HDP’s Prison Commission: 76 Prisoners on Hunger Strike

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Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) Prison Commission Information Desk has published a report on the hunger strike, which has been launched by the prisoners sitting in İzmir Şakran Prison arrested or convicted in the trials of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), suggesting the strikes has spread to other prisons as well.

In the report based on data acquired by HDP MPs, Human Rights Association (İHD), Initiative for Solidarity with Dungeons, Libertarian Jurists Platform (ÖHP) and Civil Society Association in Execution System (CİSST), the commission declared that in six different prisons, 76 prisoners 17 of whom are women, are on an indefinite and non-rotating hunger strike and in several other prisons definite and rotating hunger strikes have been going on since March 15.

How many prisoners on strike in which prisons?

According to the report, the prisons in which the indefinite and non-rotating hunger strikes continue and the number of days the prisoners carry out the hunger strike are as follows:

* 5 women prisoners from Şakran Hospital are on 44th day, 7 prisoners from Şakran T4 Prison on the 12th, 8 others on the 33th and 12 prisoners from Şakran T2 and T3 prisons are on the 47th day of the hunger strike

* 7 women prisoners from Sincan Women's Prison on the 39th day

* 10 prisoners in Tekirdağ Prison on the 26th day of the hunger strike

* 5 women prisoners in Tarsus Women's Prison on the 20th day of the hunger strike

* 10 prisoners in Bolu type-F Prison on the 6th day and

* 11 prisoners in Hatay type T Prison on the 3rd day of the hunger strike.

Arrested HDP MPs are also on hunger strike

HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and party's Hakkari MP Abdullah Zeydan who also went on a hunger strike due to "unlawful practices in Edirne Prison and no step being taken to stop hunger strikes" on March 31 had ended the strike on April 1 "within the scope of mutual commitments made with good intentions to solve the problems".

The report has informed that three more arrested MPs went on a hunger strike "since there had been no act of goodwill in 45 days for the prisoners since the beginning of their hunger strike. (TP/AS/DG)