A/HRC/37/50/Add.1 breakdown of the government-initiated peace process in July 2015, there has been an escalation of violence in the region. The situation deteriorated further after the attempted coup of July 2016. Most notably, the state of emergency decrees apply not only to offences related to the failed coup, but to all terrorist offences, including those occurring in the context of the violence in the south-east. 30. The Special Rapporteur received numerous testimonies of torture and other forms of ill-treatment of both male and female individuals suspected of being members or sympathizers of the PKK and other groups affiliated with the Kurdish insurgency. The Special Rapporteur also met with individuals suspected of affiliation with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Most instances of ill-treatment were alleged to have been inflicted upon apprehension and arrest, as well as during transit to the detention location, predominantly by the special operations teams of the police or by the gendarmerie. Illtreatment was also alleged to have occurred during interrogations in the early hours and days of detention in holding cells. The methods of torture and other forms of ill-treatment were reported to have included severe beatings, kickings, punches, verbal assaults, threats of sexual violence, prolonged stress positions and handcuffing, and being deprived of adequate access to water, food and sleep. One individual reported having been raped with objects. 31. Reportedly, the ill-treatment occurring in relation to the failed coup largely ceased a few weeks after the coup. However, torture and ill-treatment in relation to the violence in the south-east was alleged to be widespread in the initial phase of custody and interrogation. The Special Rapporteur received consistent reports that, in that context, the aim of torture and ill-treatment was to coerce victims to confess or to denounce others from a list of names and photographs of suspected members of terrorist organizations. Many inmates reported that they had been arrested on the basis of false accusations or denunciations made against them under torture. Physical ill-treatment was generally reported to have ceased after transfer to a regular detention facility. However, occasional abuse and degrading treatment allegedly continued, including verbal assaults and threats, slaps, and invasive body searches, as well as male guards sexually threatening or harassing female detainees during transfers and denying them privacy during medical examinations. 3. Solitary confinement 32. The Special Rapporteur heard numerous allegations that a great number of highranking military officers, Supreme Court judges, prosecutors, and other civil servants arrested for reasons related to the failed coup, as well as high-ranking members of proKurdish political parties, had been held in prolonged solitary confinement. The Special Rapporteur was unable to confirm those allegations due to the time constraints imposed on his visit. Nevertheless, he wishes to recall that prolonged (of more than 15 days) or indefinite solitary confinement contravenes the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Moreover, because of the prisoner’s inability to communicate with the outside world, solitary confinement also gives rise to situations conducive to other acts of torture or ill-treatment. 4. Strip searches and invasive body searches 33. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that invasive body searches have frequently been alleged to have been conducted in a disrespectful manner both on the inmates themselves and on visitors. Body searches on inmates are reportedly also performed upon arrival in the prison, before and after transfers or other temporary exiting of the premises such as for medical treatment, and sometimes even inside the detention centres and cells, without prior warning or apparent justification. The frequency of such searches is reported to have increased significantly since the failed coup in July 2016. 7