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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

2 August 2001


Bülent Ecevit
Prime Minister of Turkey
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 417 0476


Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 145,000 individual members and 300 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

On behalf of the Committee, I am writing to express my concern about the Ministry of Health's new code of conduct that mandates virginity testing of female health school students suspected of having sexual relations. I understand that this code of conduct and an earlier statute, the Awards and Discipline in the High School Education Institutions, provide for the expulsion of any female student who is determined not to be a virgin.

Although Minister of Health Osman Durmus has publicly recanted his position on virginity exams, I remain concerned because the code of conduct has not been officially changed to reflect Durmus' new position. I respectfully request you to use your good offices to ensure that any of code of conduct that allows for virginity examinations be officially rescinded. I also urge your administration to review all Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health statutes to ensure that the policies do not violate international obligations against gender discrimination as provided for in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to which Turkey is a state party.

Forced virginity examinations violate several international human rights standards, including the articles enumerated in the following treaties and declarations.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: (adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948)
· Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
· Article 26(1): Everyone has the right to education.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: (Turkey signed the treaty on 15 August 2000. Signing a treaty signifies a nation's intention to comply with its provisions and to work for its ratification.)
· Article 7: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
· Article 17: 1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his [or her] privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his [or her] honour and reputation.
· Article 26: All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: (Turkey signed the treaty on 15 August 2000. Signing a treaty signifies a nation's intention to comply with its provisions and to work for its ratification.)
· Article 13: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: (Turkey is a state party)
· Article 2: States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women.

Convention on the Rights of the Child: (Turkey is a State Party)
· Article 16: No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.

The AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility joins with our fellow scientific societies, the Turkish Medical Association and the Association of Turkish Nurses, in their condemnation of the practice of virginity exams. We were encouraged to hear that the Turkish Ministry of Justice issued a ban on virginity examinations in 1999. We urge Turkey to continue to observe this ban.


Sincerely,

Carole Nagengast, Ph.D., Chair
Committee on Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility

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