The diplomat who witnessed the two people’s severe torture in Ankara Security Directorate spoke: “We were not silent for torture. A friend who fainted two times didn’t sign the statement they wanted.”
Cevheri Güven
BOLD – A report prepared by the Ankara Bar Association for the purged diplomats by the Decree-Law were tortured at the Ankara Security Directorate. On May 20, one of the young detained diplomats witnessed the whole process, spoke to BOLD.
On 20 May, Turkish courts issued arrest warrants for 249 diplomats who were purged with a Decree-Law from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and about 100 diplomats were taken into custody. Upon the allegations for massive torture to the diplomats who were detained over alleged “affiliation with the Gulen Movement”, The Ankara Bar Association appointed a group of lawyers and the allegations were investigated. In the report prepared by the Bar Association, those who were directly tortured were identified. It was determined that different types of torture methods, such as pounding, stripping naked, forcing a truncheon into the anus, were used on diplomats purged with the Decree-Law.
“They Tortured First Whom They Found Out Their Weak Points”
One of the young diplomats, who detained and released after 10-day detention, wished to remain anonymous and disclosed his experiences. After being taken into custody, he explained that they were divided into three and they were taken to Ankara Financial Crimes Investigation Unit, Department of Smuggling and Department of Murder. He was sent him to Ankara Financial Crimes Investigation Unit where intensive underwent:
“For two of my friends I know, there was harassment with a truncheon. Stripping my friends naked and making them to fetus position, they’ve moved the truncheon in their anus area.
They were taking our friends in the middle of the night. After a while, they were bringing them back. They identified the weaknesses of the people and they were focusing there. They constantly harassed a friend for two days. They reiterated ‘Your wife is pregnant; she may suffer for miscarriage of the fetus’, as this was his point of weakness. Then on the second day, they took him at night. For a long time, he did not appear. When I saw him in the morning the next day, his condition was very bad and had trouble walking. Then they took him to the Court although it was the weekend. They probably made him sign the papers they desired. I don’t think he’d be released otherwise.”
“A Friend Fainted Twice But Still Didn’t Sign”
“The other friend had a deficiency in his lung. I guess they’ve considered him weaker than the others. They had taken him in the middle of the night and then brought back. We couldn’t talk in detail, as he was not in good condition. Already fainted twice. We thought he was having a brain hemorrhage. He remained motionless. He first fainted at about 2.00 am or 3.00 am after he was brought from the torture. He wanted to go to the bathroom. Then in the dark, we heard the sound of a fall. He’s collapsed in a heap. He couldn’t react, he tried to react but his voice was not coming out. Then we called the police officer. They brought a nurse there. They did not care too much, and said ‘Let him sleep’. Maybe he could have had a brain hemorrhage, he shouldn’t have. The next day, he fainted again during the day. He wasn’t responding. Then they took him to the hospital. It was told in the hospital that he encountered a fainting attack due to fear and anxiety. Then they never touched him again. But they arrested him. He was probably arrested because he never signed a fabricated statement. He told everything to the delegation from the Bar Association. There were 7-8 lawyers from the Ankara Bar Association met with those two of us. There was another friend who was tortured. I don’t know why they picked him for.”
Torturers Were Special Team
The young diplomat disclosed the information confirms the allegations that the torturers are outsiders. He said “Our friends were told that those who did the torture came from outside. They were appearing after our friends’ eyes were blindfolded and thrown a hood over their head.”
Female Diplomats Were Also Under Custody
According to the information given by the young diplomat, there were also 7-8 women diplomats in custody. Female diplomats were placed in the same corridor, not in a separate women’s custody department:
“They took us under custody for a week without taking any statements. They completed the 12-day detention period. In order to ruin our psychology, they kept us as long as possible and to intimidate and to wear out us before they took us to the court. Already 35 people stayed in the detention room where it was constructed for 2 persons only. We had to stay in the corridor or on the floor. Female diplomats were 7 or 8 in number. They were in a separate room, but they were held in the same place as the men, and it was a distraction.”
We had victuals in our Financial Crimes Investigation Unit. They also gave water and shower facilities. But the rest of the friends at the other branches did not have a shower and they also gave limited water.
“We Were Not Silent For Torture”
Unlike the other cases, the young diplomat said the detainees were not silent during torture and were looking for ways to make their voices out of the detention room. Striking the attention of the Ankara Bar Association was possible with the persistence of his friends:
“We were not quiet. Everybody told his lawyer what happened. We wanted it heard it outside of the police building. We wanted Mr. Omer Faruk Gergerlioğluna or other human rights defenders to be aware of it. We’re not silent. The sufferers usually hide it. If these tortures were not heard off, we would be the next tortured person. It was unclear what we were forced to do. We asked the lawyers and families to be told to everyone. It was spread in this manner and with the arrival of the Bar Association, the torture was ceased.
After the arrival of the delegation from the Bar Association, they prepared a report and made it signed. After the report was released, they stopped abusing. The doctors were also interested in us. They’re starting to ask me if there’s a pounding.
“Nothing In The Files”
The young diplomat considers that the operation against them is related to the new party statements by Ahmet Davutoğlu. He thinks that the operation against the diplomats who started office during the Davutoglu period was pulled forward:
“When we think about the questions asked, it seemed like it was an unprepared operation. When the new party preparations of Davutoğlu began, it seems, it was as if they moved the operation date to an earlier time.
They asked a few questions about the entrance exam to the Foreign Ministry, however, the questions were not person-based, they were general things. They asked us about the questions that they should ask the Foreign Ministry. They said if you called from a payphone, and asking who called us. They asked if the ministry personnel have HTS records among each other. They’re asking us if you had a signal from the same base station. But not in the same time zones even, it doesn’t match.
An investigation is in progress for everyone for those issued Decree-Law. So they can’t go back. They try to form the basis for the issuances. Files are empty. Our friends all know very good English, all improved themselves. However, for colleagues like as, who came from humble families, some Ministry of Foreign Affairs personal could not involve us at all. Earlier the diplomat children were entering the Foreign Affairs only. That’s why the Foreign Affairs itself wanted this operation. There was a little retrospective revenge on the operation.
P.S.: The names of the persons who were tortured are not included in the news upon their request.
https://boldmedya.com/en/2019/05/29/bar-association-report-former-diplomats-sexually-abused-with-batons-and-tortured/