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European Anti-Torture Committee visits Turkey

10.09.2002 - A delegation of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out an ad hoc visit to Turkey from 1 to 6 September 2002. The visit focussed on the province of  Diyarbakır in south-east Turkey and was designed to pursue in more depth questions already explored during an earlier ad hoc visit organised in March 2002.

The visit was carried out by three members of the CPT : Marc NEVE (a Belgian lawyer and Head of the delegation), Renate KICKER (an Austrian law professor), and Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI (a Swiss medical doctor). They were assisted by Trevor STEVENS (Executive Secretary of the CPT).

The main purpose of the visit was to examine the implementation in practice of recent legal reforms concerning custody by law enforcement agencies ; those reforms relate to such matters as access to a lawyer and notification of relatives. The delegation also reviewed the application 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. Further, the delegation assessed once again the conditions under which medical examinations of persons in police custody take place.

The delegation visited various departments of Diyarbakır Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror, Law and Order, Narcotics) as well as the Provincial Gendarmerie Command. In addition, visits were made to the State Hospital and  to health centres in Diyarbakır, where persons in police custody are taken to be medically examined.

During the visit , the delegation held discussions with senior officials and members of the judicial authorities in Diyarbakır, including : Ahmet Cemil SERHALDI, Governor of Diyarbakır Province ; Hakki UZUNER, Deputy Governor of the State of Emergency Region ; Ismail KARA, President of the Diyarbakır State Security Court (3^rd Chamber ) ; Şaban ERTÜRK, Chief Public Prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court ; Zeki POLAT, Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor of the Republic in the Diyarbakır Province.

The delegation also held talks with representatives of the Bar Association in Diyarbakır and with members of the Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Association.