The Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir (Amed) Branch recently visited the prisons in Diyarbakir and Elazig (Xarpêt) in order to monitor the ongoing problems directly and to prepare a report. During the visit, the lawyers spoke with the prisoners, listened to the violations they experience and heard their demands. Despite the ongoing process, the conclusion reached during these visits was that chronic problems in prisons continue in a systematic manner, and that serious rights violations are also taking place in prisons other than Elazig and Diyarbakir.
Yusuf Erdoğan, lawyer and Co-Spokesperson of the IHD Central Prisons Commission, who took part in the visit, stated that prisoners face problems in communication, in access to healthy food, hygiene, and in hospital referrals, and that even sick prisoners are not released despite medical reports. He emphasised that everyone bears responsibility for the resolution of these problems and underlined that the IHD will make the necessary applications. With the words “Sick prisoners must not become the subject of bargaining in this process,” he called for the unconditional release of sick prisoners.
Erdoğan stated that the IHD has been monitoring prison conditions for a long time and said, “There are problems in Turkey’s prisons that have not changed for years and have now become chronic. Observation boards, the Forensic Medicine Institute and administrative obstacles prevent prisoners from accessing even their most basic rights.”
Hospital referrals are being delayed
Erdoğan said that the primary problems experienced by sick prisoners are obstacles to access to treatment and to release. He stated: “Prisoners struggle to be referred to hospital, and when they are referred, they are subjected to handcuffed examinations. Sometimes they cannot access their medication, sometimes their treatment is postponed for months. This is no longer an exception, it has become systematic.”
Erdoğan also stressed that the report procedures of the Forensic Medicine Institute constitute a serious barrier to release and added: “Even if a prisoner receives a report from a fully equipped state hospital stating that they cannot remain in prison, this is not considered sufficient. A second report is requested from the Forensic Medicine Institute. Even when the Forensic Medicine Institute issues a positive report, there are seriously ill prisoners who are still not released on the grounds of whether they ‘pose a threat to public safety’ under Law No. 5275. This is now a clear violation of the right to life.”
There are many complaints from R-type prisons
Erdoğan pointed out that the Elazig Campus Prison is one of the specific examples in Turkey and said: “The ‘R Type’ prison in Elazig is defined as ‘rehabilitation type.’ In other words, seriously ill prisoners are supposed to be held in conditions suitable for treatment. But what we saw in our visits is that these conditions are not provided. Prisoners who use wheelchairs face serious difficulties due to inadequate elevators, unsuitable beds and lack of hygiene. There is almost no companion assistance offered by the staff. R Type prisons are not places for patients to recover, they are places for them to be forgotten. We receive a great number of complaints from these prisons.”
Social isolation is being deepened
Erdoğan stated that similar problems continue in Diyarbakir Prison and said: “Since the pandemic period, we can say that collective activities in Diyarbakir and surrounding prisons are either not held at all or are seriously restricted. Activities in shared areas, such as sports, courses and cultural activities are completely banned in some locations. This deepens the social isolation of prisoners. We have also received a great number of complaints that prisoners are not given Kurdish-language newspapers, magazines and even books. This is a clear violation of freedom of expression and the right to language.”
Dental treatment is not being provided
Erdoğan also stated that there are serious disruptions in dental treatment and general health services in both Elazig and Diyarbakir prisons: “Prisoners reported that dental treatment has been delayed for months, and that in some prisons the waiting period extends up to six months. This situation is exhausting both physically and psychologically.”
Y type and S type prisons are contrary to human dignity
Lawyer Yusuf Erdoğan said that the S Type and Y Type high-security prisons, whose number has increased in recent years, bring with them a new system of isolation: “In these prisons, prisoners are held in single or double cells. Contact with other prisoners and even with correctional officers is reduced to the minimum. Shared spaces are almost non-existent. The courtyards are built in a ‘pit-type’ form, they do not see sunlight. The architectural structure itself is contrary to human dignity.”
Women’s demands are not being met
Erdoğan said that women prisoners have been demanding, for a long time, the removal of cameras placed in private areas, but this demand still has not been met. He stressed that women’s specific needs are not provided free of charge and on a regular basis, and that in children’s prisons children are deprived of education, social support and psychological services.
Prisons are implementing a policy of systematic isolation
Erdoğan stated that the state’s presentation of the construction of new prisons every year as a form of “service” creates a misleading perception: “New prisons are constantly being built, yet the number of prisoners does not decrease on the contrary, capacity is constantly being exceeded. This shows that penal and criminal policy in Turkey is founded upon punishment. The state says: ‘We built prisons, this is a service,’ but this approach is contrary to human rights. Prisons neither rehabilitate nor reintegrate people into society. On the contrary, they push people into a process of systematic isolation and decay. As the IHD, we believe that the concept of ‘rehabilitation’ that is being put forward in prisons is entirely contrary to human rights.”
Source: ANF News
