UN calls for Turkey to end state of emergency, curb violations
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 20 March 2018 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UN calls for Turkey to end state of emergency, curb violations, 20 March 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b20dd72a.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 20, 2018 12:22 GMT
Soldiers accused of participating in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey are brought to court inside the Sincan prison before trial in Ankara in August 2017.
The United Nations has called on Turkey to end the state of emergency introduced after the July 2016 failed coup that it says has led to large-scale human rights violations, but Ankara dismissed the call as "biased" and "unacceptable."
The UN human rights office said that since then, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued more than 20 decrees that had often led to torture of detainees, impunity, and interference with the judiciary.
Turkey should "promptly end the state of emergency and restore the normal functioning of institutions and the rule of law," the office said in a report issued on March 20 in Geneva.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said nearly 160,000 people had been arrested and 152,000 civil servants fired, "many totally arbitrarily," in the past 18 months, and called the numbers "just staggering."
The Turkish government blames U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the failed coup attempt during which 250 people were killed. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup.
The 28-page report documents instances of torture and ill-treatment in custody, including severe beatings, sexual assault, electric shocks, and waterboarding by the security forces and the military.
In response, Turkey's Foreign Ministry slammed the report as "biased" and "unacceptable."
The report "contains distorted, biased, and false information" and is "unacceptable for Turkey," the ministry said in a statement.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
