UN Authority Figures

UN General Assembly Vice-President: Turkey

A boy of 16 was jailed for four years for kissing his 13-year-old girlfriend in Turkey.
Source: The Daily Mail, October 2, 2018. Photo: A prison in Turkey (Wikimedia Commons)

Mission of the General Assembly:
"13. The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of:
    a. promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification;
    b. promoting international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." ("UN Charter")

Term of office: 2019-2020

Turkey's Record on "the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion":
"Human rights issues included reports of arbitrary killing, suspicious deaths of persons in custody; forced disappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention of tens of thousands of persons, including opposition members of parliament, lawyers, journalists, foreign citizens, and three Turkish-national employees of the U.S. Mission to Turkey for purported ties to "terrorist" groups or peaceful legitimate speech; political prisoners, including numerous elected officials and academics; closure of media outlets and criminal prosecution of individuals for criticizing government policies or officials; blocking websites and content; severe restriction of freedoms of assembly and association; restrictions on freedom of movement; and violence against women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons, and members of other minorities... There continued to be some unconfirmed reports of disappearances during the year, some of which human rights groups alleged were politically motivated... the government restricted freedom of expression, including for the press, throughout the year... Many in media reported the government's prosecution of journalists representing major independent newspapers and its jailing of journalists during the preceding two years hindered freedom of speech and that self-censorship was widespread amid fear that criticizing the government could prompt reprisals."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018, Turkey)

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