The police department of Turkey’s capital city of Ankara has been roundly condemned by several rights organizations over allegations that former government employees in its custody were tortured.
The organizations issued a joint statement condemning the alleged torture on Monday in Ankara.
The organizations included the Ankara Chamber of Medicine (ATO), Ankara branch of Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD), the Association of Progressive Lawyers (CHD), the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (OHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV).
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MPs Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, Hasan Ozgunes, and Mithat Sancar, who is also a Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, were also present during the statement that was released on Monday.
The statement came after allegations revealed by HDP’s Gergerlioglu that officers at the Ankara Police Department tortured dozens of former staff members from Turkey’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Justice Ministry, who were detained earlier this month.
Nuray Cevirmen from the IHD on Monday read the statement entitled “Torture is a crime against humanity, and its prohibition is absolute and without exception” on behalf of all the human rights organizations involved in the event.
“There has been a substantial increase in cases of enforced disappearances and abuse and torture in custody [in Turkey], which started during the state of emergency [declared in 2016] to intimidate and punish people for extracting a confession,” Cevirmen said.
Over 150,000 officials were dismissed or suspended from government positions while some 77,000 people were jailed over suspected links to the 2016 failed coup attempt, during the state of emergency declared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) soon afterward.
She also emphasized that such practices have begun to be systematically used in Turkish capital Ankara, elaborating that the methods included police officers’ stripping and beating detainees in a dark room and sexually abusing them.
Indicating that a total of 830 people have been tortured or abused in custody or elsewhere in Turkey during the first 11 months of 2019, Cevirmen, on Monday, noted that the perpetrators go unpunished due to the “impunity policy” and lack of effective investigation.
The human rights organizations on Monday pointed out in the statement that both domestic and international laws ban torture.
“According to Article 17 of [Turkish] Constitution, no one shall be subjected to torture, maltreatment, penalties or other treatment incompatible with human dignity,” they said.
They also referred to Article 94 of the Turkish Penal Code, which says that “a public officer performing any act incompatible with human dignity that causes a person to suffer physically or mentally shall be sentenced to a term of three to twelve years in prison.”
“According to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” the statement further emphasized.
In concluding the statement, the organizations once again promised they would continue fighting torture, also calling on all government institutions to do their share of the duty to prevent the use of torture in Turkey.
Two arrested reporters claim torture and abuse by Turkish police
The post Police torture in Turkish capital condemned appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/12/25/police-torture-in-turkish-capital-condemned/
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