Report on Halfeti by Urfa Bar Association: The Detained Subjected to Sexual Torture
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The Urfa Bar Association has released its report on the allegations that the ones who were taken into custody after an operation in Dergili (Dêrto) Neighborhood in Halfeti, Urfa were subjected to torture.
The report has indicated that several people detained in Halfeti were sexually tortured and the ones subjected to torture and ill treatment were threatened by some police officers to prevent them from telling what they went through.
Prepared by a committee of 11 lawyers, the report also includes the petitions of the lawyers who appealed to the Urfa Bar, the accounts of the ones who were subjected to torture in custody and the applications of their relatives.
In a conflict that erupted between the security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on May 18, 2019, one police officer lost his life. 54 people were taken into custody as part of the investigation launched by the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
'Torture and maltreatment detected'
In its report, the Urfa Bar Association has indicated that their face-to-face meetings, judicial reports, detailed accounts, observations and examinations confirm that the detained were subjected to torture and maltreatment.
Underlining that the Penal Judgeship of Peace also appended the allegations of torture to record upon seeing the marks of torture and ill treatment on the detained, the report has shared the following information:
* The lawyers of the victims were not allowed to meet their detained clients in a lawful manner. Though a lawyer's meeting could be held without a letter of attorney, the lawyers were forced to present a letter.
* In the first days of their detention, the detained were forced to consult their lawyers in police company and in Turkish and it has been detected that in the opposite case, they were not allowed to meet their lawyers.
'Interrogation in absence of lawyers'
* The handcuffs of the detained were not removed while they stood before the judge and the prosecutor. They were interrogated and gave their deposition with their hands handcuffed from their back.
* As it is also indicated in some interrogation minutes, the hearings of detention extension and review were held in absence of lawyers.
* Though the detained were supposed to undergo a medical examination in custody, it has been detected the the physician went to the Şanlıurfa Anti-Terror Branch and without examining the detained, s/he gave a medical report, indicating that there were no marks of battery or force on their bodies.
* It has also been detected that when the victims were referred to hospitals, the examinations were not conducted in a manner complying with the relevant procedure, regulations and legal obligations.
'Pressure, insult, contradiction to law...'
* It has been detected that some of the victims were systematically tortured while they were in custody. It has also been understood that several victims, who were detained as suspects, were subjected to sexual torture.
* It has been concluded that all of the victims were insulted and taken under a severe psychological pressure all through their period of detention.
* It has been understood that the ones who were subjected to torture and ill treatment were threatened by some police officers to prevent them from telling what they went through in custody.
* Our commission has observed that the security measures in question are still in effect, which causes fear and worry in the people living there.
* When the victims were taken to the judgeship of execution, they and their attorneys were prevented from voicing their torture allegations by some judges as well. (TP/SD)
* Photograph: According to a statement released by the Urfa Bar Association, some social media accounts that define themselves as special operation police shared photographs featuring tens of people lying on the ground with their hands tied from behind. The photograph was presumed to be taken in the garden on Halfeti Gendarmerie station.