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23 February 2006
BERLIN – Torture is still being carried out in Turkey despite reforms instituted by the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Amnesty International said Thursday.
Confessions extracted by means of torture are still being admitted as evidence by courts, said Wolfgang Grenz, who monitors political refugees on behalf of the international human rights organization.
Grenz made the remarks at the presentation of a new study in Berlin based on 18 cases examined in October by Helmut Oberdiek.
Oberdiek said courts still failed to follow up accusations of torture despite the fact that Turkey is a signatory to the UN anti- torture convention and tightened its laws in June last year.
Grenz called on Turkish authorities to provide better training for people involved in the questioning of suspects and lay down clear guidelines of what constitutes torture.
DPA
Subject: German news