Detainee tells lawyer he was hosed with pressurized water by police

Three people held under detention at the Adana Police Headquarters have told their lawyers that they were heavily tortured and insulted by the police, with one of them saying he was hosed with pressurized water while lying on his back. Lawyers have filed a criminal complaint at the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, while HDP MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu took the issue to the agenda of parliament.

Thursday September 16 2021 11:37 pm

Hacı Bişkin / DUVAR

Three detainees have said that they were tortured at the police headquarters of the southern province of Adana, with one of them saying he was hosed with pressurized water.

Lawyers of the detainees have filed a criminal complaint at the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, saying that they want their clients to be dispatched to the hospital and the relevant officials to be penalized.

One of the lawyers said that during his meeting with his client Yusuf Taban, he saw bruises on his face. Taban reportedly told the lawyer that he had been battered, threatened, insulted and heavily tortured by the police during his five-day detention.

“He said, 'They had me lie on my back and hosed me with pressurized water.' When I called a police officer to take this statement down, they tried to pull me out of the room. I told them that I would not leave and that they would have to forcefully take me out.' In response, they said, 'Your meeting has been ended due to security issues,” the lawyer said.

Taban is reportedly not the only detainee who has been exposed to torture. Lawyers of two others have similarly said that their clients have been physically and verbally abused.

“We demand that our clients go through a detailed physical examination to expose the torture they were exposed to and that those responsible are punished,” the lawyers of the three detainees said in their criminal complaint.

The incident was also taken to the agenda of parliament, with Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu filing a parliamentary question addressing Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.

Gergerlioğlu asked if an investigation has been launched into the police officers on duty at the Adana Police Headquarters with regards to allegations of bad treatment and torture of detainees. “If an investigation has been launched, what is the current stance of it?” asked Gergerlioğlu.

The lawmaker also filed an application with parliament's Human Rights Investigation Commission, requesting that they receive information from the relevant officials with regards to the issue.

Many reports detail a considerable number of allegations on the excessive use of force and physical ill-treatment by police from persons who have been taken into custody, including women and minors.

These allegations mainly consist of slaps, kicks, punches, including to the head and face and truncheon blows after the persons concerned were handcuffed or otherwise brought under control.

A significant proportion of these allegations relate to beatings during transport or inside law enforcement establishments.