Council of Europe FINALLY allowed to inspect prisons in Turkey weeks after failed coup
THE Council of Europe is set to send a delegation to Turkey to check the conditions of prisons inside the country after allegations of brutal treatment against those arrested during the failed military coup.
Pictures emerged after the coup which reportedly show the conditions of prisoners
Kati Piri MEP, who visited Turkey last week, said members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture will be given entry to Turkey’s prisons to inspect and review conditions.
It comes after reports emerged which said prisoners were being raped, starved and beaten in the aftermath of the coup on July 15.
Turkey, which is part of the Council of Europe, has to allow members of the committee into the country.
So far, a total of 40,029 people have been arrested as the Turkish government attempts to “clean the virus” from within its borders.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has mooted at the idea of bringing back the death penalty for those involved in the coup.
President Erdogan has vowed to clamp down on those responsible for the coup
It seems like people are being treated as terrorists, but their legal cases have not even started yet. This will be a test for Turkish democracy
Piri, who is a member of the Dutch Labour party, said she was concerned with the number of arrests.
She said: “It seems like people are being treated as terrorists, but their legal cases have not even started yet. This will be a test for Turkish democracy.”
More than 290 people died on the night of the bloody coup with Erdogan calling a three month state of emergency.
What next for Turkey?
Kati Piri MEP was in Turkey last week
Along with the coup, Turkey has suffered a series of devastating terror attacks.
Just days ago, eleven police offices were killed by a car bomb in the city of Cizre.
The banned Kurdistan Workers Party claimed responsibility for the attack, which deliberately targeted police headquarters.