In the operation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) on March 19, mayors, including IBB Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, and many others were detained and arrested. Detainees were subjected to strip search and torture at the police station. 

 

Yesterday, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç made a statement regarding the strip search, which caused a great reaction, saying, “It is absolutely out of the question in our country.”  

 

Against the Minister's statement, 7 women who were detained in Ankara on March 22 were subjected to strip searches. 3 of the women told Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about their experiences. The women did not want their names to be included in the news report due to security concerns. 

 

POLICE CONFESS TO STRIP SEARCH

 

On the morning of March 22, her house was raided and she was beaten she refused to be handcuffed behind her back. A.B stated that she was forced to bend her neck in the police vehicle and at the Anti-terror Unit (TEM) Branch and was subjected to violence when she resisted. A.B said that she had heard that her friend who had gone to the lawyer interview room before her had objected to strip searches and that she had headed there. AB stated that the police told her that strip searches were not torture and threatened her. 

 

I CAN'T BREATHE

 

“Then I went in. They told me, 'This place is not like outside. Strip naked and we will look at you'. I refused to be strip searched. I said, 'You can only do a rough search.' I stood up, took off my coat. The police took off my glasses. Then the woman who was their chief said, 'I have been here for 30 years, we have been doing strip searches for 30 years. This is a routine'. I refused to be strip searched," she said and added, "Then two of them grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground. They all stepped on me with their knees. The chief had a glove on her hand. She was pressing on my face and chin with one knee. My head was turned to the side. My hair was in my face the whole time and I couldn't see anything. They covered my mouth when I shouted. I tried to say 'I can't breathe'. When she understood, she said 'Die, die' and covered my nose and mouth even more. It continued like this for a while. Then the strip search ended.”

 

'THOSE WHO RESIST ARE TORTURED'

 

SG stated that the police played “good and bad cop theater” and that he was subjected to violence from the moment she was detained. SG said that one of the police officers warned hwe against another police officer and that she had to accept a strip search. SG said that when she refused the strip search, the police attacked her and several more police officers were called. 

 

“The female policewoman they called their chief grabbed me by the throat, another one covered my mouth and nose so that I couldn't be heard outside, and the other three were attacking me with their arms around me. While I was screaming, one of the other detained friends got scared. The polices said to her, 'Haven't you ever been tortured so that you are surprised?' After me, they said to the female friend they wanted to subject to strip search, 'Those who resist are tortured, look, nothing nice happened to your friend who resisted. They were saying, 'Don't resist, accept it'.” 

 

MINISTER DENIED

 

Reminding the Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç's claim that “there are no strip searches in Turkey”, SG said, “They can use violence against you, torture you. They can subject you to strip search. They can do all kinds of inhumane behavior. The issue is not that they do this, the issue is that this is heard. When the public says that this is unconscionable, they pretend it doesn't exist to avoid their reaction. Hence this policy of denial.”

 

Emphasising that detention and arrest processes are systematic attacks, SG said, "We need to increase solidarity for our friends who are unlawfully detained and arrested. Street by street, campus by campus, we need to organise the struggle. Together, with an organised struggle, we can overcome the reality of the torturing state."

 

TORTURE HAS NOT BEEN INTRODUCED INTO THE SYSTEM

 

FA stated that she was not admitted to the system even though she showed the marks of beatings on her body in the medical examination they were taken to after being detained.

 

FA said, "At first they bent my neck, hit my face, pulled my hair. They kicked my legs, a woman punched me in the stomach. After the police station, they wanted to handcuff me behind my back again. Since I refused, they used violence again. They put me on the ground and twisted my arm again. I still have a big bruise on my arm. They tried to reverse handcuff me by leaning my head against the wall. I also have a bruise on my head. They wanted to strip search me in detention. They told me to take off my clothes and I didn't. When they came on top of me to take them off, I pushed them. When they took the position to hit me, I fell on the ground. I took the foetal position. They kicked me on the ground. When I had no more strength to endure, they took off my top. I stayed naked."