Torture appeared widespread after Turkey coup: UN expert


Date posted: December 5, 2016

Ankara (AFP) – Measures taken in Turkey after the July 15 coup attempt created an “environment conducive to torture”, and ill treatment appears to have been widespread immediately after the failed putsch, a UN expert said Friday.

Turkey is under a state of emergency, extended for 12 weeks in October, after a rogue military faction tried to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power on July 15.

“Some recently passed legislation and statutory decrees created an environment conducive to torture,” UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer told reporters in Ankara.

Melzer’s visit, the first by a UN torture expert to Turkey since 1998, comes a month after US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Turkish police of torturing detainees.

Since July, more than 100,000 people in the judiciary, military, media, civil service and education sector have been detained, dismissed or suspended.

In total, 37,000 people have been arrested and some have claimed torture, according to human rights groups.

Just over a week after the coup bid, Amnesty International said it had “credible evidence” of the abuse and torture of people detained in the sweeping arrests.

According to Melzer, torture appears to have been widespread in the immediate after July 15, based on information given during his week-long visit.

“Testimonies received from inmates and their lawyers suggests that in the days and weeks following the failed coup torture and other forms of ill treatment were widespread.”

He added that ill treatment seemed to have ceased for those prisoners arrested for reasons related to the attempted coup.

During his six-day visit, he went to places of detention in Ankara, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa and Istanbul where conditions were “satisfactory”, he said.

And the independent expert stressed that Turkey had the safeguards in place to prevent abuse and “thanks to the government’s commitment, substantial progress has been made against torture since the 1990s”.

The Turkish government has previously denied all forms of torture have taken place while insisting that it is dealing with an extraordinary situation within the rule of law.

Source: Yahoo News , December 2, 2016


Related News

Are Gülen’s remarks on talks with PKK really surprising?

ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ When he said, “Peace is in itself goodness, and peace brings happiness,” Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar, made a deep impact on the public debate revolving around the new peace process which started with the negotiations between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who […]

Nubuwwat symposium starts with rejection of suicide bombing, terrorism

A three-day international symposium launched on Sunday in İstanbul with the theme of nubuwwat (prophethood) has started with a message that a true believer of Islam cannot become a suicide bomber. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 10th edition of the symposium focusing on the teachings of prominent Islamic scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, Deputy […]

Fethullah Gülen’s dialogue and tolerance discourse parallels Gandhi’s

Sudheendra Kulkarni, the head of the India-based Mumbai Research Foundation, has said there are parallels between the views of Mahatma Gandhi and Fethullah Gülen. Kulkarni talked to students from the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University, discrediting the misconception that Gandhi was against technology. Kulkarni described his new book, “Music of The Spinning Wheel,” and obscured characteristics of Gandhi as the protagonist of his book.

Mothers meet in İstanbul to mark Mother’s Day, see their children

A mother, Vera Stamova from Moldova, expressed similar feelings. “My two children study in Turkey. My younger daughter studied in Turkish schools [in Moldova]. She received a quality education. I love Turkey and I have great confidence in Turkish people. If I had another child, I would also send her to Turkey. I miss them a lot, but they are very lucky and are taken good care of here,” she said.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief: Turkish government no longer democratic

Ekrem Dumanlı was arrested on December 14, part of a series of coordinated raids by Turkish authorities against a number of prominent media figures, all facing charges of belonging to a terrorist “parallel organization.” The organization in question? Fethullah Gülen’s outlawed Hizmet movement.

PM made the wrong choice

Erdoğan put under the spotlight US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone by stating: “Recently, very strangely, ambassadors have gotten involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on them from here to do your job. If you leave your area of duty, this could extend into our government’s area of jurisdiction. We do not have to keep you in our country.” These caustic sentences prove that the AK Party has decided to declare a war not only against the Hizmet movement but also to provoke tensions with the US. Since they have opted for a defensive attack strategy, this reaction does not surprise anyone.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Purge of ‘parallel state’ or legitimizing discrimination

My husband is being tortured and I am worried about his life

GYV says Gülen did not send letter to Erdoğan

AK Party Deputy Chairman Huseyin Celik: Turkish teachers beat the odds

Turkey’s Erdogan and unending human rights repression

Court wants up to 11 years for Samanyolu TV director

Alevis demand equal citizenship, disappointed with the state

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News