The state of emergency, which put into force after the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, in Turkiye, have led to profound human rights violations said the United Nations Human Rights by the High Commissioner in a report released today. The UN has called Turkiye to end the state of emergency.

"Routine extensions of the state of emergency in Turkiye have led to profound human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people – from arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, to torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression," according to the report issued by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein argues that in Turkiye, nearly 160,000 people were arrested in the last 1.5 years and 152,000 public employees, many totally arbitrarily, dismissed.

The 28-page report also contains allegations the use of torture and ill-treatment in custody, including severe beatings, threats of sexual assault and actual sexual assault, electric shocks and waterboarding by police, gendarmerie, military police and security forces.

In the report, noted that the security forces in South-East Turkiye continued human rights violations processing in "heavy and serious". This included killings, torture, violence against women, the excessive use of force, destruction of housing and cultural heritage, prevention of access to emergency medical care, safe water and livelihoods, and severe restrictions of the right to freedom of expression.

Reaction from Turkiye to the UN

On the other hand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted strongly to the report. "The said text has no meaning, as it completely ignores the severe and multiple terrorist threats faced by Turkey and particularly, the effects on the protection of human rights of the July 15 coup attempt that targeted the survival of our country and the democratic life of our nation," read the report issued by Turkish Foreign Affairs.

The statement also accused the High Commissioner, said: "As it has become obvious from his previous statements, the High Commissioner, who signed this text, has lost his objectivity and impartiality on the issues concerning Turkey and he has developed prejudices against our country. The last text that he published contains unfounded allegations matching up perfectly with the propaganda efforts of terrorist organizations. This is an unacceptable situation."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the report "contains distorted, biased and incorrect information" and "the text is unacceptable". (ILKHA)