ISTANBUL - Human rights defencers say the first step in the new process must be the release of ill prisoners. 

 

While Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's "Call for Peace and Democratic Society" is still on the agenda, the state has not taken any steps yet. Human rights organizations are claling for the release of ill prisoenrs as a first step in the process. 

 

According to IHD data, there are at least One thousand 517 ill prisoners in prisons, 651 of them seriously ill. According to IHD, at least 50 prisoners lost their lives in 9 months of 2024. 

 

Gulseren Yoleri, Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul Branch Chair, stated that ill prisoners must be released first in the new process. Stating that democratic and human rights demands are important in the resolution processes, Gulseren Yoleri said, "The state also needs to take steps. Because this process is also an ongoing process with the initiative of the state. We want the problems regarding rights and freedoms and ill prisoners to be solved. As human rights defenders, we state that human rights must be taken as a basis. But first of all, we want vital problems to be solved."

 

'ILL PRISONERS MUST BE RELEASE'

 

Gulseren Yoleri stressed that the health condition of ill prisoners is too urgent to be used in this process and that they must be released as soon as possible. Gulseren Yoler said, "The President uses his authority in a discriminatory way. He used his authority for the Sivas massacre and Hezbollah defendants. However, he did not use this authority for other prisoners. Everyone unjustly imprisoned must be released. In this process, there is a need for a legislatve change regarding ill prisoners. Ill prisoners have fundamental human rights that cannot be utilised in these processes. Therefore, they should be taken under legal guarantee."

 

 

Gulseren Yoleri stated that the Institution of Forensic Medicine (ATK) gives pro-state reports on the health problmes of prisoners and added, "The impartiality of the ATK is a matter of debate. Because the reports are prepared by experts affiliated to the Ministry of Justice and paid by the state. Therefore, it is very likely that it will carry out policies in parallel with the state's policies. Again, when we look at the criterion of 'public safety', let's say the ATK gave the report 'He cannot stay in prison'. This time the Execution Prosecutor's Office asks the police and says, 'If I release this person, will public security be threatened or not?' The Execution Prosecutor's Office makes its decision based on the answer given by the police. The most striking example here is Abdullah Turan. Although the ATK reported that he should be released, he was not released for months. Turan was seriously ill and paralysed from the neck down. For such a person, the police wrote a report stating that he 'threatened public security'. He was held in prison for months. Therefore, it is seen that the ATK and the 'threat to society' criterion were evaluated in a very biased manner."

 

MA / Ömer İbrahimoğlu