Seda Şaraldı, a lawyer from People’s Law Office, said systematic tortures have been taking place in Gazi Police Station, and recently some ill-treatment methods have been applied in an attempt to disable victims. One of the victims, Vedat Dogan, told about how they cracked his back and how this incident was covered up by police in the hospital and prosecution office.
Deniz Aydın, a female victim among the three, detailed in the video ill-treatments she suffered as following:
“They intercepted us on our way with their big white vehicle and pushed us inside without saying a word. They started hitting us and handcuffed our hands behind the back. They were trying to injure our arms.
“When we arrived at the police station, they said: “if you do not get off, we will break your bones.” We did not get off the vehicle since we did not know what was going on. So, they dragged us up to the third floor. There was a sort of room on the third floor of Gazi police station, with a steel door and a bell on it. They hurled us to the ground and started beating us.
“There were about 15-20 people in the room. We couldn’t see their faces; we were not allowed to look up. When we attempted to turn our face to look, they were kicking us.
“Systematic torture began later on; however, no one had any idea why we were there. A torture-tolerating policy has been put in place in Gazi; they have been seeking to bring back the 80’s and 90’s tortures to silence people.
“They continued beating with batons. They were hitting on our calves while telling each other that the calves are the most hurting parts. They were enjoying it when doing this. It was unbelievable that a person could find pleasure in doing such things.
“We stayed there for four hours, and they carried on by employing different torture methods. The one who was hitting with baton said: ‘I was not able to work out today, I did my exercise on you.’ He got tired and left, but another one replaced him. He sat on my back and bang on my kidneys. They have developed a method that aims at kidneys. The pains on kidneys were not like muscle pains, your internal organs feel the pain, and it was unbearable pain. There were also swearwords and insults, of course.
“They were hitting on my spine with the baton apeak, intending to break our back and leave us paralyzed. They were saying to each other something like, ‘This part is the one that hurts more.’
“Female police were supposed to search our bodies, but there was no female police officer. A male officer did body searches, and then, they brought a female officer to sign the documents.
“Meanwhile, they were trying to sow discord among us by referring to some names and talking about what they did.
“They did not let us stand. They were loudly calling us terrorist in the hospital. They were running down us, whereas we had not yet known the reason of our detention. They said afterward, ‘The era of white (Renault) Toros ended, but now it is the time of white vans’ in the hospital. It is obvious what white Toros did in Turkey, and they have spoken out that they will bring back them.”
Vedat Dogan who was kidnapped on 15 November said his back was cracked due to tortures and he has been wearing a steel corset for moths:
“I was also abducted in a white van on 15 November. They forced me to the ground by hitting me on the back and handcuffed me behind the back. They lowered my head and pressed against my back while my hands were tied behind the back, and they cracked my back. They did not stop despite knowing that my back would break. They punched me in the face. They also tortured my two friends alongside me.
“They threw us into a room, and about ten police officers in plainclothes beaten us there. They were trying to hurt me by squeezing my body’s vulnerable parts even though I told them my back got hurt. One of them was trying to insert his shoes in my mouth. They threatened to put out their cigarettes in my eyes and said, ‘We are the king of Gazi. This is just a trailer; we will shoot a movie with you.’ They also said if I ever come to Gazi again, they would shoot me.
“Police allow gangs and drugs to circulate freely in Gazi, whereas we have been fighting against them. Police have been trying to intimidate us from engaging in a fight against them.
“When they took me to the hospital, they talked to the doctor before he examined me. The doctor did not even check my back on x-ray even I told him my back injured. I told the prosecutor about the tortures I was subjected to. Still, the prosecutor kept asking me if I was a member of a terrorist organization and ignored my torture claims.
“I lived those things three months ago. They sought to cripple me. There is still a steel corset on my back. They arrested and tortured some of my friends after me. Their purpose is to intimidate us.
The other torture victim, Taylan Gütekin, said his torture started in Gazi polis station, but it continued in Istanbul’s Vatan Police Headquarter:
“They started torturing me soon after they detained me. Kicking, punching, hitting with a baton, attempting to break my bones. They applied kidney-squeezing torture to me. It was something aiming at internal organs. They seemed to get special education for it. They then took us to Vatan Police Headquarter and continued tortures there.”
