While it was expected that violations in prisons would end and legal regulations would be made for releases as part of the Peace and Democratic Society Process initiated under the leadership of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, violations continue in prisons. At Urfa No. 2 T-Type Prison, one of the prisons where serious rights violations occur, prisoners and visitors are subjected to strip searches, transferred to other prisons, and their releases are delayed. 

 

Ahmet Taş stated that the impression that there has been positive development in prisons since the start of the process does not reflect reality. Emphasising that the extensions of sentences and rights violations are much more severe than what is reflected in the public sphere and are continuing to increase, Taş pointed out that deportations, burning of sentences, strip searches and practices targeting ill prisoners have become a systematic policy. Taş stated that the current situation in prisons does not correspond with the rhetoric of peace and democratisation.

 

Ahmet Taş, drawing attention to the recent decline in the number of prisoners in Riha prisons, stated that this was not a positive development as portrayed to the public, but rather a result of prisoners being transferred to different prisons. Taş noted that releases were being blocked and rights violations in prisons were continuing. 

 

RELEASES OF ILL PRISONERS ARE BEING DELAYED

 

Taş said that no concrete steps had been taken regarding the situation in Turkey or regarding prisons, noting that these problems had also occurred last year. Taş said: "The biggest reality in Turkish prisons is ill prisoners. Obstacles to the release of ill prisoners continue. As far as we know, there are at least 9 ill political prisoners in Urfa Prison at the moment, six of whom are in serious condition. Despite this, no release procedures are being carried out, and no positive discrimination is being applied to ensure that these individuals are separated from other prisoners due to their illness. On the contrary, the sentences of sick prisoners in particular are being extended."

 

STRIP SEARCHES ARE BEING NORMALISED

 

Taş also drew attention to the long-standing practice of strip searches in prisons, stating that all attempts to address this issue had been unsuccessful. Taş said that the prison administration and members of parliament had raised the issue with the Ministry of Justice, but no positive response had been received. Taş said that the report they prepared on strip searches was also sent to the prosecutor's office, but no progress was made. He stated that strip searches were being carried out on political prisoners and noted that another part of the problem was that the guards were uninformed and untrained. 

 

Taş stated that, in addition to strip searches of prisoners, relatives visiting them were also subjected to naked searches, saying, "In recent days, Mehmet Serhat Polatsoy's son, Tekoşin Şoreşker, went to visit his father and was also subjected to a naked search. Information we have received indicates that relatives of prisoners visiting this week have also been subjected to searches that amount to strip searches."

 

RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE INCREASING

 

Referring to other problems at Riha Prison, Taş said that political prisoners had been moved but their belongings had not been returned for nearly a month and a half. Taş added that releases had also been postponed, saying, "This regime of punishment in Turkey has turned into a hell, especially for political prisoners. Recently, the release of Hakkı Polat from Urfa T-2 Prison was postponed. Similarly, the releases of Mehmet Yazar and Ahmet Tüneli, who has been imprisoned for 30 years, were also postponed in recent days."

 

Taş said that prisoners reported being subjected to political questioning by the Administrative and Observation Boards. Taş concluded: "Although there appears to be a moderate political climate outside in Turkey, the reality in prisons does not correspond with this moderate democratic wind at all. Human rights violations here are increasing."

 

MA / Melik Varol