More than 1,500 people injured by Turkish security forces in 2014, says report

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

Some 1,539 people, including 112 children, were injured by Turkey’s security forces at protests in 2014, while 11,262 people were detained, including 241 refugees, a recent report has revealed.

The Human Rights Association’s (IHD) report, titled the 2014 Human Rights Breaches Report, revealed that a total of 3,401 people were victims of torture, ill treatment, humiliation, or unjust punishment in Turkey in 2014, while 1,021 of those people were subjected to torture or ill treatment while in custody.
Documentation from the İHD also once again displayed the perilous extent of violence against women in Turkey.

“In 2014, 296 women were killed, 39 women committed suicide, 191 women were victims of sexual assault or rape, 585 women were taken to hospital after being beaten or injured and six women were victims of honor killings, while 13 women died in suspicious circumstances,” Songül Erol Abdil of the İHD said on March 5.

Some 44 children were killed, while 219 children were injured in violent incidents.

Honor killings, which remain a serious problem in Turkish society, also took place last year. While six women were reportedly killed in honor killings, two men were killed in “honor attacks.” Six people were killed in hate crimes, while 17 were injured in hate crimes.

The report was prepared by gathering personal applications to İHD branches, reports from İHD branches’ human rights watch and research commissions, news that appeared on local and national media outlets, and reports from other NGOs and state institutions.

Some 64 out of the 1,021 people who were subjected to torture or ill treatment while in custody were children, while 23 out of a total 213 people who were tortured or ill-treated in places outside of custody were children.

The report also showed that 235 convicts were tortured or victims of maltreatment in jails, 54 of whom were underage children.

Special security officers also applied torture and maltreated 19 people.

The number of refugees and immigrants detained in 2014 was 241, of whom 22 were children.