Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) sent a delegation of 6 people to Turkey in order inspect the outposts, prisons and repatriation centers in the country. The CPT delegation started its inspections on May 10 and left Turkey after the mission. During this visit, the CPT delegation met with Human Rights Association (IHD) and Turkey Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) representatives.

IHD Co-president Öztürk Türdoğan said "The CPT carried out a regular visit for its annual report. It was not an unplanned visit, and lasted longer than the previous visits. There are some practices in Turkey that need to be reviewed. There are claims of torture in prisons, detention centers and repatriation centers. The CPT visited Turkey in order to review the documents, findings and claims they possess on these issues.”

“CPT SHOULD HELP END THE ISOLATION”

Türkdoğan pointed out that the claims of torture and mistreatment in the aftermath of the coup attempt was discussed during their meeting with the CPT delegation. Türkdoğan said that another topic of discussion was the İmralı Prison where Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan is kept.

Türkdoğan said "The isolation is the main topic on the agenda. The treatment of Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı Prison is an important issue. The CPT is monitoring İmralı Prison but has not shared information with us if they visited it or not. We told them that they should definitely visit İmralı Prison. We said that the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan should end and the CPT should tackle this issue so that Öcalan can be granted his legal rights and the war in Turkey comes to an end."

IHD Co-president stated that they informed the CPT about numerous human rights violations that have taken place since July, 2015 caused by the policies of war that have been implemented since then.

He continued; "We treated the human rights violations as a two year long period. We discussed what has happened since the peace process ended. We told them that they should lay great stress on İmralı Prison. We tried to explain that they should be aware of the point the isolation has led Turkey to.”

'DIRE SITUATION' WARNING

IHD Co-president Öztürk Türdoğan commented on the CPT reports and said "Due to the related agreement, reports are not publicised unless Turkey agrees to do so. However, the situation must be dire now that Turkey does not want the report on the country to be made public. If the CPT’s criticism is not harsh, Turkey could tell them ‘release the report.’ This is how it worked in the past. The CPT sends the report to the Council of Europe even if it is not publicised. Therefore, we should look at the decisions the Council of Europe has made concerning Turkey. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decision to reinstate the monitoring procedure for Turkey reveals the current state of human rights in the country."