Turkey responded to the allegations of mistreatment and torture in police custody on Thursday, saying every case will be thoroughly examined by legal authorities if properly filed.
"There are some allegations of mistreatment or torture, but all of the cases mentioned in these reports are based on anonymous sources. Who is getting tortured? Who is torturing? Where did it happen? Who did that? When? We do not know any of this information, because there is no information coming forward. Therefore, we are put in a situation that makes it impossible to investigate." Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ told Daily Sabah during his three-day official visit to Washington.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed on Tuesday that Turkish police have tortured or mistreated individuals in their custody after emergency decrees "removed crucial safeguards" following the bloody coup attempt last July. The report prepared by HRW details 13 cases of alleged abuse, including severe beatings and sexual abuse.
The Turkish justice minister said he was personally taking these allegations into account and promised to examine them in depth. "We amended our laws to remove time limitations for such cases. Any incident of torture or mistreatment can be brought to the attention of courts any time in the future. We can only look into these allegations in a general fashion since we lack the details. I call on everyone to report on any case of torture or mistreatment and I promise that we will address them transparently and share the results of our inspections publicly. No one should have any doubt," he said.
