The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of persons detained by the police/gendarmerie and the situation in prisons and detention centres for foreigners. To this end, the delegation interviewed a large number of detained persons in various places of detention in different parts of the country. On the occasion of the visit, the delegation also discussed with the relevant authorities certain issues related to the situation of the prisoners currently held in Imralı F-type High-Security Prison.
In the course of the visit, the delegation met Süleyman Soylu, Minister of the Interior, Bilal Uçar, Deputy Minister of Justice, and Enis Yavuz Yıldırım, Director General of Prisons and Detention Centres, as well as senior officials from the Ministries of the Interior (including the General Command of the Gendarmerie), Justice and Foreign Affairs.
Further, the delegation had consultations with Yüksel Kocaman, Chief Public Prosecutor of Ankara, on the investigations into cases of possible ill-treatment of persons detained in connection with the July 2016 military coup attempt.
In addition, meetings were held with Şeref Malkoç, Chief Ombudsman, as well as with representatives of the Ankara Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organisations active in areas of concern to the CPT.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Turkish authorities.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Wolfgang Heinz (Head of Delegation)
- Djordje Alempijević
- Julia Kozma
- Philippe Mary
- Therese Maria Rytter
- Hans Wolff.
They were supported by Michael Neurauter (Head of Division) and Elvin Aliyev of the CPT's Secretariat and assisted by one expert, Timothy Harding, psychiatrist and former Director of the University Institute of Forensic Medicine in Geneva (Switzerland).
The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior
- Ankara Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror Department, including a sports hall used as ad hoc detention facility)
- Ankara Police Headquarters (Law and Order Department)
- Batman Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror Department)
- Batman Central Gendarmerie Commandership
- Diyarbakır Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror Department)
- Istanbul Police Headquarters (Anti-Terror Department)
- Istanbul – Beyoğlu District Police Station
- Istanbul – Fatih District Police Station
- Istanbul – Şişli District Police Station
- Siirt Police Headquarters (Organised Crime Department)
- Siirt Police Headquarters (Law and Order Department)
- Siirt-Yeni Mahalle Police Station
- Trabzon Police Headquarters
- Trabzon-Çarşı Police Station
- Trabzon-Gülbahar Hatun Police Station
- Istanbul- Binkılıç Removal Centre
- Istanbul-Atatürk Airport (rooms for passengers declared inadmissible and new holding facilities for asylum-seekers in the transit zone)
- Izmir-Harmandalı Removal Centre
- Izmir-Işıkkent Removal Centre
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice
- Batman M-type Prison
- Diyarbakır D-type Prison
- Diyarbakır E-type Prison
- Istanbul-Metris R-type Prison (for prisoners suffering from a mental disorder)
- Izmir-Menemen R-type Prison (for prisoners in need of special care)
- Siirt E-type Prison
- Trabzon E-type Prison.
In addition, the delegation went to Istanbul-Bakırköy Prison for Women and Metris T-type Prison No. 1, in order to interview remand prisoners who had recently been in police custody.