At the request of the Turkish authorities, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has today published the report compiled following its visit to a number of immigration detention centres in the country in June 2015.
The report notes that the visit took place at a very challenging time for Turkey, when the country was facing an ever-increasing influx of foreign nationals – mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. The CPT expresses its appreciation of the measures taken by the Turkish authorities to provide shelter, care and protection to more than two million refugees.
The CPT delegation heard no allegations of physical ill-treatment of immigration detainees by custodial police officers in any of the removal centres visited, according to the report. It also notes that no allegations were received of physical ill-treatment by law enforcement officials.
Conditions of detention were very good at the removal centre at Aydin, but many foreign nationals were kept for prolonged periods in conditions that could be considered to be inhuman and degrading at the centres visited in Ankara, Istanbul-Kumkapı and Izmir – notably due to severe overcrowding and the lack of natural light. Many complaints were also received about the lack of basic personal hygiene products in all of the removal centres visited.
