Following the "credible evidence" provided by Amnesty International on the torture and mistreatment of alleged coup-plotters in Turkey, The Associated Press' Cinar Kiper and Elena Becatoros report that, tucked in the back corner of a construction site for a new dog shelter in eastern Istanbul lies a freshly dug, unmarked grave — the first in the new "Traitors' Cemetery," created specifically to hold the bodies of coup plotters who died in the July 15 abortive putsch.

In the week following the attempted coup in Turkey, which killed about 290 people, the municipality announced it intended to set up a cemetery specifically for those involved — people that officials have branded as traitors undeserving of a proper burial. About 24 coup plotters are believed to have been killed that night.

Authorities would "reserve a spot and call it a traitors' cemetery. Passers-by will curse them," Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas said in remarks carried by the Dogan News Agency. "May every passer-by curse them and let them not rest in their tombs."

The creation of the cemetery comes amid a widespread crackdown in the aftermath of the coup.