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

Tags: | | | |


Related News

How come a 25 days old BABY could be a THREAT to the national security?

I was told that [Turkish Consulate] may issue a 3 months temporary passport which we can only use it to get back to Turkey. To ensure that they also labeled an extra note on the passport which says can only be used to return to Turkey.

Discrimination by AKP government [against Hizmet movement]

Discrimination by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which argues that it has addressed this issue vis-à-vis religious people, has never been analyzed. The recent row between the AKP and the Hizmet movement refers to an important and interesting fact, because it reveals this reality. In light of these discussions, bureaucrats who have been discriminated by the AKP government because of their views are now talking.

Turks Seen as Sympathetic to US-Based Muslim Cleric Say They Face Threats

More than a month after Turkey’s failed coup, which its government blames on a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, many Turks seen as his sympathizers say threats from government supporters are complicating their lives.

Should We Send A Man We Know Is Innocent To His Death Abroad?

Wow…realpolitik will take precedence. It’s okay to send Gulen to his death. What do we care about the execution of a Muslim cleric who paid for full-page ads in the New York Times to condemn 9/11 attacks, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and ISIS, forged ties between Jews, Christians and Muslims, who came to America because of our freedoms, and will honor our request, putting his fate in God’s hands, and our own. And why do we care that he goes to his death at the hands of a man who had good things to say about Hitler’s system of government.

Courts order corrections to gov’t media stories on Hizmet

Several courts have ruled against untruthful stories published or broadcast by media institutions close to the government about the Hizmet movement, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused of trying to undermine his government, but most newspapers and stations have not published the corrections as they should according to the rulings.

MP close to Gülen quits ruling AKP, slams accusations against Islamic scholar

İşbilen became the seventh member to resign from the AKP since the massive graft scandal went public on Dec. 17 and the ninth since the test prep school row that created the rift between Gülen’s Hizmet (Service) movement and the government. The lawmaker, who is known for his closeness to the movement, said he has known Gülen for more than 50 years and has never heard such harsh words being directed against him.

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

4-year-old visits dad in jail on Children’s Day wearing T-shirt with newborn brother’s picture

Global Doctors Movement goes to Africa, performs 65 cataract surgeries

Islamic scholar Gülen calls for calm among supporters

Kyrgyzstan: Antagonism Grows with Turkey Over Gülen Links

Deputy says AK Party tainted by corruption as he resigns

Is it struggle between AK Party and Hizmet?

Synagogue hosts a night of Muslim-Jewish harmony

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News