‘Aysel Tuğluk, hundreds of ill prisoners left for dead in Turkey’

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A statement for the press was held in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır amid public outrage at the suspicious death of Garibe Gezer in Kandıra Prison and the deteriorating health condition of former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Aysel Tuğluk.

The statement took place in front of the Diyarbakır Bar Association and it was attended by the HDP, Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Peace Mothers and Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD).

Death of Garibe Gezer

In their joint statement yesterday (December 15), the groups underlined that even the most fundamental rights are suspended in prisons.

"In a period when even the most valid humane principles, let alone international law, are suspended, Garibe Gezer was killed. After being held in a cell in the Kandıra No. 1 Type F Prison for 33 days, she was taken to a cell alone," the statement recalled, briefly adding:

"Her petitions to stay with her friends were left unanswered. What they call a cell is a distant, isolated area which is deprived of all types of signs of life and which is, in Garibe's words, full of excrements.

"She objected to staying in this cell, which tried to kill her physically, spiritually and mentally, and she tried to express her objections by hitting the door. After she did this, she was threatened and dragged on the floor naked; she was kept waiting in a padded cell for four hours.

"Taken to the cell again after the padded cell, Garibe was sexually assaulted by personnel. Garibe was full of life. Even though she said she was fine in her last phone call with her family, she is not here today.

"We have lost Garibe as a result of the penal execution system, which is established with the aim of full isolation and killing every day, and its practices and as a result of the physical-sexual assaults."

The statement also recalled that the lawyers who wanted to follow up the incident to find the responsible parties were faced with obstacles in entering the prison: "Whatever is hidden is the liable one."

Health condition of Ayse Tuğluk

In their joint statement, the groups also raised concerns about the deteriorating health condition of jailed politician and ill prisoner Aysel Tuğluk, who is also held in the Kandıra Prison in Kocaeli province:

"Her lawyers announced that Aysel Tuğluk is having a memory loss. Even though the serious health problems of Tuğluk were reported in the press for months, the government closed its ears. However, according to expert reports, this illness is an obstacle to Tuğluk's imprisonment.

"Though Tuğluk's illness has progressed, the Forensic Medicine Institution says, 'She can lead her life alone.' As we know from the previous processes, this attitude of the Forensic Medicine Institution is political.

"It is to such an extent that ill prisoners either leave prisons in coffins or they lose their lives a few days after their release. Hundreds of ill captives like Aysel Tuğluk are not released and they have been left for dead in prisons on the grounds of partial Forensic Medicine Institution reports.

"We call out from there: Aysel Tuğluk or all other captives are not alone. There is a powerful women's organization behind them. Women's solidarity and unity will keep on defending the politics of keeping alive." (RT/SD)