024
Official UN Summary: A/HRC/WG.6/49/TUR/3
Official UN Record: OHCHR Universal Periodic Review Database
Language: English
Key Issues Addressed
The submission reviews a number of recommendations made during Türkiye’s previous Universal Periodic Review and considers, from SRL Swiss’s perspective, the extent to which those recommendations had been implemented in practice.
On judicial independence and impartiality, the submission raises concerns about the practical independence of the judiciary, the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the relationship between executive authorities and judicial institutions. It discusses the implications of the Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye judgment and argues that international and domestic judicial decisions should be effectively implemented.
On torture and ill-treatment, the submission addresses allegations concerning treatment in detention, investigation and accountability mechanisms, and the effectiveness of legal and institutional safeguards. It argues that allegations of torture and ill-treatment should be subject to independent and effective investigation and that victims should have access to appropriate remedies.
The submission also addresses enforced disappearances and abductions, including allegations concerning persons reportedly transferred or deprived of their liberty without adequate legal safeguards. It calls for effective investigations into such allegations and for the protection of access to lawyers, judicial review and family contact.
A further section considers prison conditions and the execution system, including access to health care, treatment of elderly or ill prisoners, prison capacity, medical examinations, disciplinary and probation practices and access to social, educational and cultural activities.
The report also discusses discrimination and the continuing consequences of emergency-decree measures, including issues relating to employment, access to social benefits, freedom of movement and administrative restrictions affecting individuals and families. These points reflect SRL Swiss’s assessment in the stakeholder submission and should be read together with the underlying sources cited in the full report.
Recommendations
The submission recommends, among other measures:
- stronger safeguards for judicial independence and impartiality;
- effective implementation of relevant domestic and international court judgments;
- independent investigation of allegations of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance;
- improved safeguards and conditions for persons deprived of their liberty;
- protection of fair-trial and defence rights;
- measures addressing discrimination and administrative restrictions; and
- closer alignment of law and practice with applicable international human rights standards.
SRL Swiss’s contribution is listed in the official OHCHR database among the civil society submissions for Türkiye’s fourth-cycle UPR. The OHCHR summary of stakeholder submissions was issued as A/HRC/WG.6/49/TUR/3 and summarises 129 stakeholder contributions.