Hundreds of people, intellectuals, politicians, artists across the world has signed a letter to Prime Minister R.T. Erdoğan and Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ to underline the plight of 544 ill prisoners in Turkish jails with 163 in critical condition.
Among the signatories are Prof. Noam Chomsky, Prof. Immanuel Wallerstein, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Selahattin Demirtaş, Co-chair of Peace and Democracy Party, Oscar Olivera, several EMPs, British lawyers Frances Webber, Margaret Owen OBE, Gareth Peirce, Louise Christian, Sinn Fein Pat Sheean MLA and Conor Murphy MP, G. M. Tamás, Philosopher, a former member of the Hungarian Parliament, Jacques Gaillot, Catholic Bishop.
The letter read as follows:
“There are 544 prisoners critically ill in Turkish prisons according to reports of the Human Rights Association İnsan Hakları Derneği (IHD) and Türkiye Insan Haklari Vakfi (TIHV). 163 of them are in life-threating conditions. The Minister of Justice recently stated that 2300 prisoners had died in the last 13 years.
“Turkish prisons are in general extremely inhuman. After a recent amendment of the custody law passed in January 2013 chances for ill prisoners to be released have decreased even more. Political prisoners suffering from health problems have in fact no chance to be released, because they are charged under the controversial “Anti Terror Legislation”. "
“According to this legislation political prisoners can be termed a threat to public security, which prevents their release. In addition the law established in January 2013 indicates that forensic institutes make the decision whether the prisoners are released. But the forensic institutes are well known for being politically biased.
"The Turkish Human Rights Association, Bar Associations and the Medical Association (TBB) have denounced this practice. - said the letter adding that "Opposition politicians have made proposals for improvement of legal regulations in parliament, but they have not been approved until now".
“The imprisonment and abuses of critically ill persons violate the ‘Right to life’ and the ‘Prohibition of Torture’ regulations of the ‘European Convention of Human Rights’. The inhuman conditions in Turkish prisons must be improved. Human rights abuses are not tolerable. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Turkey in many cases.
“The signatories are asking Prime Minister R.T. Erdoğan and Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ, as a first step to take all possible measures to ensure the release of all critically ill prisoners in Turkey". (MA/EKN/BM)
* Click here to see the list of petition signers.
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
