Human Rights Association (IHD) Amed Branch Prison Commission released a statement about a child prisoner being physically assaulted by a guard at Diyarbakir Children and Youth Penal Institution.

The IHD said that it was investigating the information and talking to the child named only as F.T., and said to be 16 years old.

“The child prisoner F.T. - said the Human Rights Association - informed us that a guard named H. had tried to suffocate him by putting his hands on the child’s throat, when he was reading a book on 1 November”.

The IHD statement added: “Friends of the young prisoner confirmed his version of events and a report has been filed on the incident”.

The IHD continued: “We have been told that the officer under investigation still continues to work despite this incident”.

The members of the IHD Prison Commission are planning to hold a meeting with the Prison Director and the Prison Prosecutor.

Both Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and Prison Prosecutor's Office were informed by the IHD that a criminal complaint was made.

In the petition for criminal complaint, the IHD said the following: “On the basis of the statements of the applicant, the child prisoner F.T., it can be seen that the personnel of the institution had practiced torture and ill-treatment both physically and psychologically. The accusation of torture, a crime against humanity, must be scrupulously examined both because of the gravity and because of the fact that it has been allegedly committed by an officer who is currently on duty. All evidence must be collected immediately”.

To properly investigate the applicant's allegations, said the IHD, the victim must be immediately checked by the Forensic Medicine Institute before any evidence of torture disappears from his body.

1. The Public Prosecutor should go to the scene accompanied by a crime scene investigation in order to get statements by the victims/witnesses.

2. The location of the footages recorded by surveillance cameras should be retrieved immediately and stored in a protected environment.

3. The child victim should urgently be taken to State Hospital to be treated accordingly and reports should be made.

4. We demand the initiation of a public investigation against the persons to be identified and this should be done in a prompt manner.

5. We request that our association be informed about all procedures.