Report: 53 People Killed by Police in Two Years

A report by the Turkey Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) lists the rights violations carried out by police officers in the last two years.

Shot or died in detention

According to the report, 53 people have been killed by police officers since June 2007, when the Law on Police Duties and Powers was amended. These people were either shot or died in detention.

A total of 40 people died from police bullets when police shot at those not heeding a warning to stop, intervened in demonstrations or staged raids in homes. 53 people were injured in other such cases.

According to TİHV, "International standards dictate that security forces only use weapons if they or others face real danger of death. However, with the changes made in the police law, security forces have interpreted the right to use weapons in the broadest possible sense, even when there is absolutely no threat."

416 cases of torture

In the two years that the report covers, a total of 416 cases of torture were counted, which, according to TİHV, can be categorised thus:

Beatings: 230

Insults: 57

Tear gas: 47

Threats: 34

Pressurised water and keeping someone in cold water: 11

Verbal abuse: 7

Threats to kill someone: 5

Threats of rape: 5

Squeezing testicles: 4

Keeping someone in a cold and dark room: 3

Keeping someone on their knees or standing immobile: 3

Leaving someone hungry and thirsty: 2

Rape with a truncheon: 2

Suffocating someone: 2

Keeping someone naked: 2

Forcing someone to do something against their wishes: 2

In the streets and in prisons

168 of these cases took place in the streets, which shows the frequency of torture outside of official institutions. 109 cases took place in detention centres.

According to the TİHV report, the data and anecdotal evidence show that the police uses disproportionate or extreme force, maltreatment and torture when stopping and searching people, asking for ID, carrying out crime-prevention operations, transporting people or detaining them.

Throughout the country

In at least 331 cases, at least 1,605 people have had rights violated in 47 provinces in the last two years. 109 cases happened in Istanbul, 23 in Izmir, 17 each in Diyarbakır and Hakkarı, 16 in Van, and 14 each in Ankara and Adana.

The report blames the changes in legislation for a systematic increase in rights violations, widespread throughout the country. (TK/AG)