The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) received a 22% increase in torture and ill-treatment related complaints during 2022, with a significant 68.8% of the 1,201 applicants born in Kurdish-majority regions of the country, according to a recently published annual report.
“We had anticipated 530 new applications in 2022. However, the actual number of applications more than doubled, reaching 1,201,” TİHV President Metin Bakkalcı said. The majority of applicants originated from Turkey’s Kurdish-majority eastern and southeastern Anatolia regions. “These figures signify the deteriorating human rights situation in Turkey,” the watchdog highlighted.
The report shows 1,117 applicants sought assistance for themselves, while 84 did so on behalf of a relative. Among these, 1,079 reported being tortured within Turkey and 38 claimed to have been tortured abroad. The youngest reported victim was a three-year-old.
The report gives a grim picture of the various types of abuse endured. A striking 70.2% of applicants reported physical intervention, 83.4% subjected to threats and insults, and 45.2% faced positional torture. Additionally, 497 individuals were reported handcuffed in an inverted position, 80 faced physical sexual harassment and three were raped.
Over 50% of torture cases were reported to have taken place in police stations during detention. Specifically, 131 applicants reported being tortured at the Istanbul Police Headquarters and 103 at the Van (Wan) Police Headquarters. During detainee’s medical examinations, police were not removed from examination rooms and complaints were largely ignored, the report noted.
The report also drew attention to a spike in admissions to medical treatment centres in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir following Pride Month events in June.
The rights watchdog concluded by spotlighting impunity as a major hurdle to combating torture. It criticised Turkey’s political establishment for legitimising torture under various pretexts such as ‘fighting terrorism’, ‘state of emergency’, ‘national security’, and ‘public order’.
“The reality of torture in Turkey is vividly portrayed in reports by international mechanisms. Yet, the political authority, unwilling to be constrained by any law, rule, or norm, including the Constitution, largely ignores the criticisms and recommendations made by international prevention and control mechanisms,” TİHV said.
