As part of the Human Rights Week, Amed (Diyarbakır) Bar Association, Amed Association for Assistance to Prisoners' Families (TUAY-DER), Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) and Human Rights Association (İHD) Amed branches announced the report on rights violations in prisons in Kurdistan. The report was announced in front of Diyarbakır Campus Prison with the participation of the chairs, co-chairs, members and executives of the organising institutions and their members.

 

THREAT OF INVESTIGATION AGAINST KURDISH SONG

 

The report announced by lawyer Ahmet Güler, Secretary of the Prison Monitoring Commission of the Amed Bar Association, includes the rights violations detected during visits to prisons in November and December. 

 

The report stated that in Diyarbakır High Security Prisons No 1 and 2, Type T Prisons No 1 and 3 and Women's Closed Prisons, the Administrative and Observation Boards imposed "remorse" on prisoners who were about to be released. The report stated that in these prisons, prisoners' hospital transfers were delayed and they were threatened with investigation if they sang Kurdish songs. The report stated that in the same prisons, the number of activities was reduced on the grounds of austerity measures, and even if the number of prisoners was sufficient, they were not allowed to participate in sports activities on the grounds of low numbers. According to the report, certain TV channels are allowed in these prisons and the belongings of prisoners who were previously detained or convicted in the prison are sold to other prisoners as second-hand products.

 

RELEASE OF PRISONERS PREVENTED IN ERZINCAN

 

It is stated in the report that many prisoners in High Security, Type L, Type T and Women's Closed Prisons in Erzincan Campus Prison were prevented from being released on the grounds that they are not in "good behaviour" although they completed their sentences. It is stated in the report that in these prisons in Erzîncan, hospital transfers take long periods of time, and when transfers are made, prisoners are forced to be examined in handcuffs and prescribed medication is given too late. It is emphasised in the report that in these prisons, prisoners are banned from letters and phone calls on the grounds of disciplinary penalties given on simple grounds, and it is underlined that these penalties turn into indirect isolation with this method which is applied very frequently. In the report, it was stated that the food in Erzîncan is bad, room searches are carried out frequently and in detail, belongings are scattered, and prisoners' hobby and chat rights are prevented.

 

STRIP SEARCH IN ERZURUM PRISONS

 

The report stated that in Erzurum Dumlu No 1 and 2, Type H High Prison, strip searches were imposed at the entrance of the prison. It is emphasised in the report that there are many ill prisoners in Erzurum prisons and their hospital transfers are made too late, their infirmary requests are not responded or delayed, and it is stated that the Administrative and Observation Boards evaulate the good behaviour of prisoners with questions that are far from objective critera and are not legal. It is stated that in the report that prisoners' requests for transfer to places close to their families in these prisons were rejected without any justification, the administration forced the prisoners to stand up for a year, but this practice has been abandoned for a while, letters were arbitrarily censored by the letter reading commission and the letters did not reach their recipients. 

 

NO RELEASE FOR ILL  PRISONERS IN ELAZIĞ PRISONS

 

In the report, it is stated that ill prisoners in Elazığ Type T High Security Prisons No 1 and No 2, Type T High Security Prison and Type R Closed Prison were not released despite the "cannot stay in prison" reports, hospital transfers were delayed, health personnel ignored their complaints and prisoners were subjected to discourses unworthy of human dignity, and complaints about this issue did not yield any results. In the report, it was emphasised that in Elazığ prisons, prisoners with disabilities were not given orthopaedic beds even though they were in the warehouse, ill and disabled prisoners should be assisted by patient carers especially in bathing etc. but this was not respected. It is stated in the report that in these prisons, prisoners were poisoned due to foods, their requests to go to the infirmary were not accepted, an investigation was initiated against a prisoner because he/she told this situation to his/her family, and that the wards were cold and the request to increase the temperature was rejected on the grounds of saving. In the report, it was stated that in the said prisons in Elazığ, frequent room searches were carried out and their belongings were scattered during the searches, sports activities were not carried out and their requests for courses etc. were not fulfilled, and their requests for joint activities were not met.

 

'SPECIAL SEARCH TEAM' IN MALATYA PRISONS

 

In the report, it was stated that although prisoners in Malatya Akçadağ Type T Closed Prison completed their execution process, their executions were prevented down completely on the grounds of cell punishments, letters were sent late and the letters they received were sent late, and Kurdish letters were censored on the grounds that there was no translator. In the report, it was stated that in Akçadağ Type T Closed Prison, some personnel under the name of "special search" team carried out subtle and harrasing searches in the rooms, that they behaved insultingly during the searches, that notebooks, diaries and story books were confiscated, and that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against those who objected. It is stated in the report although the objections made to the execution judgeships against this situation were accepted, the confiscated books and notebooks were not returned to the prisoners. It is also stated in the report that the prisoners were allowed to do limited sports, workshops and courses were not allowed by the administration, the products sold in the canteen are very expensive, the food had low nutritional value and was bad. 

 

SUGGESTIONS AND REQUESTS

 

The report made the following suggestions and requests for the elimination of rights violations.

 

"* Isolation applied to prisoners as a method of torture must be abolished immediately.

 

* It is necessary to ensure prisoners' right to access to health, to give importance to preventive health services, and to take necessary measures to ensure that ill prisoners benefit from treatment opportunities.

 

* The treatment of ill prisoners must be carried out urgently and the legal and other obstacles to the release of all ill prisoners, especially the seriously ill prisoners who cannot survive in prison due to their illnesses, must be removed.

 

* Again, in order to ensure timely treatment of prisoners, hospital referrals should be made without delay and hospital appointments should be made as soon as possible.

 

* The unlawful practice of handcuffing prisoners during hospital transfers and medical examinations should be immediately abandoned.

 

* The execution regime legislation and policy in Turkey must be harmonised with international human rights law and prisoners' rights in particular.

 

* In prisons, disproportionate interventions to prisoners' right to respect for their private lives should be avoided, frequent room searches should not be carried out in a way to disturb the prisoners, the personal belongings of prisoners, books that are not subject to a confiscation order should not be confiscated during searches, and the confiscated items should be returned to the prisoners within a very short time.

 

* Restrictive decisions taken by the administration regarding publications such as newspapers, books and magazines within the scope of prisoners' right to receive news and communicate with others must be cancelled immediately.

 

* As a requirement of the right to petition and the right to information, petitions and letters written by prisoners must be delivered to the addressee.

 

* The practice of censoring letters sent by prisoners, especially Kurdish letters, must be immediately abandoned.

 

* The food served in prisons must be of high nutritional value, in sufficient quantity to feed the prisoners and meet the daily rations.

 

* Prisoners' access to clean and healthy water is a requirement of the right to health and the right to protect one's material and spiritual existence. For this reason, measures must be taken to prevent water cuts and lack of hot water in prisons.

 

* The products in the prison canteen must be revised according to market prices and the variety of products in the canteen must be increased."