Turkey Admits Some Inmate Torture Deaths

Authorities admitted Saturday that some prisoners have been tortured to death, but they said the number is lower than that alleged by Amnesty International.

In a report published last month, the London-based human rights group accused Turkish authorities of routinely torturing political detainees since martial law was imposed in 1980.

Amnesty International said it gave the government a list of 239 men and women alleged to have died from torture and ill-treatment while in custody.

A Foreign Ministry statement said an investigation into 146 of these cases showed that torture was suspected in the deaths of 32 detainees or prisoners in the past eight years.

The ministry said 10 of the people cited as dead by Amnesty International are still alive and that others had died of natural causes, suicide, effects of hunger strikes or in shoot-outs with security forces.

Trials in 14 cases have resulted in convictions of 57 people on charges of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, the statement said.

The ministry added that all allegations concerning human rights violations in Turkey were examined “meticulously.”