A member of Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD), lawyer Gülseren Yoleri, has said there is torture in Turkey’s detention centers and that torture devices that were used during coup periods in the past have been put to use again during emergency rule, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Wednesday.
Emergency rule was declared in Turkey in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, as a result of which thousands of people have been arrested in anti-coup operations.
Yoleri said she travelled to Şırnak province and Mardin’s Nusaybin district with a delegation of 18 people two weeks ago and visited detention centers.
“We have been told that there are acts of torture in detention centers. The old style of torture techniques have begun to be used again. It is as if old torture devices like Palestinian Hanging and electric shock were kept hidden for a while and now put into use again,” Yoleri said.
Thousands of people in Turkey who were jailed following the military coups of 1960 and 1980 were subjected to heavy torture in prisons where officials employed various techniques to punish the inmates.
The detention period in Turkey has been increased to 30 days from three days by a government decree issued after the coup attempt.
“The 30-day-long detention period, not being able to obtain assistance from a lawyer and the confidentiality imposed on investigations are already an act of torture themselves. Justice and law are for everyone. Unlawfulness spreads quickly. The violence under detention could victimize anybody one day,” warned the lawyer.