HDP Ağrı Deputy Diyet Dilan Taşdemir told ANF that arbitrary practices carried out outside are implemented in prisons without any limit.
Taşdemir pointed out that practices differ from prison to prison, and added that almost every prison in Turkey has its own autonomy. “Prisons are a structure that is not open to the public in any way, that does not respond to anyone. Even the Ministry of Justice does not make a statement on this issue, because it does not care about informing the public. They try to cover up the torture with the most usual explanations. “The only thing the Ministry of Justice does is to cover up crimes committed in prisons, whereas its main task is to prevent torture.”
Conquered rights cancelled
Taşdemir said that the government has usurped all the rights gained in prisons and continued: “All the rights of the detainees and convicts have been taken away. Prisoners are not even allowed to meet with their families. There is heavy isolation. Even prisoners who greet each other are punished. There are legally recognized rights and they have been so for a hundred years. Friends who are allergic to volatile substances are penalized for not buying those materials, fines are given for not opening their hands while walking. Kurdish politician Mukaddes Kubilay was supposed to be released on 4 August, but was not released due to disciplinary measures.”
Murders are covered
Noting that the murders in prisons were covered up as “suicide”, Taşdemir said: “These are not ordinary deaths. Prisons are extremely overcrowded. They want to break the will of the prisoners. Prison regulations are not enforced. We need to draw attention to the oppression in prison. We know that all provocations have been started in prisons in Turkey for the last 50 years. There is a new policy, a special approach. And this worries us all.”
Taşdemir added: “The current government does not recognize the law. People are left in torture rooms, rooms with sponges. There are images of it. Everything happens in front of our eyes. The prison administrations get their impunity from the government’s policies. Communication with prisons is very difficult. In the past, institutions, bar associations, supervisory institutions such as the IHD could enter prisons. The prisoners’ letters could reach us. Now everything has changed. We are not allowed to visit on site. We went to Patnos Prison and the administration did not meet with us. Families in prisons are trying to make their voices heard. When the prisoners expose these tortures, they are punished again.”
The Ağrı MP noted that they closely followed what happens in prisons and added: “We are taking the situation in prisons to the parliament. We are fighting this in the commissions of the Ministry of Justice. But there is a general lack of communication. It is no longer possible for us to reach a prison director, let alone the Minister of Justice.”
Source: ANF