A/HRC/7/3/Add.2
page 137
altercation ensued during which he was ill-treated and verbally abused by a group of
police officers. He was later handcuffed and detained. 8
682.
The Government informed that an investigation, which is currently underway,
has been initiated in connection with the alleged ill-treatment of Mustafa Rollas in a
police station in İzmir. Apart from this individual case, based on information previously
reported by the Government, the Government reiterated that this recommendation has
already been met by Turkey.
683.
Recommendation (b) stated: The legislation should be amended to ensure
that any extensions of police custody are ordered by a judge, before whom the
detainee should be brought in person; such extensions should not exceed a total of
four days from the moment of arrest or, in a genuine emergency, seven days,
provided that the safeguards referred to in the previous recommendation are in
place.
684.
In addition to information previously reported (e.g. A/HRC/4/33/Add.2, para.
617, and E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.2, para. 304), the Government stated that detention periods
and conditions have been brought fully in line with international standards, and that the
detention periods are being strictly observed in practice.
685.
Recommendation (c) stated: Pilot projects at present under way involving
automatic audio- and videotaping of police and jandarma questioning should be
rapidly expanded to cover all such questioning in every place of custody in the
country.
686.
According to non-governmental sources, the use of audio- and video-taping
equipment (and CCTV) in all areas of detention centres would be an important
safeguard. However, in several cases reported to NGOs, the police have maintained that
video or CCTV records were unavailable in the room where the alleged torture or illtreatment occurred. In the case of the fatal shooting in police custody of Nigerian asylum
seeker Festus Okey in Istanbul on 7 September 2007, the police insist that there were no
cameras in the room where the incident occurred.
687.
The Government informed that the trial of the police officer who has been
accused of murdering Festus Okey, is ongoing at the 7th Criminal Court of First Instance
of Beyoğlu (Registry No. 2007/308).
688.
In more general terms, in accordance with the legal framework provided by
article 147(h) of the new Criminal Procedure Code and article 11(g) of the “Regulation
on apprehension, detention and statement taking,” and for the purposes of ensuring the
physical integrity of suspects against self-harm, preventing possible violations of human
8
For a detailed account of all dimensions of this incident detailing the sequence of events and procedural
irregularities, see the press statement made by the Cagdas Hukukcular Dernegi Genel Merkez (General
Headquarters of the Contemporary Lawyers Association, Ankara) dated 21/9/2007):
http://www.cagdashukukculardernegi.org/basin_bultenleri/basin_bultenleri/genel_merkez_basin_aciklamas
i_21.09.2007.html
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