CENTRAL NEWS
On May 18, 56 civilians were tortured and detained in the genocidal attacks launched after an alleged clash in the Derto (Dergili) neighborhood of Riha, Xelfeti district. The detainees were first served to the press, handcuffed on the floor. These 56 citizens were then taken to the political branch of the Riha Police Station, where they endured various types of torture. The methods of torture, ranging from electrocution, water cannons, to rape, and especially against women was among the information that psychological pressure and violence were applied to those under 18 years of age.
Under the arbitrary practice of Riha Police Station, the officers threatened the men in custody by asserting that their daughters will be harmed, and the lawyers were not allowed to meet with their clients for 24 hours.
From the information obtained from the testimonies, the torturers were formed entirely from a special team and their faces were covered. It was also disclosed that when the detainees were taken to the torture center, their eyes were tied and their heads were covered with sacks. It was also stated by the torture police that any kind of treatment in the police had been reported by the torture police who were aware of the Riha Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The case of the Halfeti brutality in entries;
1) A total of 56 citizens were detained.
2) The 24-hour lawyer limitation decision was given, and the lawyers were not allowed to meet with their clients for another 10 hours after the end of this period. In the meantime, the statements of 3 citizens was taken illegally.
3) Other family members who were consulted by lawyers were detained the following day.
4) The majority of detainees have been subjected to improper procedures of interview.
5) The lawyers who met with their clients stated that the detainees had broken heads in the first meeting and there were stitches across the lengths of their heads. Lawyers also disclaimed that many clients had no clothes, some of them were dressed in hospital robes. The lawyers stated that they have released footage to the press of their clients unclothed and barefoot, being taken to hsopital.
6) As stated by the lawyers of the detainees in their detention center, the custody statements and fingerprints were taken, photos were taken by the law enforcement officers, they were handcuffed behind the back, while they were going down the stairs. Their eyes were blindfolded, sacks were placed other their heads as they climbed down two flights of stairs, which would be the basement of the station. The detainees were then electrocuted from their sexual organs.
7) They also said that they did not know who tortured them because they were blindfolded;
8) The detainees stated that their families, especially their spouses and daughters were threatened during the torture because they were members of the same family as mentioned above.
9) The lawyers stated that during the meeting with their clients, they were brought to a lawyer’s meeting room.
10) After the lawyer meetings, the men were taken to the basement floor again and stated that they were beaten from their feets. The detainees said that this torture method occured frequently.
11) These methods are continuously carried out by the branch, indicating that in a similar case 8 months ago, a person taken into custody with the “Batton Insertion” and Bastinado method of torture. Again, in another case it was reported that torturte by electrocution was used. After being tortured, people were stood in their merely conscious state, were handed weapons in order to transfer fingerprints. They later threatened to present these weapons to the court, which would mean a lifetime in prison.
12) Persons were taken out of the prison cells and taken to another floor, they were presented to a person who introduced himself as a physician; they were taken back to their cells without any examination. In addition, one person who was subjected to torture was taken to hospital and his lawyer requested that a medical report was made in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol. The lawyer was shown the medical report which stated that the detainee, who had stitches all over his head, had “no physical signs of battery”.
13) The photo shoot, which is an important tool for the detection of the signs of torture, is blocked by the Political Branch. Lawyers are prevented from entering meeting rooms with their phones.
Xelfeti atrocities are still continuing. Riha Branch, where 12 citizens are still in custody, continues its usual methods. The torture and the presence of torturers are being used to influence the psychology of the detainees. We continue to apply to the Turkey Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) to complete the treatment for the injuries which have arised directly from the detention. At least 3 people apply per day.
Another interpretation of Xelfeti inhumanity is undoubtedly related to the last political and social occurences. The hunger strike resistance which lasted for 200 days and the death fast resistances developed in the last month, demanding the removal of isolation on Peoples Leader Abdullah Öcalan revealed the impact of the resistances. It is possible to see that the isolation applied to the leader of the peoples is actually applied to the society itself, in the frame of Xelfetî. We see that the form of management of isolation is no longer limited to an island, but the effort of spreading it to all parts of society is clearer with Xelfeti brutality.
Seeing the approach of the occupying Turkish state to the issue of isolation within the month of May is portrays a false, humanist attitude. Because the AKP-MHP reactionary regime permitted, the leader of the Peoples’ s leader, twice to meet with his lawyers for hunger strike resistance and the recent demonstrations of the white headscarved mothers in the streets will be the most accurate point of view.
Following the announcement of the lawyers of the Asrın Law Office on May 26, we saw airborne military attacks on the Media Defense Areas with the end of hunger strike and death fasts. This can be considered as an indication of the imbalance in the solution of the Kurdish problem and of the stiffness caused by the withdrawal from isolation, from social and political pressure. Therefore, it should not be considered as independent of all these developments.
NC/CAFER HÎVA
