Speaking at a press briefing at his party’s headquarters, Demir indicated that they, as HÜDA PAR, attached great importance to the plan and saw it as a positive step towards promoting the rule of law in the country.

“The Human Rights Action Plan contains significant points and aims. Strengthening human rights protection mechanisms, the independence of the judiciary, fair trial, and expanding freedom of expression are of course important regulations that society needs,” Demir said.

“Although fundamental human rights are under constitutional guarantee, people encounter many problems and violations in practice. It should not be forgotten that the main problem in Turkey is that those charged with implementing the rules of legislation act arbitrarily instead of obeying the law.”

Urging the Turkish government to put the plan into effect as soon as possible, Demir continued his remarks as follows: “The lack of an effective administrative and judicial control and the lack of an effective administrative and judicial control in the implementation of the Constitution and penal legislation paves the way for all kinds of abuse. The problems stemming from the failure to obey the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the ECtHR, the fact that domestic courts are not taking into account the international conventions in the field of human rights, and the state’s supports for institutions and law enforcement officers which violate the law, show the need for an effective mechanism to protect citizens against the state.”

“As it is stated in the proverb ‘actions speak louder than words', what it matters is not the announcement of the plan but the implementation of it,” Demir concluded. (ILKHA)