'Announce the extent of the pandemic in Turkey's prisons'

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Ten institutions have released a joint statement expressing their concerns about the extent of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in prisons, urging the Ministry of Justice to make a statement.

In their statement, the institutions have reminded the public that since the first case in Turkey was announced on March 11, a total of three statements titled "PENAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROCESS" have been published by the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (CTE) in March 2020, November 2020 and February 2021.

'How many prisoners treated, how many died?'

The joint statement made by the ten institutions is as follows:

"Since February 22, 2021, there have been serious changes in the coronavirus picture in Turkey. The daily number of COVID-19 cases shared by the Ministry of Health was 8,000 in February and exceeded 60,000 in May. In this process, Brazil, England, and India variants were detected in Turkey, and many changes were made in practice throughout Turkey.

"Despite all these changes, the CTE has made no public statement since February 22 about what measures were taken in practice, how many prisoners got the PCR test, how many prisoners tested positive, how many prisoners were treated in the hospital, and how many lost their lives.

"Although vaccination has started at the beginning of 2021 throughout Turkey, the public has not yet been informed about how many prisoners have been vaccinated by the CTE. In the applications made by NGOs to obtain information about how many prisoners have been vaccinated, no answer was given but a general response that said that prisoners over 60-years-old and with chronic diseases were vaccinated.

"In this process, both the press releases and the applications made to non-governmental organizations deepen the concerns about the increase in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in prisons."

The questions asked to the Ministry of Justice are as follows:

• In which prisons of Turkey did prisoners get the PCR tests and how many prisoners got the test?
• In which prisons of Turkey did prisoners test positive for the virus and how many prisoners tested positive?
• In which prisons of Turkey have prisoners been hospitalized for COVID-19 and how many prisoners have been hospitalized? 
• In which prisons of Turkey have prisoners been treated in intensive-care units due to COVID-19; what is the number of these prisoners?
• In which prisons of Turkey did prisoners lose their lives due to COVID-19 and what is the number of the deceased prisoners?
• In which prisons of Turkey did prisoners lose their lives due to outbreaks other than COVID-19 and how many prisoners?
• In which prisons of Turkey have prisoners got the COVID-19 vaccine; what is the number of vaccinated prisoners?

The institutions that have signed the statement are:

Civil Society in the Penal System (CISST) Association
Contemporary Lawyers' Association (ÇHD) Central Office
Rights Initiative Association
Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch
İstanbul Chamber of Dentists
İstanbul Medical Chamber
Lawyers Association for Freedom
Healthcare and Social Service Laborers' Union İstanbul Branches
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV)
Foundation for Society and Legal Studies

(AÖ/DCE/SD)