REUTERS: ISTANBUL - The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Turkish police had abused two teenage girls suspected of supporting Kurdish separatism and authorities had failed to investigate their complaints properly.
Judges found credible the claims that Nazime Ceren Salmanoglu and Fatma Deniz Polattas, who were 16 and 19 at the time, were physically and sexually abused when police arrested them in 1999 during an operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), according to a statement from the court.
The abuse included sodomy and forced virginity tests, which violate conventions against discrimination, the statement said.
Turkey has vowed to wipe out torture to meet European Union membership criteria on human rights. The European Commission said in its annual progress report it was "concerned" about an increase last year in the number of complaints of abuse. >>> © Thomson Reuters 2009 | Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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