By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

STRASBOURG, France- The European Court of Human Rights determined that Turkish police violated the human rights of two prisoners during their interrogation.  The prisoners received scarring from the electroshock that was used on their hands, feet, and genitals.  The prisoners were held by the Turkish gendarme.  The Turkish gendarme is the branch of the Turkish Armed Forces that acts as an extension of the Turkish police force.  (Gulf Daily Times)  Mehmet Ali Kaplan complained that when he was imprisoned he was blindfolded, beaten, tortured by having his testicles squeezed.  (AFP) Listing the allegations, the court noted: “He had received electric shocks through one of the toes on his right foot, his right thumb and his penis for about three hours”. (Gulf Daily Times) The court awarded the victims 8,000 euros ($11,836.80) in compensation. The gendarmes involved in the interrogation were tried and cleared of all liability in a Turkish court.

Also, in another similar case a prisoner suspected to be who was suspected to be a member of the separatist Kurdistan Worker’s Party.  The prisoner complained that the police brutalized him.  He stated that he was struck on the head by a police club and had his genitals squeezed.  The court awarded the prisoner 5,000 euros ($7,398) because of the lack of a sufficient investigation into the claims.

The 2007 European Court of Human Rights annual report stated that there were 319 judgments made against Turkey for its violations of the European Convention of Human rights.

For more information, please see:

Nasdaq (AFP)- European Court Condemns Turkey Over Police Torture- 31 January 2008

Jurist- Europe right court rules against Turkey in police abuse cases- 1 February 208

Gulf Times- European court slams Turkey over police torture – 1 February 2008

Bianet- HRW Report: Human Rights Trend is “Retrograde”- 31 January 2008