European Anti-Torture Committee visits Turkey

Two members of the CPT carried out the visit: Silvia Casale (a British criminologist and President of the CPT) and Davor Strinovic (a Croatian forensic doctor). Dan Dermengiu (a Romanian forensic doctor), Trevor Stevens (Executive Secretary) and Michael Kellett of the CPT's Secretariat assisted them.

One of the main purposes of the visit was to examine the implementation in practice of recent legal reforms concerning custody by law enforcement agencies.

The CPT's delegation also explored recent cases of resort to the provisions of Article 3(c) of Legislative Decree No. 430, under which prisoners who have to be questioned as part of the investigation of offences giving rise to the declaration of a state of emergency may be returned to the custody of law enforcement agencies.

In this connection, the delegation visited Ankara Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror Department) as well as various police and gendarmerie establishments in the Diyarbakir province. Further, prisoners were interviewed in the Diyarbakir I and II prisons.

In addition, the CPT's delegation reviewed the development of communal activities for inmates in the new F-type prisons. For this purpose, a visit was carried out to Sincan F-type Prison.

During the visit, the CPT's delegation met Hikmet Sami Turk,Minister for Justice, and had discussions with senior officials from the Ministries of Justice, the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Health.

Other officials met included Gökhan Aydemir, Governor of the State of Emergency Region, Sait Gurlek, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Republic in the Diyarbakir province, and Saban Erturk, Chief Public Prosecutor at the Diyarbakir State Security Court.

The CPT's delegation also held talks with representatives of the Human Rights Association in Ankara and Diyarbakir, as well as with representatives of the Bar Association in Diyarbakir.