The 32nd Council of Europe Local and Regional Administrations Congress held in Strasbourg, France accepted by a majority vote the report on practices like the trustee appointments to Kurdish municipalities, arrests of co-mayors and shut down of women’s and children’s services.

The Local and Regional Administrations Congress is held every 6 months. In yesterday's sessions, the discussions focus on immigration and local and regional democracy in several countries.

ACCEPTED BY MAJORITY VOTE

In yesterday's sessions in the congress, a report on the trustee appointments and arrests on the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) municipalities was accepted. The report prepared by Leendert Verbeek from the Dutch Labor Party (PvdA) and Swedish conservative elected official Anders Knape was accepted by 125 to 25.

REPORT INCLUDES TRUSTEES, ARRESTS AND SHUT DOWN SERVICES

The report prepared by Verbeek and Knape draws attention to the usurpation of local administrations in Kurdistan through trustees, voices the concern that “trustees of the central administration” are appointed in the place of co-mayors and stresses the damage caused by the shutting down of women’s and children’s services.

The draft also requests the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissary to “pay special attention to” the co-mayors who are imprisoned and removed from office in their visit to Turkey.

Among the proposals in the report are that the Council of Europe Venice Commission announce their view on the constitutionality of the decrees taken by the AKP against the municipalities. The report also demands the Experts Commission to take on the trustees appointed in the place of DBP co-mayors shutting down women’s services.

The draft also includes a demand that the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) investigate the information on the inhumane treatment the imprisoned elected officials are subjected to.

And lastly, the draft demands the Local and Regional Administrations Congress to inspect imprisoned Dersim Co-mayor Nurhayat Altun’s situation. Altun was a member of the congress delegation from Turkey as a DBP member.

TURKISH DELEGATION’S PROPOSALS REJECTED

During the session the report was heard, the Turkish Delegation’s various proposals to empty out the report were rejected by majority vote as well.

In this session, an article on the arbitrary obstruction Amed Metropolitan Municipality Council Member Serra Bucak, who was prevented from leaving the country at the airport on her way to attend the congress sessions. The article stresses that the congress members can not be “required to get approval from any institution” to travel abroad to attend the sessions.