Amnesty and HRW accuse Turkish forces of committing abuses in earthquake-hit areas

NGOs demand transparent investigations into reports of attacks, torture and ill-treatment by police, gendarmes and the military

5 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Turkish security forces reportedly committed abuses, including attacks, torture and ill-treatment, against people suspected of robbery and looting in the areas affected by the earthquakes that occurred on February 6 in the south of the country, near the border with Syria, that left more than 50,000 dead in Turkish territory, as denounced this Wednesday by the non-governmental organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The organizations have denounced in a joint statement that at least one person died in custody as a result of torture, before adding that, in some cases, the agents did not intervene to prevent a group of people from attacking others suspected of having committed crimes. . Thus, they have highlighted that despite the great existing security challenge, International Law and Turkish laws prohibit torture and ill-treatment.

“Accredited reports that police, gendarmes and military personnel subject individuals suspected of crimes to prolonged violent beatings and arbitrary and unofficial detention constitute a startling indictment of current law enforcement practices in the earthquake-affected region of Turkey,” said HRW Europe and Central Asia director Hugh Williamson.

“Officials in charge of enforcing the law consider the state of emergency decreed due to the natural disaster as a license for torture and other ill-treatment and even to kill with impunity,” she denounced after the publication of the statement, for which both NGOs have interviewed 34 people and examined available video images that record thirteen cases of violence by agents against 34 victims.

Investigators have also heard accounts and seen videos of people allegedly being beaten by security forces, although they have not been able to fully corroborate these incidents. Among those interviewed are twelve victims of torture or other ill-treatment, two people whom the gendarmes had threatened at gunpoint, witnesses and legal professionals.

HRW and Amnesty have emphasized that although in four of the documented cases private citizens who delivered humanitarian aid to those affected by the earthquakes participated in the beatings, the investigation has focused especially on abuses committed by members of the security forces . In addition, they have specified that all but three cases of torture and ill-treatment took place in the city of Antioquia, with four cases against Syrian refugees who show signs of xenophobic motivation.

One of the interviewees recounted that a gendarme threatened to kill him as a result of the state of emergency announced on February 7 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for ten provinces affected by the earthquake, approved two days later by Parliament. “We are in a state of emergency, we will kill you, we will kill you and bury you under the rubble,” he says, which was the threat made against him.

Along these lines, a Syrian has assured that a police superintendent to whom he complained after an agent punched him in the face told him that within the framework of the state of emergency, “even if that agent kills you, he will not have to be held accountable.” “No one will be able to tell him anything,” he stressed, according to the complainant’s version.

Both NGOs wrote to the Turkish Interior and Justice ministries in mid-March to send them their conclusions, after which the Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Justice responded that the Turkish government has a “zero tolerance” policy with regard to torture. and held that the conclusions were “imprecise statements devoid of factual basis”.

ARRESTS DURING SEARCH WORKS

Most of the victims interviewed have explained that they were detained while participating in search and rescue work or while going through neighborhoods in Antioquia. In most cases, the victims were not taken into official custody, but were immediately beaten or forced to lie on the ground or kneel while officers assaulted and insulted them, sometimes in handcuffs.

In addition, some were forced to confess crimes, although only in two cases has a subsequent investigation been carried out on the victims for the commission of alleged crimes. “My house is in ruins, I live in a tent and, as if this were not enough, the police beat me and pointed a gun at my head,” said one of the interviewees. “They acted as if it were the Wild West,” he denounced.

Along these lines, a 19-year-old victim has said that he lost “all notion of time.” “It seemed to me that everything went on for an hour and a half or two. First it was the three of us, then a large group of policemen arrived and joined in, punching me, kicking me,” she highlighted.

However, the victims and their families filed complaints only in six of the thirteen cases studied. In one, a man claimed that both he and his brother had been subjected to prolonged episodes of torture in Gendarmerie custody, and that his brother had then fainted and died in custody.

In another seven cases, victims said they would not file complaints for fear of reprisals and because they thought their chances of justice were remote, while several said the deaths of family and friends in the earthquakes dwarfed the abuses they suffered at the hands of of the Police and the Gendarmerie.

ABUSES AGAINST SYRIAN CITIZENS

NGOs have reported that Syrian citizens were the most reluctant to file complaints. “Most of the gendarmes treated the Syrians like thieves and were very aggressive towards them. They did not accept Syrian people in the rescue teams and they were furious,” said a woman who worked as a translator for foreign search and rescue teams. .

Likewise, another volunteer of Syrian nationality has explained that he will not denounce considering that “it will not help at all.” “I am afraid to go out on the street, because images of my car appeared on social networks and videos of us were spread. We are afraid that they will attack us again. I did not go to the hospital or get a medical report because I was afraid that they would consider me a looter, and we are Syrians,” he explained.

For his part, a witness explained that “some soldiers beat three young men between the ages of 20 and 25 who appeared to be workers and poor, whom they considered looters and who encouraged the individuals present to join in the beating”, while another An interviewee has assured that he had seen a soldier say from his vehicle in Samandag that “when you catch looters, hit them as you wish (…) but don’t kill them.”

“The appalling descriptions and images of gratuitous violence committed by law enforcement officials abusing their power in the worst natural disaster the country has ever experienced cannot be dismissed out of hand,” said Amnesty International Director for Europe. Nils Muiznieks.

“All victims, including refugees, have the right to justice and reparations for the damage suffered. The authorities must promptly open criminal investigations into all cases of torture and other ill-treatment committed by the Police, the Gendarmerie and others officials in charge of enforcing the law and bringing those responsible to justice”, has settled.