Report to the Turkish Government on the Visit to Turkey Carried out by The
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CPT/Inf (2015) 6 Report to the Turkish Government on the visit to Turkey carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 21 June 2013 The Turkish Government has requested the publication of this report and of its response. The Government’s response is set out in document CPT/Inf (2015) 7. Strasbourg, 15 January 2015 - 2 - CONTENTS Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT’s report............................................................................4 I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................5 A. Dates of the visit and composition of the delegation ..............................................................5 B. Establishments visited...............................................................................................................6 C. Consultations held by the delegation and co-operation encountered...................................7 D. Immediate observations under Article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention .........................7 E. Monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty and complaints bodies.................................8 II. FACTS FOUND DURING THE VISIT AND ACTION PROPOSED ................................9 A. Police custody ............................................................................................................................9 1. Preliminary remarks ..........................................................................................................9 2. Ill-treatment .......................................................................................................................9 3. Situation of persons detained in the context of recent public demonstrations ................11 4. Fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment .................................................................14 5. Material conditions ..........................................................................................................19 B. Detention of foreign nationals under aliens legislation........................................................21 C. Prisons ......................................................................................................................................23 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................23 2. Ill-treatment .....................................................................................................................26 3. Conditions of detention of the general prison population ...............................................28 a. material conditions .................................................................................................28 b. regime.....................................................................................................................30 4. Conditions of detention of juvenile prisoners..................................................................32 a. juvenile prisons ......................................................................................................32 b. juvenile units in adult prisons ................................................................................33 c. food ........................................................................................................................34 5. Prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment .....................................................35 - 3 - 6. Health-care services.........................................................................................................40 a. introduction ............................................................................................................40 b. staff and treatment..................................................................................................41 c. medical screening and recording of injuries ..........................................................43 d. medical confidentiality...........................................................................................44 7. Other issues......................................................................................................................45 a. prison staff..............................................................................................................45 b. contact with the outside world ...............................................................................45 c. discipline and segregation ......................................................................................47 d. complaints and inspection procedures ...................................................................50 D. Other establishments ..............................................................................................................51 APPENDIX I List of the CPT’s recommendations, comments and requests for information ................52 APPENDIX II: List of the national authorities and organisations met by the CPT's delegation ..............63 - 4 - Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT’s report Ms Kıvılcım Kılıç Deputy Director General for the Council of Europe and Human Rights Ministry of Foreign Affairs TR - Ankara Strasbourg, 27 November 2013 Dear Ms Kılıç, In pursuance of Article 10, paragraph 1, of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, I enclose herewith the report to the Government of Turkey drawn up by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) following its visit to Turkey from 9 to 21 June 2013. The report was adopted by the CPT at its 82nd meeting, held from 4 to 8 November 2013. The recommendations, comments and requests for information formulated by the CPT are listed in Appendix I. As regards more particularly the CPT’s recommendations, having regard to Article 10 of the Convention, the Committee requests the Turkish authorities to provide within six months a response giving a full account of action taken to implement them. The CPT trusts that it will also be possible for the Turkish authorities to provide, in that response, reactions to the comments formulated in this report as well as replies to the requests for information made. The CPT would ask, in the event of the response being forwarded in Turkish, that it be accompanied by an English or French translation. I am at your entire disposal if you have any questions concerning either the CPT’s report or the future procedure. Yours sincerely, Lətif Hüseynov President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 5 - I. INTRODUCTION A. Dates of the visit and composition of the delegation 1. In pursuance of Article 7 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”), a delegation of the CPT carried out a periodic visit to Turkey from 9 to 21 June 2013. The visit formed part of the CPT’s programme of periodic visits for 2013. It was the Committee’s sixth periodic visit to Turkey.1 2. The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT: - Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI (Head of delegation) - Marija DEFINIS-GOJANOVIĆ - Maïté DE RUE - Julia KOZMA - Jan PFEIFFER - Ana RACU. They were supported by Michael NEURAUTER (Head of Division) and Elvin ALIYEV of the CPT's Secretariat and assisted by: - Jurgen VAN POECKE, Director of Bruges Prison, Belgium (expert) - Zeynep BEKDİK (interpreter) - Ebru DİRİKER (interpreter) - Mehmet Ragıp DURAN (interpreter) - Nilay Güleser ODABAŞ (interpreter) - Kudret SÜZER (interpreter) - Canan TOLLU (interpreter). 1 Reports on previous visits and related Government responses have been made public and are available on the CPT’s website: http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/states/tur.htm - 6 - B. Establishments visited 3. The CPT’s delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty: Law enforcement establishments Ankara Police Headquarters: - Anti-Terror Department - Immigration Department - Law and Order Department - Narcotics Department - Organised Crime Department Diyarbakır Police Headquarters: - Anti-Terror Department - Organised Crime Department Diyarbakır - Bağlar District Police Station Istanbul Police Headquarters: - Anti-Terror Department - Common Detention Facility Izmir Police Headquarters: - Anti-Terror Department (located on premises of Bozyaka Police Station) - Law and Order Department (located on premises of Bozyaka Police Station) Şanlıurfa Police Headquarters (Law and Order Department) Şanlıurfa - Birecik District Police Station Şanlıurfa - Eyyübiye District Police Station Şanlıurfa - Siverek District Police Station Şanlıurfa - Siverek District Gendarmerie Headquarters Prisons - Ankara-Sincan Juvenile Prison - Diyarbakır D-type Prison (remand prisoners) - Diyarbakır E-type Prison (remand prisoners) - Gaziantep E-type Prison - Izmir Juvenile Prison - Izmir T-type Prison No. 2 - Izmir Prison for Women (unit for aggravated life-sentenced prisoners) - Şanlıurfa E-type Prison - Tekirdağ F-type Prison No. 2 (unit for aggravated life-sentenced prisoners). In addition, the delegation paid a brief visit to Izmir-Buca Prison, in order to interview persons who had recently been in police custody. Other establishments Diyarbakır Court House (waiting cells). - 7 - C. Consultations held by the delegation and co-operation