A Turkish asylum seeker who says he was tortured and raped in his home country was recently denied protection in the United States by an immigration judge with an exceptionally low asylum approval rate, The Guardian [reported](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/turkey-us-immigration-asylum-denial) on Thursday.
The man, identified only by the initials “ES” to protect his identity, fled Turkey after facing persecution for his alleged ties to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by the late Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen.
Turkey experienced a coup attempt on the night of July 15, 2016 that killed 251 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government immediately pinned the blame on the Gülen movement, labeling it as a terrorist organization.
Although Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity, Erdoğan initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
ES was detained for more than two years, where he says he was repeatedly beaten and abused by Turkish authorities. After securing an appointment via the CBP One app at the US-Mexico border, he was detained in Texas while his asylum request was processed.
During his testimony before a US immigration judge, the Turkish asylum seeker described how he was tortured and raped while in custody in Turkey. He recounted being brutally beaten with a stick, repeatedly sexually assaulted and revived with a chemical substance only to endure more abuse over the next three days.
Despite his detailed account, Judge Veronica Marie Segovia dismissed his suffering as unrelated to political persecution, downplaying the severity of his experience.
She acknowledged the rape and beatings but suggested that his later treatment in prison was “not as bad” and did not amount to torture. According to the Guardian report, the judge even suggested that ES was detained on terrorism charges, so he couldn’t be seen as being persecuted for political reasons.
ES, who had already struggled to speak about his trauma, was left in shock as his asylum request was denied.
Segovia denied his asylum request despite the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) itself stating that he met the necessary requirements.
The Guardian found that Segovia has rejected more than 100 asylum cases and approved only one since her appointment in 2023, making her one of the strictest judges in the US immigration court system.
Legal experts have criticized the wide disparities in asylum rulings, noting that a judge’s background often plays a role in decisions. Segovia previously worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and as a district attorney in Texas.
ES’s lawyers have appealed the ruling, but his future is uncertain as he remains detained in the US. Meanwhile, his brother, who fled Turkey for similar reasons , was granted asylum in Germany.
Allegations of torture and mistreatment have become worryingly common in Turkey following the coup attempt, when thousands of people were detained and arrested on bogus terrorism or coup charges.
According to a report by the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, on his mission to Turkey from November 27 to December 2, 2016, “torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread” in Turkey. “\[T\]here seemed to be a serious disconnect between declared government policy and its implementation in practice,” the special rapporteur said.
The report found there were numerous consistent allegations received by the special rapporteur in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup in 2016 and that torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread.
The special rapporteur heard persistent reports of severe beatings, punches and kicking, blows with objects, falaqa, threats and verbal abuse, being forced to strip naked, rape with objects and other sexual violence or threats thereof, sleep deprivation, stress positions and extended blindfolding and/or handcuffing for several days, according to the report.