Amnesty International has condemned the severe beatings, torture and rape of imprisoned soldiers who are alleged to have taken part in Turkey’s failed military coup, adding that the organization has proofs on the claim.
Image shows protesters at Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
The international body reveals it has proof that Turkish police are denying them food, water and medical treatment but offering grave punishments and sex abuses.
According to human rights campaigners, the arrested soldiers numbering up to 10,000 have been locked up in horses’ stables and sports halls–a confirmation of an apparent lack of prison space or sheer neglect.
Subjecting the alleged coup plotters to horrific stress positions after being hogtied shows the height of disregard for human lives in the European country, notwithstanding concerns that has been raised by the EU and NATO.
Turkey has been advised to respect the law by observing due legal process for all detained soldiers.
Erdogan’s regime has been reminded by world superpowers of the consequences that’ll follow if he dares to impose the death penalty on the accused.
The coup plot aimed at toppling dictatorial President Recep Erdogan ended about 200 lives in the most gruesome manner, leaving about 1,500 injured.
As the powers-that-be carry out arrests and detain those responsible for the revolt, Amnesty International is calling for openness on the part of Turkish government that’ll present legal rights and immediate access to prisoners.
While the merciless crack-down on coup plotters continue amid a government-imposed three-month state of emergency, Amnesty International has raised eyebrows on a verifiable claim that Turkey’s ‘prisoners of war’ are no better than dogs in the hands of government agents.
Image: The flag-waving demonstrators in the city’s Taksim square reflected widespread rejection of the coup attempt in a NATO country that has endured several coups in past decades.
John Dalhuisen [Amnesty International’s Europe director] is quoted by Mirror as saying: “Reports of abuse including beatings and rape in detention are extremely alarming, especially given the scale of detentions that we have seen in the past week.
“Despite chilling images and videos of torture that have been widely broadcast across the country, the government has remained conspicuously silent on the abuse.
“The grim details that we have documented are just a snapshot of the abuses that might be happening in places of detention,” John Dalhuisen added, according to CNN.
“These are grave violations of the right to a fair trial which is enshrined in both Turkey’s national law and international law,” he said.
According to the report, Amnesty was on ground to chat with some lawyers, doctors and a person on duty in a detention facility, asking about the conditions in which detainees were being held.
The response came with an alarming revelation, exposing that imprisoned soldiers have been severely tortured, citing the Ankara Police Headquarters sports hall, Ankara Başkent sports hall and the riding club stables as the worst prison camps so far.
“Two lawyers in Ankara working on behalf of detainees told Amnesty International that detainees said they witnessed senior military officers in detention being raped with a truncheon or finger by police officers.
“A person on duty at the Ankara Police Headquarters sports hall saw a detainee with severe wounds consistent with having been beaten, including a large swelling on his head.
“The detainee could not stand up or focus his eyes and he eventually lost consciousness
“While in some cases detainees were afforded limited medical assistance, police refused to allow this detainee essential medical treatment despite his severe injuries.
“The interviewee heard one police doctor on duty say: ‘Let him die. We will say he came to us dead.'”
Detainees say they saw police officers raping senior military officers with batons or fingers, according to two lawyers in Ankara, according to a CNN report.
Some detainees had visible bruises, cuts, or broken bones. Around 40 were so badly injured they could not walk. Two were unable to stand, reports confirm.
One woman who was also detained in a separate facility there had bruising on her face and torso.
“In the vast majority of cases, (lawyers) said that no evidence establishing reasonable suspicion of criminal behavior was presented against their clients during the charge hearings … (and) lawyers explained that judges ordered detained soldiers to be placed in pretrial detention if they left their barracks the evening of the coup, regardless of the reason,” CNN quotes Amnesty International.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, a senior official denied Amnesty’s claims and vowed that Turkey would uphold human rights.
‘The idea that Turkey, a country seeking European Union membership, would not respect the law is absurd,’ the official said.
‘We categorically deny the allegations and encourage advocacy groups to provide an unbiased account of the legal steps that are being taken against people who murdered nearly 250 civilians in cold blood.’
