"The symbol of the Violence in Prisons: Şakran Prison”

In their joint declaration today (April 28), Juvenile Prisons Must be Banned Initiative and Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) demanded the audit of the prisons by the independent institutions and the urgent ban of the juvenile prisons.

The declaration emphasized that the officials who are responsible from the violation of rights in Şakran, should be investigated efficiently and tried.

“Having widespread media coverage ever since it’s opening, the Aliağa-Şakran Prison is the leading prison among the all other prisons in which systematic oppression and torture are applied. Aliağa-Şakran prison has become the actual address of torture, oppression, violence and abuse.

“During the audits of human rights associations, lawyers, bars, and MPs, the evidences of oppressions were found.

The letter of the women prisoners

The prison recently has come to the fore with the letter of women prisoners.

The declaration addressed to this letter as well.

“According to the letter sent by imprisoned women in Şakran prison, due to being pregnant, two girls under the age of 18 exposed to the confinement torture despite having acute pains; being a non-sane, a woman prisoner was exposed to torture and made to sleep with unknown pills.”

Also, the letter stated that a woman prisoner were kept in a cold cell alone due to self-harm, and exposed to torture by scalding.

Auditing the prison upon the letter, the lawyers from Contemporary Lawyers Association and Libertarian Lawyers' Association pointed out that “women prisoners are treated badly, and not transferred to hospital; women, who have to be in prison with their children, are forced to make baby food with cold water and are not provided heaters.”

Abuse of rights

In the declaration, several examples regarding the abuse of rights in Şakran were provided. Some of them are as below:

* The prisoners, who were transferred from other prisons, were subjected to the strip search forcibly in the entrance.

* The prisoners, who protested the strip search and unlawful treatments, received disciplinary punishments. Also they punished with 20-days solitary confinements.

* Upon the talks of the lawyers with the children inmates it’s revealed that; previously suffered from sexual abuse in Pozantı Prison, the children inmates, who relegated to Şakran Juvenil Prison, also exposed to the same sexual abuse and physical oppression in Şakran as well.

* In the report issued regarding Şakran Women Prison on 01/01/2015 upon the appeal of the human rights’ organizations, lawyers’ associations and women prisoners, it was stated that the women prisoners are exposed to strip search, these searches are done by oppression, personal stuffs, letters and photos are damaged, the women suffer from sexual abuse during the strip search.

* It’s found that “preventing sleep", a method which is recognized as a torture by European Court of Human Rights, were applied, and the psychology of the prisoners were damaged.

Infiltrating the press, the internal correspondence of the prison on February 2015 revealed that the children sexually abuse and use violence to each other, and especially weak children are exposed to any kind of oppression and abuse. (YY)

* Click here to read this article in Turkish.