‘There are 1,333 Ill Inmates in Prisons, 457 of Them in Critical Condition’

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The Human Rights Association (İHD) Central Prisons' Commission has released a statement about the number of ill prisoners across Turkey.

According to the statement of the association, there are 1,333 ill inmates in prisons across Turkey. 457 of these prisoners are seriously ill.

Speaking to bianet, lawyer Zeynep Ceren Boztoprak from the İHD Central Prisons' Commission has explained how they collected this data and prepared a report based on it as well as what problems they encountered during the process of data collection on ill inmates.

Last year, the İHD announced the number of ill prisoners as 1,154.

The most recent information shared by the Ministry of Justice regarding the issue dates back to February 2017. Releasing a statement in that period, the Ministry announced that the number of arrestees and convicts whose illnesses were documented with a Forensic Medical report reached 841.

Bekir Bozdağ, the then Minister of Justice, also stated that 2,300 people lost their lives in prisons from 2009 to October 2016.

'State of emergency lifted, but its practices established'

Lawyer Boztoprak has elaborated on how they reached information about ill inmates in following words:

"We are collecting data through the applications made to the İHD. We also pay regular visits to prisons in accordance with the decision of Central Executive Board. During these visits, we receive regular information about the condition of ill prisoners from prisoners themselves.

"We raise our concerns about the situation of an ill inmate in our weekly F sit-ins. It is also a sit-in protest being held for a long time. We get detailed information from the families of inmates and inmates themselves for that reason as well. Prisoners also send us letters about their conditions."

Boztoprak has also stated that though they have always experienced problems, especially regarding letters being sent by inmates, the difficulties have increased during the State of Emergency and its aftermath:

"Even though the State of Emergency has been lifted, since state of emergency practices have become established with law, letters do not reach us as fast as they are supposed to.

"Prison administrations act more harshly in disciplinary investigations, letters sometimes do not reach us due to frequently imposed communication bans."

'Prisoner returned without attending visitation'

Stating that they do not have any problems in meetings between prisoners and lawyers, Boztoprak has also referred to a practice introduced after the onset of hunger strikes:

"In prisons where there are hunger strikes, they have introduced a new practice: When a prisoner meets his or her lawyer, their video footage is taken and a prison warden accompanies them. Since the prisoners do not want to meet in this way, we cannot meet them."

Concluding her remarks, Boztoprak has also recounted an incident that she herself witnessed in Gebze Women's Closed Prison:

"The prisoner came and returned by saying she did not want to meet under the surveillance of a camera. We could not do the visitation." (AS/SD)