CAT/C/66/D/845/2017 reported by non-governmental organizations and the data provided by the State party in its fourth periodic report (see CAT/C/TUR/4, paras. 273–276 and annexes 1 and 2), suggesting that not all allegations of torture had been investigated during the reporting period. In the same concluding observations, the Committee highlighted, in paragraph 19, its concern about recent amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gave the police greater powers to detain individuals without judicial oversight during police custody. In paragraph 33, the Committee expressed regret about the lack of complete information on suicides and other sudden deaths in detention facilities during the period under review. 7.7 The Committee notes that, according to the complainant, the state of emergency established in Turkey on 20 July 2016 has increased the risk of persons accused of belonging to a terrorist group being subjected to torture while in detention. The Committee also recognizes that the aforementioned concluding observations predated the start of the state of emergency. However, it observes that, according to reports on the human rights situation in Turkey and the prevention of torture published since the imposition of the state of emergency, the concerns raised by the Committee remain pertinent. 22 7.8 In the present case, the Committee notes that the complainant claims to have been persecuted on account of his political activities, in that he was believed to be a member of the Hizmet movement deemed responsible for the attempted coup d’état in July 2016. The Committee notes that, according to the report issued in 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had access to reliable information indicating that torture and ill-treatment were used during pretrial detention as the Turkish authorities responded to the attempted coup d’état.23 In the same report, the Office claims to have documented the use of various forms of torture and ill-treatment in custody, including severe beatings, threats of sexual assault and actual sexual assault, electric shocks and simulated drownings. The aim of these acts of torture was generally to extract confessions or to elicit denunciations of other persons as part of the investigations into events surrounding the attempted coup d’état.24 In his report on his mission to Turkey, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment notes that the use of torture was widespread in the aftermath of the coup. 25 The Special Rapporteur also notes that “the low number of investigations and prosecutions initiated in response to allegations of torture or ill-treatment seemed grossly disproportionate to the alleged frequency of the violations, indicating insufficient determination on the part of the responsible authorities to take such cases forward”.26 7.9 With regard to the direct impact of the state of emergency imposed on 20 July 2016, the Committee takes note of the concern raised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights about the adverse effects of the resulting measures on safeguards against torture and ill-treatment. In particular, the Office refers to the restrictions that may be imposed on contacts between detainees and their lawyers, the increase in the maximum permitted duration of police custody, the closure of certain independent mechanisms for the prevention of torture and the excessive use of pretrial detention. 27 After successive extensions decreed by the Turkish authorities, the state of emergency officially ended on 19 July 2018. In a letter dated 8 August 2018, the Turkish authorities informed the Council of Europe that the state of emergency had terminated on 19 July 2018 at the 22 23 24 25 26 27 8 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report on the human rights situation in South-East Turkey, July 2015 to December 2016”, February 2017; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report on the impact of the state of emergency on human rights in Turkey, including an update on the South-East, January – December 2017”, March 2018; and A/HRC/37/50/Add.1. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report on the impact of the state of emergency on human rights in Turkey, including an update on the South-East, January – December 2017”, March 2018, para. 7. Ibid., para. 77. A/HRC/37/50/Add.1, para. 26. Ibid., paras. 70–73. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report on the impact of the state of emergency on human rights in Turkey, including an update on the South-East, January – December 2017”, March 2018, para. 83. GE.19-10568