A/HRC/37/50/Add.1 Prisons and Detention Houses, individual complaints are the most important mechanism in place for the investigation of torture and ill-treatment, and a hotline has been put in place for families to lodge complaints. 27 In addition, officials reportedly screen open source material, such as reports by non-governmental organizations and media pieces, for allegations of ill-treatment, which is then treated like an individual complaint. 71. However, throughout his visit, the Special Rapporteur received consistent allegations pointing to a near-complete absence of complaints being submitted, transmitted or investigated by officials. In interactions with inmates, lawyers and civil society organizations, the Special Rapporteur was informed that most victims of torture or other forms of ill-treatment did not file complaints with the authorities for fear of retaliation against them or their families, and due to a deep distrust in the independence of the prosecution and the judiciary and — consequently — in their willingness or ability to adequately investigate and adjudicate claims. Moreover, many of those who had filed formal complaints reported that no follow-up had been undertaken by the prosecution and the judiciary. 72. Since 2012, the Constitutional Court has been able to receive direct complaints from individuals about violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms as guaranteed in the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols, provided that no effective remedy had been given by lower courts. Complaints of torture can also be lodged directly with the Constitutional Court if the prosecutor fails to initiate an investigation into torture allegations received. 73. The Special Rapporteur was informed that the Constitutional Court had received approximately 121,000 complaints in total since the introduction of this mechanism, and that it continued to receive approximately 20,000 individual complaints per year. Since the failed coup, the number of complaints had increased significantly, amounting to 69,752 individual petitions in 2016 alone. 28 By the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit, the Constitutional Court had reportedly issued 38 judgments finding a violation of the prohibition of torture (3 in 2014, 10 in 2015, and 25 in 2016).29 5. Lack of effective investigations into torture allegations, and impunity 74. The low number of investigations and prosecutions initiated in response to allegations of torture and ill-treatment seemed grossly disproportionate to the alleged frequency of such violations, indicating insufficient determination on the part of the responsible authorities to take such cases forward. 75. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, for example, advised that, from 1 January 2016 to 1 December 2016, only 24 law enforcement officers had come under suspicion of having committed torture, without a single one of those cases leading to an indictment.30 While about half of those cases were still pending, several of them had been dismissed for lack of grounds for legal action or for lack of jurisdiction. Of seven cases of suspected deliberate injury (not amounting to torture) in the same time period, only one had led to an indictment. Given the large number of allegations and of public reports about the prevalence of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup, it is troubling to see that, in one of the areas most affected by the attempted coup, only a handful of allegations appear to have been registered by the Prosecutor’s Office. Moreover, while the information available to the Special Rapporteur does not allow for any detailed review of individual cases, it appears disconcerting that, out of 31 suspected cases of torture or deliberate injury by law enforcement officers, only one single case would actually lead to the indictment and prosecution of the alleged perpetrator. 27 28 29 30 As communicated to the Special Rapporteur in a meeting on 28 November 2016. Figures provided by the Constitutional Court via the Permanent Mission of Turkey. Figures as per the Special Rapporteur’s meeting with representatives of the Constitutional Court on 28 November 2016. Statistics received from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 1 December 2016. 13