Hunger Strike in Van Prison

12 inmates from Van High Security Prison have launched a hunger strike, demanding improvement in medical treatments and food service - a protest that reached its 8th day.

Ayça Söylemez

12 inmates from Van High Security Prison have launched a hunger strike, demanding improvement in medical treatments and food service. The protest eached its 8th day.

Hunger strikerers who convicted of being a PKK and KCK member, said they were determined to continue their protest until their demands are met.

The names of the hunger strikerers were as follows: Nazım Kaplan, Cihan Yaşar, Sürmeli Eşsiz, Necip Özdil, Caner Doğan, İbrahim Şen, Memduh Özdemir, Rıdvan Turan, Zeki Kurt, Furkan Aslan, Aziz Temel and Erdem Aktı.

"The negotiations with the prison administration is still underway and we are hoping to get a positive outcome soon," Ömer Işık from Human Rights Foundation, told bianet.

He added that inmates complaint on insults, threats and arbitrary room searches which occurred several times during a day. They complain that guardians disturbed them during family visits and badly treated their visitors.

Some of the demands that hunger striker inmates included the improvement of conversation hours, prevention of arbitrary room searches, edible quality food service, more regular hospital transfers, non-abuse of social activity rights and lifting of disciplinary penalties on 150 inmates who knocked on cell gates to protest right abuses.

Exile after earthquake

Addressing bianet's inquiry on the conditions of prisons in Van after the earthquake, Işık claimed that officials used the earthquake as an excuse to relocate some inmates to other prison though most prisons weren't damaged.

"They are not back yet and no repairs were made so far." (AS/BM)

hunger strike inmate rights

Ayça Söylemez

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Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü mezunu. Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans yaptı. Marmara Üniversitesi İletişim Bilimleri’nde doktora yapıyor. Vatan, Akşam, HaberTürk ve Hürriyet gazetelerinin yazıişleri ve dış haberler bölümünde çalıştı. Güncel Hukuk dergisinde yazıları yayınlandı. BirGün’de Anonim adlı köşeyi yazıyor. 2011’den bu yana bianet’te İnsan Hakları Editörü.