Kez
28th April 2002, 13:06
Turkey must do more to improve the practices in its prisons and police
stations where police brutality and maltreatment of women prisoners are
carried out in torture chamber conditions, the Council of Europe's
anti-torture committee said Wednesday. A team of committee experts, who
visited forty Turkish detention sites last September, cited a "gradual
improvement" in the situation but called for efforts to be made in several
worrying areas, according to the report published with Ankara's agreement.
"In particular, resort to methods such as suspension by the arms and the
application of electric shocks would appear to be far less frequent than in
the past," but complaints of bad treatment remain numerous, although not all
could be verified, the report said.
The committee also regretted that nothing had been done to improve the
condition of interrogation rooms in the east of the country which, it said,
seemed designed to aid speedy confessions. The anti-terrorist section at
the police headquarters at the Van women's prison was described as; "this
long, narrow and sound-proofed room was decorated entirely in black...
"Such an oppressive interrogation facility as that described above has
absolutely no place in a modern police service," the anti-torture committee
opined. Dormitories as well as the sanitary facilities were said to be
infested with cockroaches and there were also clear signs of infestation.
The atmosphere was described as sinister and an interrogation in such
conditions could be described as a type of psychological torture, according
to the experts. The detainees were also said to be physically tortured in
the rooms, which were similar to others found in the towns of Agri, Elazig
and Erzurum. The committee also denounced the use of blindfolds, preventing
those questioned from identifying their torturers. "These are practices from
another age and have no place in a modern police force," the report added.
While the conditions for male detainees was also deplored, some of the worst
criticism was of the horrors endured by women detained with young children.
In the village of Sanliurfa, eight women and six children, including a
new-born and two other babies, shared eight beds, equipped with six
mattresses. "No special food was provided for pregnant women, breastfeeding
women and young children at Sanliurfa Prison, there was no special equipment
available for young children, nor were there any toys for them." In Van
prison, 15 women were living in an an area measuring 20 square metres in
equally unhygienic conditions.
The report also cited cases of brutality towards hundreds of African
immigrants who were forced to cross a river in the Ipsala region during
their expulsion. Several drowned in the process, according to witnesses.
stations where police brutality and maltreatment of women prisoners are
carried out in torture chamber conditions, the Council of Europe's
anti-torture committee said Wednesday. A team of committee experts, who
visited forty Turkish detention sites last September, cited a "gradual
improvement" in the situation but called for efforts to be made in several
worrying areas, according to the report published with Ankara's agreement.
"In particular, resort to methods such as suspension by the arms and the
application of electric shocks would appear to be far less frequent than in
the past," but complaints of bad treatment remain numerous, although not all
could be verified, the report said.
The committee also regretted that nothing had been done to improve the
condition of interrogation rooms in the east of the country which, it said,
seemed designed to aid speedy confessions. The anti-terrorist section at
the police headquarters at the Van women's prison was described as; "this
long, narrow and sound-proofed room was decorated entirely in black...
"Such an oppressive interrogation facility as that described above has
absolutely no place in a modern police service," the anti-torture committee
opined. Dormitories as well as the sanitary facilities were said to be
infested with cockroaches and there were also clear signs of infestation.
The atmosphere was described as sinister and an interrogation in such
conditions could be described as a type of psychological torture, according
to the experts. The detainees were also said to be physically tortured in
the rooms, which were similar to others found in the towns of Agri, Elazig
and Erzurum. The committee also denounced the use of blindfolds, preventing
those questioned from identifying their torturers. "These are practices from
another age and have no place in a modern police force," the report added.
While the conditions for male detainees was also deplored, some of the worst
criticism was of the horrors endured by women detained with young children.
In the village of Sanliurfa, eight women and six children, including a
new-born and two other babies, shared eight beds, equipped with six
mattresses. "No special food was provided for pregnant women, breastfeeding
women and young children at Sanliurfa Prison, there was no special equipment
available for young children, nor were there any toys for them." In Van
prison, 15 women were living in an an area measuring 20 square metres in
equally unhygienic conditions.
The report also cited cases of brutality towards hundreds of African
immigrants who were forced to cross a river in the Ipsala region during
their expulsion. Several drowned in the process, according to witnesses.