Humanitarian disasters in Erdogan’s prisons… Naked inspection, water and food prevention, disease outbreak

Turkey’s prisons are witnessing serious violations against prisoners by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has recently intensified, especially with the coronavirus crisis, to the point of naked searches and deprivation of water and food.

Naked inspection Scandals in Erdoğan Prisons

A report prepared by the Human Rights Inquiry Commission and the Sub-Commission on the Rights of Sentenced and Prisoners revealed serious violations of the conditions of prisoners in the Turkish prisons of Van Izmir Ali Aga and Manman, the most prominent of which is the continuation of naked inspection of prisoners.

“Prisoners in Turkey have difficulty accessing hot and cold water, are given unhealthy food, and prisoners are handcuffed with handcuffs while being transported to hospitals, regardless of their health status”.

“Prisoners” requests to change rooms are denied, their pleas are not answered, and they are continually exposed to the use of psychological violence, with prisoners complaining they have not been allowed to see anyone for 18 months.”

Lack of human dignity

Prisoners revealed that they were prey to prison guards who would address prisoners in a way that dehumanized human dignity, sometimes to the level of threat.

The abuses have led to people being kept in the cell once they have arrived in the institution with a forced referral and being held there for several days without access to cold water.

Coronavirus Conditions Deteriorate

During the coronavirus pandemic, the report revealed a lack of healthcare as there were problems with access to health service and dentist visits in general, meeting only an emergency physician, and one of the wards had scabies, but they were not transferred to the doctor.

Also because of the pandemic, convicts and detainees were not allowed to use funeral leave, and the practice has caused abuse.

Despite this, 26 people are in a single cell with only 14 capacity, the prisoners have difficulty accessing medication, and the detainees right to vote has been ignored. Those who had the right to vote were not allowed to vote.

During the first quarter of this year, a previous report of the Prisons Committee of the Association for Human Rights-Istanbul Branch revealed 1233 violations of rights, the most significant of which were the continued torture and ill-treatment of prisoners through physical assault, threats, beatings, searching cells during raids, violations of the right to health care and treatment, prohibition and arbitrary practices.

He continues: all social rights in prisons were abolished under the pretext of the Corona epidemic, where isolation and segregation have intensified, while appropriate measures concerning the disease have not been taken, leading to a significant increase in the number of cases.