Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), Human Rights Association (İHD), Association for Assistance with Prisoners' Families (TUAY-DER) and Amed Bar Association announced the report on rights violations in prisons at the bar association building. The report released at the Bar Association building covered violations in prisons in Amed (Diyarbakır), Xarpêt (Elazığ), Meletî (Malatya), Erzingan (Erzincan) and Erzirom (Erzurum). 

 

CALL FOR LAWYER VISIT 

 

Amed Bar Association Chair Abdulkadir Güleç drew attention to Bahçeli's statements on the “right to hope”. Güleç stated that they found Abdullah Öcalan's meeting with his nephew Ömer Öcalan positive and said that they hoped for meetings with lawyers as well. 

 

MORE THAN 40 VISITS TO 20 PRISONS

 

Zelal Karabulak, member of the Amed Bar Association Prison Commission, stated that the report covers the visits and applications made in April-May-June-July. Karabulak stated that the report includes violations in Diyarbakır Campus (7), Elazığ Campus (5), Erzincan Type T Prison, Erzincan Type L Prison, Erzincan Women's Prison, Erzincan High Security Prison, Erzurum Dumlu Prisons No 1 and 2, Erzurum Oltu Type T Prison, Erzurum Type H Prison, Malatya Akçadağ Type T Prison. Karabulak also shared the information that more than 40 visits were made to 20 prisons. 

 

The findings in the report are as follows: 

 

DYARBAKIR HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO. 1 

 

* Requests were delayed in the infirmary and in transfers, which caused disruptions in the ongoing treatment of ill prisoners,

 

* Stationery products sent by cargo were not delivered to prisoners,

 

* Social activities are restricted due to lack of security, space and personnel,

 

* All prisoners who participated in the hunger strike were subjected to disciplinary penalties and were forced to be brought to the hearings on the grounds of failure to appear in court,

 

* Disciplinary penalties were given to prisoners due to actions initiated by prisoners due to isolation,

 

* Prisoners were unjustly transferred to provincial prisons far away from their families, prisoners were not allowed to take their belongings and the reasons for these transfers were not explained,

 

*It has been learned that 32 prisoners were hospitalized on July 23, 2024 due to food poisoning, and the processes were followed.

 

DI·YARBAKIR HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO 2

 

* Prisoners were not allowed to use the cooling system in their rooms due to the increasing heat, and their requests to buy air conditioners with their own means were rejected,

 

* The amount of food given to prisoners does not meet the portion size of a portion, the food given to prisoners is enough for 1 person in a room for 3 people,

 

* Prisoners' hospital transfer requests were made after months,

 

* Prisoners were prevented from sending letters/emails to other prisoners inside the prison,

 

* Prisoners' basic needs cargoes from their families were not given, kept waiting or delayed for unspecified reasons,

 

* Prisoners' petitions including their demands from the prison administration were not responded by the administration,

 

*Prisoners' rights to social activities were restricted on the grounds of open visit week, space problems, etc,

 

*Prisoners who used their right to protest the isolation in prison and did not appear in court, visit visitors and phone calls were subjected to disciplinary penalties and investigations,

 

*All prisoners who went on hunger strike by exercising their right to protest the isolation in prison were given disciplinary penalties, and after the appeals filed against these penalties, they were forcibly brought to the hearings of the Execution Judgeship in response to the protest of not appearing in court,

 

* While canteen prices were also above the foreign market prices, the products were increased twice in 1 week,

 

*It was stated that prisoners' right to communication was restricted due to high letter/cargo prices.

  

DIYARBAKIR TYPE T PRISON NO 1 

 

* Prisoners stated that there are no social activities in prisons due to limited facilities.

 

*We have learned that 76 prisoners were hospitalized with the complaint of food poisoning in Diyarbakır Campus Prison on May 13, 2024 and we have followed the processes.

 

DYARBAKIR WOMEN'S CLOSED PRISON 

 

* Prisoners stated that hygiene conditions were not complied with in the food, that the food had low nutritional value and was brought in oily form, that bullets were found in the collective food given to prisoners on May 1, and that prisoners filed a criminal complaint regarding the incident,

 

* Prisoners’ requests to meet with the responsible manager for internal problems were not accepted and they could not solve their problems,

 

* Prisoners were subjected to irregular searches when they entered and left the prison for court and hospital reasons, and were subjected to searches in such a way that they were subjected to strip searches,

 

* General room searches are carried out more than once a week and the belongings of prisoners are confiscated without any justification,

 

* Prisoners' books and magazines were confiscated and given to them even though there was no ban or other decision,

 

* The meals were prepared without paying attention to hygiene conditions and nutritional values, prisoners were poisoned due to the meals, prisoners were referred to hospital due to food poisoning,

 

* The contents of the letters sent by prisoners to institutions, their families and friends were censored and confiscated, for example, the sentence in a letter written to a deputy about prison conditions - the sentence in which they stated that they were poisoned by the food - was crossed out and censored,

 

* In the disciplinary investigations against prisoners, the observation board imposed disproportionate and unlawful solitary confinement penalties and these solitary confinement penalties caused prisoners to burn their executions,

 

* Prisoners were not allowed to use their rights to common sports or conversation, and the course hours started in the prison could not be utilized because they coincided with visiting hours,

 

* The prices of the canteen are higher than the foreign market, they were not given hygiene packages, only poor quality pads, prisoners who use these pads get sick; the administration can only give detergent to prisoners who have no money flow in their accounts,

 

* Prisoners stated that they were double handcuffed when they were transferred to the hospital, gendarmerie personnel were not taken out during the doctor's examination, prisoners were not taken to the prison for hours even though the procedure was completed, they were often kept waiting in the cage seat in the prison ring vehicles for hours, prisoners were taken to the prison according to the arbitrary of the personnel.

 

DUMLU HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO 1 

 

* Prisoners stated that the basis of the problems they experience in prison is structural problems due to the fact that the prison is a Type Y prison, and that the aggravated execution regime is applied to all prisoners regardless of the amount of sentence received,

 

* All prisoners are held in single cells except for the ill prisoners who are held in 3-person cells, and the prisoners in single cells built according to the module system are taken out for ventilation with 5 prisoners for only 2 hours a day,

 

* Prisoners were not allowed to benefit from social activities, they were taken to sports only for 1 hour a week, workshops were available but they were taken to an empty room for 1 and a half to 5 hours as a workshop, materials such as paintings were not given to them on the grounds that they were forbidden,

 

* Prisoners stated that the number of channels on television was increased, but there were no channels other than the channels determined by the administration, and that the channels requested were not accepted,

 

* Internal letters sent by prisoners to each other within the prison sometimes take 1 month, 40 days or 50 days to be delivered,

 

* The dental infirmary is inadequate and they wait in line for 3 months,

 

*Prisoners stated that the food is not in compliance with hygiene conditions and is bad, it is not satisfying and varied, the food is much worse on weekends, and the food and items requested from the canteen cannot be bought by the prisoners due to the high prices.

 

 

DUMLU HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO. 2 

 

* Prisoners stated that the basis of the problems they experience in prison is structural problems due to the fact that the prison is a Type Y prison, and that the aggravated execution regime is applied to all prisoners regardless of the amount of sentence received,

 

* All prisoners are held in single cells except for the sick prisoners who are held in 3-person cells, and the prisoners in single cells built according to the module system are taken out for ventilation with 5 prisoners for only 2 hours a day,

 

* The prison, which is architecturally designed according to the 3-storey module system, has cracks in the ceilings and for this reason, water drips from the ceiling even when bathing or cleaning, this situation disturbs them and shows that the prison is not earthquake resistant,

 

* Hospital referrals are delayed for 6-7 months, the decisions of the observation board, which is a prerequisite for ill prisoners to benefit from probation, are given negative decisions on the grounds that they are not in good behavior,

 

* The corridors are very dirty and this pollution causes infectious diseases,

 

* Prisoners were forced to undergo a strip search at the entrance of the prison and those who refused were subjected to this practice by force,

 

* Limited social activities due to lack of equipment,

 

* The queue in the infirmary was late, the number of prisoners was too high, prisoners were often told by the wardens that they had to write a petition again,

 

* Opposition newspapers and TV channels are not given to prisoners and requests are often not answered,

 

* The food is undercooked and unsatisfying, and the food and items requested from the canteen cannot be bought by the prisoners due to the exorbitant prices,

 

* They stated that in cases where the letters are not sent by registered mail, the families are not reached and therefore the sending of registered mail is indirectly compulsory and this situation puts economic pressure on the prisoners.

 

ERZURUM TYPE H PRISON 

 

* Prisoners cannot benefit from their rights to sports and activities, some rooms are given privileges in this regard,

 

* The petitions they wrote to the administration or the prosecutor's office were not processed, and the letters they wanted to send to the institutions about the prison conditions were not processed,

 

* Prisoners who do not speak Turkish could not carry out their transactions on their own, and their belongings were damaged during the search at the entrance of the prison,

 

* Foreign prisoners cannot carry out their transactions on their own and cannot use their rights since they are not informed,

 

* A seriously ill and elderly prisoner was held handcuffed for 5 days in the intensive care unit where was taken after surgery,

 

* Prisoners whose release is prevented are asked unlawful questions in the observation board and if the questions are not accepted, their release is prevented,

 

* They stated that the meals had no nutritional value and that the portions did not meet the portion size for one person.

 

ERZINCAN WOMEN'S PRISON 

 

* Prisoners are restricted in the hours they can be in a common environment with other prisoners since the prison structure is in the form of a module system,

 

* The prisoner who tried to express that did not speak Turkish was asked questions such as “why don't you speak Turkish, you have been in this country for 5 years, why didn't you learn, why did you join the organization”, was treated rudely because did not speak Turkish, could not express demands,

 

* Prisoners who were transferred were brought in a windowless, eight-person compartmented ring car with only a seat in the compartment, they were not told where they were brought until they arrived here, four prisoners were left in the ring car to different prisons on the way, and they were brought here together with four other prisoners,

 

* Prisoners who were transferred to the hospital were forced to strip search by the Gendarmerie personnel at the entrance and exit of the institution and therefore prisoners were not allowed to go to the hospital,

 

* They could not go to the hospital for more than 6 months due to irregular searches, one prisoner was beaten, another prisoner's hair was pulled, wrists were squeezed, body and mouth searches were made which amounted to harassment, they filed criminal complaints about this, for now their legal efforts have yielded results and they were able to go to the hospital,

 

* Prisoners' incoming/outgoing letters can be kept waiting for 4-5 months without any justification if they are in Kurdish,

 

* Routine room searches are conducted in a way to damage prisoners' belongings,

 

* They stated that letters written to official authorities are also passed through the reading commission and that letters sent by fellow prisoners from other prisons are either directly confiscated or most of them are censored.

 

ERZINCAN HIGH SECURITY PRISON 

 

* According to the estimation of the prisoners, there are approximately 110 prisoners in this prison and since March, many political prisoners from Patnos, Diyarbakır, Hilvan, Tarsus and Erzincan T and L Type prisons in the campus have been exiled here,

 

* Prisoners are held in single cells, the size of their rooms, including the kitchen and bathroom, is approximately 8x5 steps and the window is approximately 30x40 cm, the front of the window is closed with dense wires,

 

* That the ventilation hours are 1 hour, all prisoners who have been sentenced to time imprisonment and who have no disciplinary punishment of solitary confinement are executed in single cells, that there is no one except three or four people even in the same corridor, that they can go to ventilation with 2-3-4 prisoners in the same corridor,

 

* Although there are rooms for 3 people in the prison, everyone is forced to stay in a single room and their requests to move to a room for 3 people are constantly rejected,

 

* Prisoners who were transferred were not given their belongings in their entirety and therefore they had to shop for many items again,

 

* The number of books that prisoners can keep with them is 15, 3 of them can be taken from the administration's library, a prisoner can keep at most five issues of newspapers in his/her room, and they can take whatever they want, 

 

* They could not benefit from conversations, activities and courses in the common area with other prisoners,

 

* Room searches and general searches are carried out every week,

 

* There are two prisoners whose execution was postponed by the decision of the administrative observation board, but the observation board did not provide any justification,

 

* Foreign national prisoners who cannot contact with their families and cannot receive economic support are not allowed by the administration to be granted goods for the basic needs of other prisoners,

 

* They stated that many prisoners were sentenced to solitary confinement due to hunger strikes and other isolation protests, and that after being sentenced to solitary confinement, their televisions, radios, books and letters were taken away from them by the penal institution.

 

ERZIINCAN TYPE L PRISON 

 

* Prisoners stated that there were 8 rooms in the ward in Type L prison, 3 people in each room, and that there were 16 people in total in the ward where the interviewed prisoner was staying,

 

* The rooms have a double bunk bed system, downstairs there is a bathroom in the common area,

 

* That there were cameras in the corridor in front of the rooms and in the ventilation, that the ventilation doors were opened at 08.00 and closed at 18.30,

 

* That the phone booths were inside the ward and that they could use the phone for ten minutes a week,

 

* Letters and petitions to be sent to institutions and official authorities were not processed,

 

* Ward searches were conducted at least four times a month, the searches were carried out by distributing the belongings, with a lapel camera, and the small written notes taken from books were not allowed to be found in the room,

 

* Delayed referrals to hospitals, for example, a prisoner has been waiting for 2-3 months for a referral for neurology,

 

* That a prisoner can keep up to five books with him,

 

* Radio channels were limited, they could watch Parliament TV as they wished on TV channels, and their request for a movie from the Administration channel was not met,

 

* Prisoners were given the right to do 1 hour of sports once a week, and other than that, they were not given any course activity opportunity in the common area for 5 months,

 

* Prisoners stated that visitor visits are 45 minutes, prisoners are not allowed to hug even their own family members during visits, and they are not allowed to take food and drinks with them.

 

ERZI·NCAN TYPE T PRISON 

 

* Prisoners stated that there are an estimated 450 prisoners in this prison, that there is an increase in capacity in many rooms, and that transfers from Hilvan prison continue to come here,

 

* Prisoners are not given chairs according to the number of people in the room - on the grounds that they are not considered as fixtures

 

* The ventilation doors are kept open from 7.30 in the morning until sunset,

 

* The quota of books that a prisoner can keep with him/her is 7, 3 books can be taken from the administration's library, there are 52 channels on TV, newspapers are not given on time, not given at all during the 9-day holiday, newspapers are not given on weekends, newspapers have been censored for about 2 years, but censorship was reduced after complaints,

 

* Prisoners are given the right to exercise 3 times a month indoors and once a month in an open gym for 45 minutes, and there are no other activities for prisoners other than this,

 

* They stated that prisoners were given disciplinary penalties for 'silent resistance', a two-month ban on activities and communication penalties for their protests against isolation, such as not showing up for family visits and phone calls.

 

ELAZIĞ TYPE T WOMEN'S CLOSED PRISON 

 

* Prisoners stated that the prison was built as a Type T prison, that it was dominated by male prisoners, and that it was not suitable for women in any way,

 

* The vents are covered with grates,

 

* That the administration does not accept the prisoners' requests for meetings to express their problems in any way,

 

* Ward searches were conducted very frequently, many items taken for personal needs were not allowed, for example, even tweezers were confiscated,

 

* There are very few TV channels, only sports channels are available due to the high number of male prisoners in the prison,

 

* Low value and poor proportionality of meals in the meal portion,

 

* That there is an imposition of handcuffed examination in hospital examinations,

 

*Prisoners stated that the visiting hours were 45 minutes, however, open visits were held on Friday, and that the search of the interviewers was extended on the grounds of Friday prayers, and that for this reason, they spent their visiting hours.

 

ELAZIĞ HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO. 2 

 

* With the demand for 'Freedom for Mr. Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish issue', they have not appeared in courts, family visits and phone calls as of April 15, and with this boycott action, they protest the isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan by living with the same conditions,

 

* Prisoner Kendal Barut, who lost one eye due to shrapnel in the back of his eye, is at risk of losing the other eye, and since there is no hospital in Elazığ with the medical equipment to perform the surgery, he has not been referred to a hospital for treatment in Ankara and Izmir for 2 years,

 

 * Their hospital referrals were delayed for 4-5 months, and their health problems were aggravated due to the delay in their referrals,

 

* Courts, they were not allowed to chat with their families and boycotted phone calls by the decision of the observation board, and their right to exercise, which was 1 hour 1 day a week, was suspended during the weeks when there were open meetings,

 

* Prison administration told the prisoners who wanted to move to 'Independents' that 'we will check your sincerity for 2 months and accordingly we will separate your room' and this situation disturbed other prisoners in the same room,

 

* Prisoners were informed that only vegetables and fruits can now be requested from the external canteen, which used to repair watches and other items in previous processes, and for this reason, even items that require simple repair have to be bought again,

 

* Their requests to meet with the prison administration were not accepted, and their requests for room change etc. were also not accepted, as the administration did not meet with the prisoners, but only conveyed to the chief warder, but their requests were not accepted,

 

* There are restrictions on TV channels, books, magazines, etc. in prison, there are problems with publications, their communication with the outside world is restricted,

 

* Routine infirmary requests were fulfilled late, requests for transfer to other prisons were rejected or realized, room searches were frequently conducted by the administration

 

* Prisoners stated that they were sometimes asked to meet with other people in prisons under the name of lawyer visits and that they rejected this practice,

 

 * They stated that social activities and sports activities were again limited, restrictions continued despite the end of the pandemic, only once a week chat and sports activities were allowed, and activities were only allowed in certain rooms.

 

ELAZIĞ HIGH SECURITY PRISON NO. 1 

 

* Prisoners stated that room searches were conducted almost every week, sometimes twice a week, that their belongings were scattered during these searches and that the correctional officers behaved roughly,

 

* Prisoners stated that the newspapers they requested such as Yeni Yaşam and Evrensel were not given to them, that their requests to buy magazines from outside were rejected, and that only the magazines on the administration's lists could be requested,

 

* Disciplinary investigations were initiated against prisoners who went on hunger strike to protest the isolation, and petitions were written to the Ministry of Justice regarding the actions of “not appearing to court, family visits and phone calls” that continued after the end of the said strike action,

 

*Prisoners stated that courses were almost never opened; only some courses were opened from time to time, but the number limit was set by the administration. As a justification, the administration stated that public education informed them that there was a lack of personnel,

 

* In particular, their rights to sports and conversation are very limited; they are not allowed to exercise their rights to sports and conversation on holidays, public holidays and similar days, and they are not allowed to exercise their rights to sports on days of open visits,

 

* Kurdish books were not given to them, they were asked to pay for an interpreter for Kurdish books, the book limitation was generally set as 7 books and they had the right to change every 2 months, and when they wanted to send letters in Kurdish, they were prevented from doing so,

 

* The amount of hot water is limited to 50 liters and since there are 3 people in each room, the hot water limit of the room is 150 liters,

 

* A prisoner who is 70 years old and has severe health problems was denied a postponement of execution due to the negative report of ATK, and prisoners were referred to dental hospitals too late,

 

* Many prisoners' executions were extended unjustifiably with the decisions of the administrative observation board,

 

* They stated that before the hunger strike action that started on November 27, 23, the administration made statements such as 'we know what you are going to do, we are aware of it, what are you going to do, are you going to burn down the prison, are you going to take the staff hostage?

 

ELAZIĞ TYPE E SECURE CLOSED PRISON 

 

* A prisoner who was recently brought to the prison could not shop from the canteen on the grounds that there was no money in his account, although he had money in his account when he was first brought to the prison,

 

* Prisoners said that when they went to the shower to take a bath, the hot water was suddenly cut off; there was a prisoner who started a death fast because he was housed with forensic prisoners in the same prison,

 

* The interviewed prisoner was threatened with death by two prisoners in the room where he was kept; no action was taken against these people for these acts, the petitions he wrote for these complaints were torn by the execution guards in front of him and sometimes his petitions were not taken,

 

* The interviewed prisoner stated that he was discriminated against; sometimes he was not given food at meal times and his petitions for the canteen were not received,

 

* The prisoner was repeatedly subjected to violence in the room where he was kept; although he pressed the button in the room, the execution guards did not come, and prisoners requests to meet with the director about these problems were rejected every time,

 

ELAZIĞ TYPE R CLOSED PRISON 

 

* Prisoners in this prison are seriously ill prisoners, so they cannot do their bathing and personal hygiene on their own, and the patient caregivers make them take a bath almost once a month; The patient caregivers do not help them in this process and hygiene products are given to them less,

 

* In prison, the prices of the products sold in the canteen are not varied and they are sold expensive, although ill prisoners should eat the food specified in the diet list, they are given the same food as other prisoners,

 

*Prisoners were referred to hospitals but the results were not reported to prisoners,

 

* The attitude of the execution guards and the administration towards the prisoners was bad and different medicines were given to the prisoners instead of the medicines they were supposed to be given,

 

* Although a prisoner had a report on the use of a wheelchair, was not provided with this opportunity by the administration,

 

* In prison, normally the electricity fee should not be taken from the prisoners, but in prison the electricity fee is taken from them,

 

* Ill prisoners are subjected to torture and ill-treatment in prison; especially judicial prisoners face this practice,

 

* They stated that there was a TV in the prison but they were not given a radio.

 

 AKÇADAĞ TYPE T CLOSED PRISON 

 

* Prisoners are prevented from hobbies and chat rights; they go out for sports in a limited way, but they cannot benefit from sports activities in any way because the sports field is very dirty,

 

* Ventilation is substandard and too small,

 

* The examinations performed in the infirmary are very superficial and far from the necessary medical care, referrals to the infirmary and hospitals are kept waiting for long periods of time, and when referrals are made, handcuffed examinations are imposed, oral searches are performed on the way to and from the infirmary and hospitals, many prisoners who do not accept this practice are brought back to the institution without being examined, and the medication of prisoners taken to the infirmary is brought too late,

 

* Letters were sent late and the letters that came in were given to them late,

 

* As a result of disciplinary penalties imposed on very simple grounds, letter and telephone bans are applied very frequently, and the penalties imposed in the form of communication and not going to open meetings have turned into an indirect isolation,

 

* Items sold in the canteen are sold at exorbitant prices,

 

* They had problems with cleaning supplies, the items such as mops etc. that they had previously bought from the canteen were confiscated, and they were told that these items were forbidden,

 

* Food is very unhealthy, inadequate and bad,

 

* Every morning a search was made for counting and a report was made after the search,

 

* Searches are very frequent and detailed, that during the searches the guards were crowded, that all their belongings were thrown on the floor, that they were stepped on, that when their gloves were dirty they were given bread with the same gloves without changing them, that they could not eat the bread given in this state,

 

* They stated that some prisoners were not released and their executions were burned on the grounds that they were not in good behavior even though their sentences had expired, and that other sentences of prisoners whose sentences had expired or were about to expire were deliberately approved in a short time, thus preventing the release of prisoners.”

 

'PRACTICES MUST BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY'

 

Karabulak reminded legal and international legislation and demanded an end to violations of the prohibition of torture, the right to health and treatment, the right to liberty and security of person, freedom of communication and freedom of expression. Karabulak demanded that the practices in prisons that lead to violations of rights be immediately abandoned. “We call on the government to immediately initiate the necessary work to establish ‘independent’ national monitoring mechanisms in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” Karabulak said.