Complaints of ill-treatment against Turkish police down by 90 pct in two years: Ministry

ANKARA

The number of complaints of torture and ill-treatment filed with the Prime Ministry Coordination Center (BİMER), the Communications Center of the Presidency (CİMER), and other official means against members of the Turkish police forces have declined by 90 percent over the past two years, the Interior Ministry has said in a statement.

In 2016, a total of 302 complaints of alleged ill-treatment were received, while the corresponding figure declined to 165 in 2017.

In 2018, however, the number of similar complaints fell further to 28, which corresponded to a sharp 90 percent decline over a two-year period.

The ministry also said 45 disciplinary proceedings had been launched against members of the police and gendarmerie forces over this two-year period. Some 33 of those probes launched are still ongoing.

According to the information provided by the ministry, the number of legal investigations into ill-treatment and torture allegedly committed by police officers and gendarmerie personnel also exhibited a considerable decline over the past two years.

Accordingly, under this category, a total of 99 investigations were carried out in 2016, whereas the corresponding figures for 2017 and 2018 were 33 and 13, respectively.

The ministry said it rigorously examines complaints filed by the citizens.