ANKARA - Rights Violations Monitoring Coordination stated that prisoners' rights to access to health care, freedom of expression, communication and social rights are violated in Sincan Prison Nos. 1 and 2, which violates the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. 

 

Central Anatolia Regional Prisons Rights Violations Monitoring Coordination announced the report it prepared after its investigation in Sincan High Security Prison No 1 and No 2. Coordination announced the report at a press conference organised at Human Rights Association (IHD) Ankara Branch. On 12 March, IHD member lawyer Barış Barışık announced the report and stated that prisoners in prisons are subjected to severe isolation conditions. 

 

Barışık stated that prisoners were denied access to health services, their social rights were restricted and their freedom of expression and communication rights were violated. Stating that one-to-one interviews were made with prisoners

during the visit, Barışık listed the violations detected as follows:

 

"*All prisoners in high security prisons are subjected to the execution conditions applied to aggravated life imprisonment convicts regardless of the type and duration of their sentence,

 

*Prisoners are taken to ventilation alone, ventilation rooms are not common, other rooms are located in distant blocks, ventilation hours are restricted in violation of the legislation, lights are switched on every hour after dark in prisons, counts are taken every hour and prisoners are taken to ventilation under isolation conditions, this situation violates the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture,

 

*The physical structure of the wards is in an architecture that prevents air and sunlight from entering, the conditions are made unbearable for the prisoners with the installation of wire fences at a frequency that prevents air and sunlight from entering, this situation affects the physical and mental health of the prisoners and violates the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture,

 

*Mithat Öztürk and Bakican Işık have been on hunger strike for 56 and 112 days respectively in Sincan High Security Prison No 1 and Ali Aracı and Ali Hasan Akgül have been on hunger strike for 51 days in Sincan High Security Prison No 2 demanding the closure of high security prisons called ‘Well Type’ which violate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment with their architecture and execution regime,

 

*Prisoners were not referred to hospital at all or were referred with delay, there was no physician or specialist physician regularly in the prison infirmary, dental treatments were not performed, medicines were not provided, dietary nutrition requests were not met, even in emergencies, prisoners were taken to hospital by a ring car instead of an ambulance, The negative conditions of the ring vehicles and prisoner wards in the hospitals, the fact that sick prisoners are forced to travel in handcuffs and continuously in the ring vehicles, and that these situations violate the right to health and the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture,

 

* Doctors from Sincan Training and Research Hospital serve in Campus Hospital on certain days of the week, the absence of doctors from Campus Hospital not only prevents continuity in health service but also eliminates the possibility of quick access to the right to health, although there are 3 dental clinics in Campus Hospital, it is not acceptable that most of the prisoners cannot receive dental treatment, because of all these, prisoners' right to health is violated, 

 

*The food provided is not in sufficient quantity, canteen prices are exorbitant and the products are of poor quality, they are forced to use plastic utensils as they are not allowed to use metal spoons, forks and plates, therefore their right to nutrition and right to health are violated,

 

*Books and letters printed in Kurdish were confiscated and books in Turkish were not given to prisoners because of ‘objectionable’ sentences in their content, even though they were not banned, and prisoners' freedom of communication and freedom of expression were violated by this unlawful practice,

 

*Prisoners were not allowed to use their chat rights properly, their workshop rights were not recognised, their workshop, sports and chat rights were not used during open visit weeks and they were not compensated at another time, social rights were prevented and social isolation of prisoners was caused,

 

*Prisoners' privacy is violated due to the presence of cameras in the 3-person rooms which can see the living area,

 

*It has been determined that prisoners, whose only thing they can do against prison problems is to protest, have been subjected to disciplinary proceedings by ignoring their right to protest, and that the acts carried out against ill-treatment and torture conditions, which are legitimate defence and justified actions, are considered as crimes and their freedom of expression and other related rights are violated by disciplinary penalties."

 

DEMANDS ARE CLEAR 

 

Stating that the coordination will continue its visits and will follow the violations of rights, Barışık listed their demands as follows:

 

"*The sensory, social and physical isolation policies applied to prisoners must be ended immediately and living conditions suitable for human dignity must be provided,

 

*All structural and administrative barriers to access to health services must be removed,

 

*Arbitrary disciplinary penalties must be ended; protest and expression rights must be respected,

 

*Access to broadcasting and communication tools in all languages, including Kurdish, must be guaranteed,

 

*Effective supervision and regulation mechanisms should be established for execution practices and administrative observation board decisions that deepen segregation,

 

*It must be ensured that independent organisations can inspect prisons; transparency in this field should be established,

 

This report reveals the point reached by the high security prison regime in Turkey and the dimensions of this regime that ignore human dignity. We call on all relevant public institutions, especially the Ministry of Justice, to put an end to all these rights violations and to ensure effective administrative and criminal mechanisms against those responsible. We announce to the public that we will ensure conditions worthy of human dignity in all prisons, especially in Sincan High Security Prisons, and that we will follow the violations."