CAT/C/68/D/826/2017 expressed concern about the situation in Turkey in a follow-up letter sent to the State party on 31 August 2016. 33 It also notes that reports on the human rights situation and the prevention of torture issued since the declaration of the state of emergency in Turkey have indicated that the concerns raised by the Committee remain relevant. 34 7.8 In the present case, the Committee notes that the complainant claims to be at risk of being persecuted on account of his political activities, as he is perceived to be a member of the Fethullah terrorist organization/Parallel State Structure considered responsible for the attempted coup d’état of July 2016. The Committee observes that, according to its 2018 report, OHCHR had access to reliable information indicating that torture and ill-treatment were used during pretrial detention in the context of the Turkish authorities’ response to the attempted coup d’état of July 2016. 35 In the same report, OHCHR states that it has documented the use of various forms of torture and ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, threats of sexual assault, actual sexual assault, electric shocks and simulated drowning. These acts of torture were generally intended to extract or coerce confessions or force denunciations of other individuals as part of the investigation of acts connected with the attempted coup d’état.36 In his report on his mission to Turkey, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment expresses the view that the use of torture was widespread following the attempted coup d’état. 37 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 Turkish authorities to investigate the allegations made.38 7.9 With regard to the direct impact of the state of emergency declared on 20 July 2016, the Committee takes note of the concern expressed by OHCHR about the adverse effects of the measures on safeguards against torture and ill-treatment. In particular, OHCHR makes reference 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. 39 After successive extensions declared by the Turkish authorities, the state of emergency was formally 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 was terminated on 19 July 2018 at the end of the deadline set by Decision No. 1182 and that, accordingly, the Government of the Republic of Turkey had decided to withdraw the notice of derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights. 40 However, a series of legislative measures have been adopted that extend the application of the restrictive measures introduced during the state of emergency, such as the possibility of prolonging police custody for up to 12 days. 41 7.10 In the case of the complainant, the Committee notes that, in authorizing his extradition, the Court of Cassation made no assessment of the risk of torture that this would entail for him in view of the situation prevailing in Turkey since the attempted coup d’état 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 GE.19-22197 See https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/TUR/INT_CAT_ FUL_TUR_25040_E.pdf. OHCHR, 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; OHCHR, Report on the human rights situation in South-East Turkey, July 2015 to December 2017, February 2017; and A/HRC/37/56/Add.1. OHCHR, 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., para. 70 to 73. OHCHR, 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. See Council of Europe, reservations and declarations for Treaty No. 005, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 12 June 2019. Available at: www.coe. Int/fr/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/005/Declarations. Human Rights Watch, Turkey: Events of 2018. Available at https://www.hrw.org/worldreport/2019/country-chapters/turkey. 9