Ruken Deniz, who was among the released in Halfeti, told in her defense at the court that she was given electric shocks, her head was hit to the ground, and she was assaulted sexually. Details of the torture gave goosebumps.
BOLD- Ruken Deniz and Mehmet Emin Yıldırım, who were detained at the Kochisar neighborhood of Bozova after the clash in the Halfeti neighborhood of the Halfeti district of the Urfa province on May 18th, narrated the torture they were subjected to from the Yaylak Gendarmerie Station to Urfa TEM Branch.
While 9 out of 10 people who were subjected to torture in custody in Halfeti were released with a judicial control, 1 person was arrested. Ruken Deniz, who was released, said, “They gave me an electric shock, hit my head to the ground,” in her defense at the court. Deniz also stated that she was subjected to sexual harassment.
10 people who were detained, taken into custody in the TEM Branch and tortured, after the clash between the soldiers and those who claimed to be from People’s Defense Forces (HPG) in Dergili neighborhood, connected to the Halfeti district of Urfa, told the details of the torture in their statements at the court.
Ahmet Yıldırım, Emine Yıldırım, Güle Çiftçi, Hanifi Alakuş, Kamile Kaçar, Kemal Şahin, Rabi Kaplan, Ruken Deniz, Suphi Gül and Abdullah Çiftçi, were brought to the court after they gave their statements at the police station.
Later on, they were brought to the court with the request of judicial control for 9 and arrest order for 1 of them. While 9 out of 10 people who were brought to the court were released with the condition of judicial control, Abdullah Çiftçi was arrested and sent to prison due to his posts on social media.
TORTURE IS STATED IN THE INDICTMENTS
Ruken Deniz, who stated that she had been subjected to torture while she was held in custody, said, “They tortured me, gave me an electric shock, hit my head to the ground at the custody. I don’t feel my hand and my feet, my ribs hurt, I’ve been tortured for days,” indicating that she repeated her testimony at the police station in her defense at the court.
Deniz also said that she had been subjected to sexual assault at the station.
FORENSIC MEDICINE REQUEST OF THE LAWYERS REJECTED
The lawyers requested their clients to be taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) urgently, indicating that their clients did not undergo any health check-up in accordance to the torture allegations and they were not even provided with medical reports. The prosecution refused the lawyers’ demand. Thus, the lawyers added dissenting opinion to the file.
HANDCUFFED AND LAID ON THE FLOOR
Emin Yıldırım, one of the 19 people whose pictures, where they were laid down on the ground and their arms handcuffed in the Yaylak Gendarmerie Station, were widespread in the press, told the Mesopotamian Agency about the ill-treatment they faced from home to the gendarmerie station and which continued at the Urfa TEM Branch.
TORTURE WITH GUNSTOCK AND KICKS
A bruise is sighted at the left leg -close to the hip- of Yıldırım who faces difficulty in walking. Yıldırım who states that he received blows with gunstocks and was kicked for hours, at the Yaylak Gendarmerie Station, narrates that he was subjected to heavy insults, while he was taken to Urfa TEM Branch, after hours.
THEY TOOK US, BREAKING INTO OUR HOUSE DURING SEHRI
Yıldırım said that he was a heart patient, having 3 stents in his heart. Stating that they had been raided in their homes while they were getting up for a pre-dawn meal, Yıldırım reported the incident: “Suddenly, the police entered the courtyard of the house. Me, my brothers, my sons, we were all at the same place. I saw that they took my son, then I went down immediately. They took us too when we descended. They took us without questioning. They laid all of us down, facing the ground. 9 of us, me, my brothers Müslüm Yıldırım, Sinan Yıldırım, Celal Yıldırım, Ahmet Yıldırım and my son Uğur Yıldırım, my nephews Kenan Yıldırım, Mustafa Yıldırım, Abdullah, were taken to the police station.
WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK AROUND
Yıldırım, who learned that they broke into other houses too and took Gül and Zincirkıran family members into custody after he was taken to the Yaylak Gendarmerie Station, said, “Then they brought us all to Yaylak Gendarmerie Station. They laid upside down, our arms handcuffed behind, at the station. We were not allowed to look around. They were hitting with the stocks of their guns and they were kicking us while we were lying on the ground of the police station’s yard. They tortured us a lot at the Yaylak police station. Then, they took us to Urfa TEM Branch.”
MY SON’S FEET SPLIT OPEN DUE TO TORTURE
Yıldırım voiced his experiences at the TEM Branch: “There were youngsters. They were taking them out one by one. I don’t know what they were doing. What they asked us was that there was a conflict in this village of Halfeti and whether we knew those people or not. We are 50 kilometers far from the mentioned village. The lawyer came 3 days later. Each room held 5-6 people. They closed the eyes of the others when taking them to interrogation. But they took me into a dark room and made me kneel down. Then they questioned me about the incident. I couldn’t see the interrogator, because the room was dark. I have 4 brothers and sons, held in custody now. Their wounds are worse than ours. The 2 feet of my son split open. They had stitched them at the Bozova Hospital. Then, they brought him to TEM. They stepped on his feet, and the stitches reopened.”
I SAID I WAS A HEART PATIENT, THEY SAID DIE
Indicating that the doctor ignored the torture, Yıldırım said, “They took us all onto the bus, handcuffed our arms at the back, tilted our heads towards the seat and rode to the hospital. They brought a doctor into the vehicle. When the policemen who took us said, ’raise your heads’, the doctor asked, ‘are you well’. Then he finished, saying, ‘there is nothing. Then, they were taking us back to the custody. We were 19 people from our village. The hospital did not provide us with any report. They just took an x-ray of my leg due to the blow I had received. I’m a heart patient. I was speaking out, ‘I am a heart patient, I have had 3 angio surgeries, carrying 3 stents. I have had 2 heart attacks. I am not well’ and they were telling me to die.”
FORENSIC EXAMINATION FILED THE TORTURE
On the other side, the torture described by Yıldırım was filed in Mehmet Emin Yıldırım’s General Forensic Examination Report, which was conducted by the Yaylak Gendarmerie Station at the district hospital as, ’There is no danger to life unless the complication of the lesion connected to trauma, situated at the left femoral region, shows progress.’
THEY TORTURED MY 65-YEAR-OLD FATHER
Ahmet Yıldırım, who was taken into custody at the Urfa center, stated that his house was raided after midnight and he was detained with 2 of his relatives who resided in his house. Yıldırım, who said that he had been released after being interrogated for only 3 hours, added, “I was not mistreated. But there is an incident I had witnessed, I have seen horrific tortures conducted on detainees. My 3 brothers and father are held inside. My father is Müslüm Yıldırım, my brothers are Kenan, Mustafa, and Abdullah Yıldırım. My brother Abdullah had a bruise on his shoulder. There was a scar of being drifted on his arm. My father is elderly. He is 65-year-old and takes medication. We’ve had a tough time following up his pills. For example, there is a scar on his neck, so he was tortured.”
THEY INSULTED US IN THE SIGHT OF OUR CHILDREN
Yıdırım narrated the following: “We are going to file complaints to the Human Rights Association and any organization who deals with these cases when they are released. At the instant I was about to head for the police station, they took me out of my car and took me home. They took three people who were at home, including my father-in-law. They were abusing during the house search. They were insulting in the sight of our children. They stormed ransacked the house. We are concerned about the health conditions of those who are inside. We want the independent health institutions, the torture prevention commissions to lay stress on this incident. We families are extremely worried and victimized about this issue.”