The Human Rights Action Plan, which was issued with the signature of the Turkish President, was introduced to the public as a continuation of the will of reformation by the government, based on the Judicial Reform Strategy Document through the 11th Development Plan. With the Action Plan, it is claimed that rights and freedoms are aimed to be extended with an extensive legislative search, standards are aimed to be increased for public services to be more accessible, accountable, equal, transparent and fair. This report will be issued monthly in order to measure and debate the developments realised following the claims made with the Human Rights Action Plan.
Our monthly report “The Civil Society Is Watching” will record the monthly developments regarding the 9 goals, 11 principles stated with the Human Rights Action Plan as well as the 393 activities predicted to be realised. Thus, the report aims at debating the correlation between the steps taken with the aims presented in the Action Plan, as well as how satisfactory the developments are. The report will compare monthly reports launched by non-governmental organisations with the reality of the country, as well as the allegations of the public administration. The report will include data announced by the Ministry of Justice and its related chambers, as well as the Interior Ministry whenever available. It is a fact that the measures of “transparency and accountability” that were presented as principles in the Human Rights Action Plan find no correspondence in the reality of the Turkish government ruling. Therefore it should not be forgotten that the”accuracy” of the numbers stated in reports prepared by the civil society reflect the difficulties faced by rights advocates and press workers. This is exactly why we had to frequently use the expression, “at least” before many numbers stated in this report.
Civil Society is Watching 2021