A former assistant professor at Harran University in southeastern Urfa province was subjected to torture during a 2017 police interrogation, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu revealed on his YouTube channel.
Assistant Professor Musa Günay was arrested on August 10, 2016 in a government crackdown on the faith-based Gülen movement following a failed coup on July 15, and was sent to Şanlıurfa Type T No. 1 Prison.
The July 15, 2016 coup attempt, during which more than 250 people were killed, was carried out by a faction within the military. The government immediately accused the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, of orchestrating the plot. Gülen, who lived in exile in the United States until his death in October 2024, denied any involvement and repeatedly called for an independent international investigation, a demand that was never met.
In the aftermath of the failed coup, thousands of real and perceived members of the movement were detained, while thousands of public servants were summarily dismissed from their jobs through government decrees (KHKs).
On June 16, 2017, a year into his imprisonment, Günay was taken to the Şanlıurfa Police Department by law enforcement officers, where he was brutally interrogated for a month.
Günay told Gergerlioğlu that he was beaten, sexually abused and electroshocked during that month.
“His testicles were squeezed. He was electroshocked. Beaten. Left in bruises. Later, the doctors who examined him ignored the signs of torture on his body because the examination was conducted in the presence of the police. Unspeakable things were done. Who was the Şanlıurfa police chief in 2017? Who was the head of the counterterrorism branch? Let them come forward and answer before the law,” said Gergerlioğlu.
Gergerlioğlu also questioned whether an inmate can legally be taken back into police custody for interrogation. While the criminal code permits this in cases where new evidence emerges, such questioning typically does not exceed 24 hours.
Günay filed a complaint with the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on August 23, 2017, claiming that he was subjected to torture by law enforcement officers while held at the Şanlıurfa Police Department. However, on October 25, 2017, the prosecutor’s office decided that there was no need to pursue a criminal investigation.
Günay subsequently filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, on January 12, 2018, but on December 16, 2020, the court ruled his application inadmissible on the grounds that Günay had not exhausted all available legal remedies for the allegation of a violation of the prohibition of ill-treatment due to detention conditions.
However, Constitutional Court member Engin Yıldırım dissented from the ruling.
In his dissenting opinion, he said, “It is essential to reasonably examine whether there is a consistency between the medical findings and the applicant’s allegations in the investigation. It is clear that no signs of battery or coercion were observed on the applicant’s body when he was brought to the police department on 16/6/2017. However, in a report dated eight days after he was returned to prison, certain findings were identified on his body that may indicate he was subjected to battery or coercion. Since the applicant was entirely under the control of the state after being taken into custody, it must be accepted that these findings occurred while he was under state supervision. Whether the injuries observed on the applicant’s body were caused by the misconduct of public officials must be determined through an effective investigation. Consequently, I dissent from the majority decision, as I find the application not to be manifestly ill-founded, and believe the procedural aspect of the prohibition of ill-treatment, as guaranteed under Article 17 of the Constitution, has been violated based on the reasons explained above.”
Allegations of torture and mistreatment have become worryingly common in Turkey following the coup attempt, when thousands of people were detained and arrested on bogus terrorism or coup charges.
According to a report by the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, on his mission to Turkey from November 27 to December 2, 2016, “torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread” in Turkey.
The report found there were numerous consistent allegations received by the special rapporteur in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup and that torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread.
The special rapporteur heard persistent reports of severe beatings, punches and kicking, blows with objects, foot whipping, threats and verbal abuse, being forced to strip naked, rape with objects and other sexual violence or threats thereof, sleep deprivation, stress positions and extended blindfolding and/or handcuffing for several days, according to the report.
