42 OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT that statements by a third party, Ms Sorzabal Diaz, whilst in detention were the only evidence against Mr Irastorza Dorronsoro. The court found there were serious grounds for believing that Ms Sorzabal Diaz had been physically abused during her detention and further inquiries of the Spanish authorities had failed to dispel those concerns. It could not been excluded, therefore, that her statements had been obtained contrary to Article 15 and, as such, the extradition request was refused. c. Germany 133. Article 15 was also relied on by the Düsseldorf Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht) in its decision of 27 May 2003 refusing extradition of a terrorist suspect to Turkey. The court recognised that Turkey had ratified UNCAT and incorporated its provisions into domestic law. However, there was a real risk (konkrete Gefahr) of those provisions not being respected in the event of the requested person’s extradition. On the evidence before it, the court found reasonable evidence (begründete Anhaltspunkte) to presume that statements given to the Istanbul police by 32 co-defendants in autumn 1998 – containing full confessions – were made under the influence of acts of torture by the Turkish security forces. The allegations of torture were supported by medical evidence (albeit records that were unclear in places) and matched information available from general reports on methods of torture commonly applied – not always with physically verifiable effects – in police custody in Turkey. There was, moreover, a risk, substantiated by concrete evidence (durch konkrete Indizien belegte Gefahr), that the statements taken from the co-accused might be used in proceedings against the requested person in Turkey. The Court of Appeal accepted that, in their judgments, Turkish courts were required to have regard to the domestic and international legal provisions against the admission of torture evidence, as well as case-law of the Turkish Court of Cassation to the effect that uncorroborated confessions were inadmissible. However, human rights reports had repeatedly noted that inadequate investigation by the Turkish criminal justice system of allegations of torture meant that courts continued to use confessions obtained by police ill-treatment. There were grounds to fear that the Istanbul National Security Court would do so in the instant case, not least that it would be impossible to prove the charges against the requested person without relying on the autumn 1998 statements taken by the police. 134. The Düsseldorf Court of Appeal’s judgment was relied upon by the Cologne Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgericht) in its judgment of 28 August 2003 in a related extradition case. The Cologne court found that the Court of Appeal’s conclusions were not altered by further assurances given by the Turkish authorities; those assurances were not specific but rather relied only on the general applicable provisions of Turkish law on torture evidence.