Turkish Medical Association: torture claims must be investigated by independent commissions

Turkish Medical Association stated: “Regardless of the majority of the crimes and the fear imposed on the society by those crimes, torture is an offense and unacceptable. Though European Convention on Human Rights is temporarily suspended [in Turkey], prohibition of torture is necessary and essential under any circumstance -including war, clash and state of emergency. In terms of international law, “prohibition of torture” is not limited to “not to exercise it”; it also imposes a responsibility on the state to put in place preventive measures and mechanisms, to carry out regular independent inspections of all places of detention, imprisonment and conviction, to conduct effective medical and legal investigation concerning torture claims, to prosecute and punish the torturers and the ones who assisted them. The state is obliged to fulfill these responsibilities under any circumstance.”