‘A Mask is Sold for 17 Lira in Prison’

* Photo: Ayaş Open Prison / AA

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Law and Human Rights Commission member and İstanbul MP Züleyha Gülüm has made a statement for the press to raise concerns about the problems faced by prisoners in Turkey during novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

In her statement, Gülüm has referred to the problems and solution offers in the "Covid-19 Prison Monitoring Weekly Agenda" of Human Rights Association (İHD), Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), MED Federation of Associations for Law and Solidarity with Families of Arrestees and Convicts (MED TUHAD-FED), Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD).

The MP has also criticized the recently enacted law on criminal enforcement, which has excluded political prisoners from early release.

'No hygiene products, disinfection only for show'

Züleyha Gülüm has shared the following problems from prisons:

There was a serious problem with disinfectants in prisons. While some prisons have not been disinfected at all, it is done for show in some others. Hygiene products have not been given at all or they have been given in limited amounts.
These products are either overcharged in some prisons or when convicts want to buy them from canteen, they are told that there are not left any, so they are not sold at all.
In several prisons, convicts are not let out to get fresh air. Masks and gloves are not distributed. As it took only one minute for the personnel to disinfect the wards in some prisons, prisoners ask how disinfection can be completed in such a short time.
Wards are overcrowded. In some prisons, only liquid soap is handed out. Prisoners are not given wet wipes, eau de cologne or gloves.
There are problems with prisoners' access to hot water in some prisons. In some others, it is difficult to find potable water. Because the water pouring from the tap is dirty.

'They are not given hot, clean water'

Prisoners in Düzce Type T Closed Prison say that they are not given hot and clean water, even the soap that they bought from the canteen has been taken away from them and the sick people are not taken to the sickroom or hospital.
In Kandıra No. 2 Type F Prison, only a soap was given as a cleaning product in the first days of the outbreak. Prisoners are not given cleaning or hygiene products.
Disinfectants are bought from the canteen for a fee. They are also very expensive and bad, they do not really serve disinfecting functions.
Gloves are not available at the canteen, a mask is sold for 17 lira (~$ 2.5). That is why, no cleaning is done in prisons. Sickrooms and referrals have been suspended.

'Arrest is an exception, prisons must be evacuated'

Gülüm has expressed the following recommendations and requests:

"The solution for these problems in prisons is, in fact, quite clear and obvious. What needs to be done first is to put an end to the unequal discriminatory regulation imposed by the Law on Criminal Enforcement as soon as possible, to urgently convene the Parliament and to introduce a new legal arrangement that will ensure the release of all political prisoners.

"Seriously ill prisoners, those aged over 60, pregnant women and the ones who have their children with them and especially child arrestees and convicts need to be released as soon as possible.

"Similarly, considering that they are especially at risk, the requests of the ones on a death fast for their right to a fair trial should be accepted and they should be released as soon as possible. Arrest is an exception, prisons should be evacuated by using judicial control methods.

"Prisoners should be provided with cleaning products urgently and these products should be given free of charge. Because charging prisoners a fee, in fact, means that they are denied their right to health.

"Shared spaces in prisons must be disinfected every day, prison wards should be cleaned regularly, prisoners should be given vitamin supplements and it needs to be ensured that they have a balanced diet, which is one of the most urgent requests.

"Hygiene rules must be observed for everyone who will enter the prison. No matter who enters, these measures must be strictly implemented. All personnel working with prisoners should be given protective equipments and clothing and the working conditions of all prison personnel, especially the ones at a higher risk, must be improved as well." (AS/SD)