Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban were detained on September 11 by soldiers conducting an operation in the Çatak district of Van province in the east of Turkey.
According to eyewitnesses the two men were subjected to torture in the village square and then detained in a military helicopter. Other villagers who defied the detention were also threatened with death by the soldiers.
Relatives tried to find the whereabouts of the detainees but could not get an answer from the soldiers. When the relatives threatened to go to the press, an unnamed official told them that they are receiving treatment in the Van Regional Training and Research Hospital.
Later Servet Turgut ve Osman Şiban were found by their families at hospital under intensive care after they were thrown out of the helicopter by the soldiers. The families have applied to the Van Bar Association Human Rights Commission and filed a criminal complaint for manslaughter.
There have been numerous reports about the ill treatment to the Kurdish people by Turkish soldiers, and in recent months human rights violations and particularly the cases of torture in Turkey have increased.
We urge all human rights organisations not to be silent and stand up for the right to life and freedom from torture in Turkey.
