2-None of the cells possessed a toilet or running water

1-In most places, detainees [judges and prosecutors] who wished to sit or lie had to do so on the floor.

3- The period of custody in Turkey was extended from 4 days to 30 days as a state of emergency has been declared.

4-The detention places are in an excessively small, or dark, or unventilated. According to the CPT, if these factors are combined; the effect of such conditions on the detainee may in itself amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

5. None of the cells -in the old building of Ankara Police Headquarters is acceptable to the CPT as detainee accommodation for lengthy (i.e. multi-day) periods. At the most, some of the cells might in their present form be used for temporary holding purposes (i.e. detention for a matter of hours), and this subject to the strict condition that they be provided with adequate lighting and ventilation.

6- An extremely large number of allegations of torture and other forms of severe ill-treatment of detained persons by the police. These allegations are being made by a wide range of persons and are strikingly consistent as regards the particular types of torture and severe ill-treatment in question. Further, a considerable number of persons examined by the delegation’s doctors displayed physical marks or conditions consistent with their allegations of ill-treatment by the police.

7-"on-site" observations in police establishments is urgently needed by CPT and the other human rights observers. It is a conclusion that torture and other forms of severe ill-treatment are important characteristics of police custody in Turkey.

8-It must be stressed again that detaining someone in a cramped, dark and unventilated cell in itself amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

9-JTorture for confession.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN

1-Necessary steps should be taken immediately to stop torture and/or other forms of severe ill treatment, whether physical or psychological, when holding and questioning detained Judges and Prosecutors.

2- The obligation to notify immediately a person’s next of kin of his arrest or detention should be allowed.

3-detaineed Judges should be fully examined by a doctor from the relevant Forensic Institute both before they are interrogated and at the conclusion of their interrogation.

4-the examination of detainees by a doctor should be carried out on a personal basis and under conditions offering due privacy for the person examined (paragraph 103);

5-All medical examinations of detainees to be conducted out of the hearing, and preferably out of the sight, of police or gendarmerie officers (paragraph 103);

6-the results of all medical examinations as well as relevant statements made by the detainee to be formally recorded by the doctor and made available for scrutiny by the detainee (paragraph 103);

7- The relevant authorities should investigate whether prison staff in Ankara Central Closed Prison are, on occasion, abusing their authority by beating prisoners and, if necessary, to take appropriate steps to prevent such abuses occurring in the future (paragraph 126).

8-The Turkish State possesses an array of legal measures which explicitly prohibit the use of torture or any other cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment.

9. As regards Turkish law of national origin, mention should be made of Article 17, paragraph 3, of the Constitution, which states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or ill-treatment; no one shall be subjected to a penalty or to treatment incompatible with human dignity". This provision is matched by two important provisions of the Criminal Code, Article 245 (punishing law enforcement officials who ill-treat or cause bodily injury to persons with whom they come into contact in the fulfilment of their duties) and Article 243 (punishing any public official who "tortures an accused person in order to make him confess his offence").

10. Length of police custody, b) Access to a lawyer, Writ of habeas corpus

Under Article 19, paragraph 8, of the Constitution, "persons deprived of their liberty under any circumstances are entitled to apply to the appropriate judicial authority [...] for their release if the restriction placed upon them is not lawful".

11-a the right to lodge an application with the European Commission of Human Rights under Article 25 of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 (the jurisdiction of the Commission in this respect was accepted by Turkey on 28 January 1987);

11-b the right to send a "communication" to the UN Committee against Torture, under Article 22, paragraph 1, of the UN Convention against Torture of 1984.

12-Confessions made under duress:

Under the Turkish legal system, a confession made to a police officer as a result of torture or other forms of ill-treatment must be disregarded by the courts and not be considered as evidence of the alleged offence.

24 July 2016, 13:27 UTC

1-Amnesty International has gathered credible evidence that detainees in Turkey are being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape, in official and unofficial detention centres in the country.  The organization is calling for independent monitors to be given immediate access to detainees in all facilities in the wake of the coup attempt, which include police headquarters, sports centres and courthouses. More than 10,000 people have been detained since the failed coup.

2-Amnesty International has credible reports that Turkish police in Ankara and Istanbul are holding detainees in stress positions for up to 48 hours, denying them food, water and medical treatment, and verbally abusing and threatening them. In the worst cases some have been subjected to severe beatings and torture, including rape.

3-“Reports of abuse including beatings and rape in detention are extremely alarming, especially given the scale of detentions that we have seen in the past week. The grim details that we have documented are just a snapshot of the abuses that might be happening in places of detention,” said Amnesty International’s Europe director John Dalhuisen. 

"It is absolutely imperative that the Turkish authorities halt these abhorrent practices and allow international monitors to visit all these detainees in the places they are being held.”

It is absolutely imperative that the Turkish authorities halt these abhorrent practices and allow international monitors to visit all these detainees in the places they are being held

Detainees are being arbitrarily held, including in informal places of detention. They have been denied access to lawyers and family members and have not been properly informed of the charges against them, undermining their right to a fair trial.

On Saturday the Turkish government issued its first decree under new powers authorised by its declaration of a state of emergency. The decree dramatically increases the amount of time detainees can be held without being charged from four to 30 days. The change risks exposing detainees to further torture and other ill-treatment. The decree also provides for officials to observe or even record meetings between pre-trial detainees and lawyers, and detainees are restricted in who they can choose to represent them, further undermining the right to a fair trial.

Torture and other ill-treatment

Amnesty International spoke to lawyers, doctors and a person on duty in a detention facility about the conditions detainees were being held in.

The organization heard multiple reports of detainees being held in unofficial locations such as sports centres and a stable. Some detainees, including at least three judges, were held in the corridors of courthouses.

All of the interviewees wished to remain anonymous for security reasons. The organization heard extremely alarming accounts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, particularly at the Ankara Police Headquarters sports hall, Ankara Başkent sports hall and the riding club stables there.

According to these accounts, police held detainees in stress positions, denied them food, water and medical treatment, verbally abused and threatened them and subjected them to beatings and torture, including rape and sexual assault.

Two lawyers in Ankara working on behalf of detainees told Amnesty International that detainees said they witnessed senior military officers in detention being raped with a truncheon or finger by police officers.

A person on duty at the Ankara Police Headquarters sports hall saw a detainee with severe wounds consistent with having been beaten, including a large swelling on his head. The detainee could not stand up or focus his eyes and he eventually lost consciousness. While in some cases detainees were afforded limited medical assistance, police refused to allow this detainee essential medical treatment despite his severe injuries. The interviewee heard one police doctor on duty say: “Let him die. We will say he came to us dead.”

The same interviewee said 650-800 male soldiers were being held in the Ankara police headquarters sports hall. At least 300 of the detainees showed signs of having been beaten. Some detainees had visible bruises, cuts, or broken bones. Around 40 were so badly injured they could not walk. Two were unable to stand. One woman who was also detained in a separate facility there had bruising on her face and torso.

The interviewee also heard police officers make statements indicating that they were responsible for the beatings, and that detainees were being beaten so that “they would talk”.

In general, it appears that the worst treatment in detention was reserved for higher-ranking military officers.

Many of the detainees in the sports hall and other facilities were handcuffed behind their backs with plastic zip-ties and forced to kneel for hours. Interviewees reported that zip-ties were often fastened too tight and left wounds on the arms of detainees. In some cases detainees were also blindfolded throughout their detention.

Lawyers described how people were brought before prosecutors for interrogation with their shirts covered in blood.

Interviewees also said that based on what detainees told them police deprived them of food for up to three days and water for up to two days.

One lawyer working at the Caglayan Courthouse in Istanbul said that some of the detainees she saw there were in extreme emotional distress, with one detainee attempting to throw himself out of a sixth story window and another repeatedly slamming his head against the wall.

Failing to condemn ill-treatment or torture in these circumstances is tantamount to condoning it

“Despite chilling images and videos of torture that have been widely broadcast across the country, the government has remained conspicuously silent on the abuse. Failing to condemn ill-treatment or torture in these circumstances is tantamount to condoning it,” said John Dalhuisen.

Arbitrary detention and absence of due process

Amnesty International interviewed more than 10 lawyers in both Ankara and Istanbul who gave information about the conditions of their clients’ confinement. The lawyers represented up to 18 detainees each. The vast majority of clients were low ranking military personnel, including many conscripts. Some were judges, prosecutors, police, and other civil servants. Detainees were primarily men and were as young as 20.

The accounts of lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, were strikingly similar.

All the lawyers said that in the majority of the cases detainees were held pre-charge for four or more days by the police. With very few exceptions, their clients were being held incommunicado throughout this period and had not been able to inform their families of where they were or what was happening to them.

They were also not able to phone a lawyer and in most cases did not see their lawyers until shortly before being brought to court or being interrogated by prosecutors. One lawyer told Amnesty International that when she finally saw her clients, “[They] gave me the contact information [for their families] so I could call them. The families knew nothing. They were happy to hear their sons were alive.”

Amnesty International spoke with a relative of a high-ranking military official who was detained in Ankara. He said that family members were able to speak with the detained relative on his mobile phone on Saturday 16 July before it was confiscated by the police, but that the family has had no information about his fate or whereabouts since then. Family members made several trips to detention centres in Ankara but were consistently told the detainee was not there. The detainee has also had no access to a lawyer. Such treatment amounts to enforced disappearance which in itself is a crime under international law. This practice places detainees outside the protection of the law and cuts them off from the outside world, putting them at very high risk of torture or even extrajudicial execution.

The lawyers told Amnesty International that in most cases neither they nor their clients were informed of the specific charges against them, either in a charge sheet or in court, making it difficult to prepare a defence. Soldiers who had been detained were brought to court in groups as large as 20 and 25 people. One lawyer described trying to defend his client in the current environment as “trying to find something with the lights off”.

Only one of the detainees represented by lawyers who spoke to Amnesty International was able to choose her own lawyer. According to the other interviewees, private lawyers were not allowed to represent detainees, who were all assigned bar association legal aid lawyers. The detainees’ access to their lawyers was also limited. Lawyers told Amnesty International that after the hearings they were not allowed to speak to their clients who were remanded in pre-trial detention.

Turkey is understandably concerned with public security at the moment, but no circumstances can ever justify torture and other ill-treatment or arbitrary detention

John Dalhuisen

“These are grave violations of the right to a fair trial which is enshrined in both Turkey’s national law and international law,” said John Dalhuisen.

“Turkey is understandably concerned with public security at the moment, but no circumstances can ever justify torture and other ill-treatment or arbitrary detention. The climate in Turkey right now is one of fear and shock. The government must steer the country on the path to respect for rights and law, not engage in retribution.”

Information provided to Amnesty International by lawyers reflected that many detainees were being held arbitrarily. In the vast majority of cases, they said that no evidence establishing reasonable suspicion of criminal behaviour was presented against their clients during the charge hearings; and the hearing did not establish that there were permissible reasons for detention pending trial.

Instead, lawyers explained that judges ordered detained soldiers to be placed in pre-trial detention if they left their barracks the evening of the coup, regardless of the reason. In one case, a detainee who appeared before the court was not asked a single question by the judge at her hearing.

Some of the questioning by judges was entirely irrelevant to the events of the coup attempt, and appeared intended to establish any link to Fethullah Gülen or institutions sympathetic to him.

Authorities accuse Gülen of masterminding the coup attempt, which he has denied.

Lawyers explained that detainees were remanded in pre-trial detention even without a finding that a detainee was a flight risk or that there was a risk a detainee would tamper with evidence, as is legally required.

Detaining people in connection with a criminal charge without demonstrating that you have evidence of criminal wrongdoing is by definition arbitrary and unlawful

“Detaining people in connection with a criminal charge without demonstrating that you have evidence of criminal wrongdoing is by definition arbitrary and unlawful,” said John Dalhuisen.

“These highly irregular, and seemingly systematic practices, must be investigated.”

Recommendations

Bireysel olaylar:

[Eyup Birinci Antalya, ][Mumin Koroglu][Tekirdag F Tipi][Recep Demirtas and Ibrahim Karayel][Istanbul Vatan Emniyet][Hacer Korucu yerine tutuklama][Canakkale, sanliurfa, Kayseri Spor Salonlari][Gokhan Acikolu][Ankara Sincan Kapali][Silivri][

Amnesty International urges the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to conduct an emergency visit to Turkey to monitor conditions of detention. As a member of the Council of Europe, the Turkish government has an obligation to cooperate with the CPT. The CPT is the only independent body authorized to conduct ad hoc visits to all places of detention in Turkey at the time of their choosing.

The National Human Rights Institution of Turkey, which had access to detention facilities in the country to monitor conditions of detention, was abolished in April 2016 leaving no institution in the country with this mandate. In the current environment, in which thousands of detainees are being held incommunicado, without access to lawyers or relatives, for lengthy pre-charge periods, in irregular detention centres and amid allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, it is vital that monitors are allowed access.

Amnesty International urges the Turkish authorities to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law and not to abuse the state of emergency by trampling on the rights of detainees

“Amnesty International urges the Turkish authorities to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law and not to abuse the state of emergency by trampling on the rights of detainees,” said John Dalhuisen.

“The prohibition of torture is absolute and can never be compromised or suspended.”

Amnesty International urges the Turkish authorities to condemn torture and other ill-treatment in places of detention, and take concrete steps to combat it and hold perpetrators accountable.

Authorities should ensure bar associations and family members are notified of detentions without delay and that lawyers have unimpeded access to their clients at all stages of detention.

“The serious human rights violations documented by an Amnesty International team on the ground in Turkey are alarming. These findings are based on detailed interviews with lawyers, doctors, family members and an eyewitness to torture in a detention facility.

“In a situation where almost 10,000 people are currently in detention, amidst allegations of ill-treatment in custody, and when government ministries and media institutions are being purged, the enhanced powers afforded by the state of emergency could pave the way for a further roll back on human rights.”

In a chilling harbinger of what is to come, the deputy Prime Minister announced today that for the duration of the state of emergency the government will suspend the European Convention on Human Rights.

The state of emergency allows the Prime Minister along with his cabinet the power to rule by decree and bypass Parliament. Amnesty International fears that the move could be used as a pretext for the authorities to extend the period of pre-charge detention which currently stands at four days. Under the current circumstances such an extension could further undermine protections against ill-treatment as well as the right to a fair trial. Emergency measures could also be used to impose arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, and to deny the right of civil servants to appeal their suspensions and dismissals.

“It is vital that the Turkish government does not use the state of emergency as a pretext to clampdown on peaceful dissent even harder. Even in times of emergency, Turkey’s constitution guarantees that its obligations under international law should not be violated,”

"Under international law, there are certain rights, like the fundamental requirements of a fair trial and bans on torture and discrimination, which can never be suspended or limited in any way. “The government has abused existing laws, the state of emergency gives them increased scope to continue on this dangerous path.”

[The government has embarked on a crackdown of exceptional proportions, targeting people they accuse of being linked to Fethullah Gülen, who they accuse of masterminding the coup plot. Amnesty International is concerned that the authorities are acting arbitrarily, detaining and suspending people without evidence of wrongdoing.

Since the attempted coup at least 2,745 judges and prosecutors have been suspended according to Habertürk, a mainstream pro-government Turkish television news channel. According to Numan Kurtulmuş, the deputy Prime Minister, 2,277 judges and prosecutors have been detained, of which 1270 are in pre-trial detention and 730 are in pre-charge detention.

On 19 July the Ministry of Education reported that 15,200 Ministry personnel had been suspended and that they are under investigation for links to Fethullah Gülen. According to the pro-government Sabah daily, on 19 July, 1,577 university deans were asked to resign by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). Of these 195 deans have already tendered their resignations. All of the deans will be investigated for links to Fethullah Gülen according to Habertürk.

According to the semi-official Anadolu Turkish news agency, the government has begun the process of closing 524 private schools and 102 other institutions operating under the Ministry of Education for suspected links to Fethullah Gülen.

The Ministry of Education has also suspended the right of academics to conduct research abroad until further notice and has called back academics who are presently working abroad.

Authorities have arbitrarily blocked access to more than 20 news websites; have revoked the licenses of 25 media houses in the country; 34 individual journalists have had their press cards cancelled; and at least one journalist has had an arrest warrant issued against her for her coverage

of the attempted coup.

This morning respected human rights lawyer and journalist Orhan Kemal Cengiz was detained in Istanbul and taken to the city’s police headquarters.

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“Torture and secret detention are not historical – or unknown – practices in Turkey. They are taking place right now, “In some cases, the detentions constituted enforced disappearances because the authorities refused to acknowledge that the person was being detained or refused to provide their relatives with any information on their whereabouts or fate. Most of those detained suffered torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Several who had been injured in detention were denied medical attention.

Secret Detention Facilities of Turkey’s Security Service: In three of the cases of enforced disappearance in secret detention centers, the people who had been detained said Security Service held them in unacknowledged. unlawful, unacknowledged detentions have taken place in the SBU’s premises in Ankara, Istanbul, Kayseri. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have received information from a range of sources, including recently released detainees that as many as 16 people may remain in secret detention on the SBU’s compound in Kharkiv. In a letter to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the SBU denied operating any detention facilities other than their only official temporary detention center in Kiev and denied having any information regarding the alleged Security Service abuses the groups documented. The allegations of secret detention by Turkey are compelling and serious, and they need thorough investigation. The Turkish government should immediately end enforced disappearances and arbitrary and incommunicado detention, and put into effect zero-tolerance policies for torture and ill-treatment of detainees.

The detainees were subjected to arbitrary arrests. While in custody, detainees had been tortured from the moment the police took them into custody. One of the prisoners interviewed by Amnesty International said that he was beaten immediately upon arrest. He was detained for seven days at the district police office and once police beat him until he fell unconscious. He was eventually revived with water.

All detainees said they were then forced to sign “confessions” admitting to their alleged crimes, without even being allowed to read the document. a detainee who was subjected to extensive torture, said that the police used force to hold his hand and secure a signed “confession”. Another detainee said that police beat him and near-strangled him until he signed a document.

The detainees are being denied of their right to receive the health care and treatment they may require.

We call on the Turkish authorities to carry out prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, coerced confessions and arbitrary arrests.

Turkey is putting political prisoners' lives at risk by denying them medical care. Turkey’s authorities are callously toying with the lives of prisoners by denying them adequate medical care, putting them at grave risk of death, permanent disability or other irreversible damage to their health. It presents strong evidence that the judiciary, in particular the Office of the Prosecutor, and prison administrations deliberately prevent access to adequate medical care, in many cases as an intentional act of cruelty intended to intimidate, punish or humiliate prisoners, or to extract forced “confessions” or statements of “repentance” from them. “Prisoners’ access to health care is a right enshrined in both international and Turkish law. When depriving a prisoner of medical care causes severe pain or suffering and it is intentionally done for purposes such as punishment, intimidation or to extract a forced ‘confession’, it constitutes torture.” The Office of the Prosecutor often refuses to authorize hospital transfers for sick prisoners even though the care they need is not available in prison, and denies requests for medical leave for critically ill prisoners against doctors’ advice. Prison doctors were sometimes complicit in the abuse. consistently downplayed or outright dismissed their health problems as “figments of their own imagination” and treated serious conditions with painkillers or tranquillizers. Enforced disappearance has become a key instrument of state policy in Turkey . Anyone who dares to speak out is at risk, with counter-terrorism being used as an excuse to abduct, interrogate and torture people who challenge the authorities. The report features the detailed cases of 17 people subjected to enforced disappearance, who were held incommunicado for periods ranging between several days to seven months, cut off from the outside world and denied access to their lawyers or families or any independent judicial oversight. The past 18 months have also seen the emergence of a new pattern of human rights violations against political activists and protesters, including students and children, hundreds of whom have been arbitrarily arrested and detained and subjected to enforced disappearance by state agents. Those detained in this way did not have access to their lawyers or families and were held incommunicado outside judicial oversight. Local NGOs allege that an average of three to four people are abducted and arbitrarily subjected to enforced disappearance each day. the principle state agency engaged in suppressing opposition to the government, committing torture and other serious human rights violations with impunity

Leverage against relatives targeted by the authorities. For example, when NSA officers detained activist Nour Khalil they also seized his father and brother, apparently to exert pressure on him during his interrogation. They searched detainees’ homes, seizing computers, books and other personal possessions, and examined their mobile phones to find out who they had been in contact with, what messages they had sent and received and what use they had made of social media. They handcuffed and blindfolded those they took away and in some cases threatened to beat or arrest family members who protested or demanded to know why they were taking their relatives away and where to.