'Police beating' of 14-year-old Kurd highlights claims of impunity in Turkey
Kurdish teenager allegedly assaulted and humiliated by officers in Diyarbakir.
ISTANBUL — Five police officers are being investigated following the kidnapping and beating of a 14-year-old Kurdish boy in Diyarbakir, in Turkey's southeast, during Nowruz celebrations last week, local officials said.
The incident again raises the issue of police brutality and impunity in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish-majority southeast.
The teenager, identified only as Y.D., was attacked on March 21, according to a statement from the Diyarbakir governor’s office. Prosecutors launched an investigation and four days later “a commissioner and four police officers … were taken into custody.” The five were suspended from duty.
Nahit Eren, chair of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, said Tuesday that a court had “unlawfully released” two of the officers under conditions of judicial control.
