7.1.1. Illustrative cases Turkey During a 2013 visit to Turkey, the CPT received testimony from a demonstrator who was allegedly sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant while handcuffed in police custody. 339 In addition the CPT expressed “its serious misgivings about the manner in which pepper spray had been used in removal centres” (including in a room with women and children, as had apparently been the case at Edirne Removal Centre shortly before the delegation’s visit). The CPT recommended “that the Turkish authorities take steps to ensure that in all removal centres in Turkey pepper spray does not form part of the standard equipment of custodial staff and is never used in confined spaces.”340 UN and other human rights monitors highlighted the excessive and inappropriate use of tear gas and pepper spray during the Gezi Park protests in 2013.341 Amnesty International documented the firing and throwing of tear gas cartridges and grenades into confined spaces including residential homes and public shelters. In Istanbul, tear gas was repeatedly used at the entrance of, or inside, makeshift health clinics, preventing the treatment of injured people. Reports and video footage showed police firing tear gas and pressurized water at the entrance of a makeshift health clinic at the Divan Hotel on 15 June 2013 and police removing masks from the faces of people inside and removing lotion used to treat exposure to tear gas. Hand held pepper spray devices, including large capacity ‘riot sprayers’, were frequently used against peaceful protestors in a manner that was abusive. Individuals told Amnesty International that police officers sprayed pepper spray in their eyes as a punishment when they were apprehended at the scene of demonstrations.342 Turkish security forces used approximately 130,000 tear gas cartridges and grenades – equivalent to a year’s supply - in the first 20 days of the protests alone. Analysis of media reports and images indicated tear gas cartridges and grenades produced by Brazilian, South Korean and US companies were amongst those used against protesters.343 In addition to the effects of the toxic chemical agents themselves, the use of weapon-fired tear gas cartridges by Turkish police as impact projectiles was of particular concern. Human Rights Watch reported that scores of protesters suffered serious head injuries as a result of this practice.344 At least 11 individuals reportedly suffered vision loss345 and at least two people were killed after being struck in the head with tear gas cartridges.346 The European Court of Human Rights has recognised that the use of a launcher to fire tear gas cartridges generates a risk of serious injury or death,347 stating that firing tear gas cartridges directly at 339 CPT (15 January 2015) op.cit., paragraph 18. CPT (17 October 2017) op.cit.. 341 Amnesty International, Gezi Park Protests: Brutal denial of the right to peaceful assembly in Turkey, EUR 44/022/2013, October 2013; UN Radio, Human rights office expresses concern over use of excessive force against peaceful protestors in Turkey, 4 June 2013; See also: Physicians for Human Rights, Contempt for Freedom: State Use of Tear Gas as a Weapon and Attacks on Medical Personnel in Turkey, pp. 18-19; FIDH, Turkey: Gezi, One Year On, p.10. 342 Amnesty International (October 2013) op.cit. 343 Amnesty International (October 2013) op.cit. 344 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2014, p. 502. 345 Physicians for Human Rights (September 2013) op.cit., p. 9. 346 FIDH, Turkey: Gezi, One Year On, May 2014, available at <https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/turkey_avril_2014_uk_web.pdf> accessed 8 January2018. 347 European Court of Human Rights, Case of Abdullah Yaşa and Others v. Turkey, judgment of 16 July 2013, paragraph 42. 340 63