Pandemic in Turkey: ‘Social distance disappears in prison’

* Photo: Archive / AA

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Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch Chair Abdullah Zeytun and executive board members Ercan Yılmaz and Yakup Demir have made a statement about their visit to the Elazığ Campus Prison.

Paying a visit to the prison in Turkey's eastern province of Elazığ, the İHD officials met prisoners and the prosecutor of the prison, with whom they discussed the allegations of maltreatment in the prison and the necessary measures to be taken against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

'There are chronically ill prisoners in isolation'

The İHD officials' impression of the prison and the prisoners' complaints have been summarized as follows in the statement:

* In the Elazığ High-Security Closed Penal Institution, 12 prisoners have been infected with coronavirus. Among the prisoners isolated in different wards are also Mehmet Salih Erdem and Adnan Çakı, who have been in prison for a long time and suffer from chronic diseases.

* The care of the prisoners who show mild symptoms is afforded by the prisoners themselves.

* Prisoners have said that the handset of the phone used by prisoners is not regularly cleaned and that their wards are searched by nearly five wardens who do not pay attention to social distance rules.

* Prisoners have indicated that in a search conducted three weeks ago, prisoner Yusuf Acinoğlu was physically assaulted by wardens and they filed a criminal complaint about it by appealing to the prosecutor's office.

* Prisoners have said that they have obtained personal cleaning and hygiene products by their own means during the pandemic and they are not given razor to cut their hair or shave their beards due to the pandemic.

* Prisoners' right to do sports and participate in social activities in prison has reportedly been suspended for the same reason.

* Prisoners held in the Elazığ Women's Prison have complained that the food quality is poor, their time to spend in open air has been reduced by half and their right to call two different phone numbers for 10 minutes each has been changed as a right to call a single number for 20 minutes.

'Families and attorneys must be informed'

The statement of the İHD Diyarbakır Branch has listed a series of measures to take against the virus against the backdrop of these complaints.

The association has underlined that prisoners must be immediately provided with free cleaning supplies so that they can keep healthy and maintain both their own personal hygiene and the hygiene of the spaces that they share in prison. It needs to be ensured that the prisoners who cannot afford them have access to cleaning supplies and the areas used by prisoners must be disinfected everyday, the İHD has added.

The association has also raised concerns about the handcuffing of prisoners while they are being transferred from the prison to hospital. Indicating that it increases the risk of getting infected with the disease, the İHD has called on the prison administration to end this practice.

Noting that the limits on prisoners' right to make a phone call must be lifted and they need to be provided with the necessary conditions to do sports and engage in social activities, the statement has emphasized that the prisoners' allegations of maltreatment and torture in prison must be investigated and necessary action must be talen against the public officials.

"The public, primarily the families and attorneys of prisoners, must be regularly informed about the measures (to be) taken against the outbreak, quarantines and health conditions of prisoners in prison," the statement of the İHD Diyarbakır Branch has read further. (AS/SD)