Report by Aysel Tuğluk Solidarity Group: 'Let her live'

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The Aysel Tuğluk Solidarity Group has released a report documenting the legal and medical processes concerning former Vice Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and ill prisoner Aysel Tuğluk, who has been behind bars in Kandıra Prison since December 28, 2016.

Offering an overview of Tuğluk's profile as a politician, lawyer and rights activist, the events surrounding her mother Hatun Tuğluk's funeral when she was behind bars, the legal and medical processes with reference to the pertinent agreements and declarations and the current number and condition of ill prisoners in Turkey, the report concludes:

"Aysel Tuğluk is in prison due to a violation of the freedom of expression, which should be under constitutional guarantee.

"The report of the Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine clearly states that Aysel Tuğluk cannot be treated under prison conditions and that the execution of her sentence must be postponed.

Tuğluk is not able to care for herself and provide for her daily needs. The release of Tuğluk in order to continue her treatment under conditions that safeguard her right to live and be medically cared for, is not only a necessary condition for the fulfilment of international agreements of which Turkey is party, but also a human necessity.

Details about the medical process

The report released by the Aysel Tuğluk Solidarity Group addresses the medical process concerning her illness in prison in two parts, first in the context of the report issued by the the Kocaeli University and the second with reference to the report of the the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution:

• Medical process I - The Kocaeli Faculty of Medicine, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine pronounced that "the execution of the sentence should be postponed."

"The administration of the Kocaeli 'F-type' high security prison, appealed to the Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, asking whether the postponement of the execution of Tuğluk's sentence was necessary or not.

"Nine specialists from the departments of forensic medicine, psychiatry, neurology, internal medicine and cardiology, after examining Tuğluk, submitted their signed report No. 2021/974 on July 12, 2021.

They said 'the dementia diagnosed in the patient is of a chronic nature; it will progress; medical follow-up should be performed at a tertiary medical institution; the medical support and care available under prison conditions would probably not be sufficient and give rise to problems; it is impossible for the patient to live without the help of someone else, she cannot cope with necessary everyday personal needs under prison conditions, and therefore it is necessary for the execution of her sentence to be postponed.'

"After this report which was made public in July, both Tuğluk's attorneys and the prison administration demanded that she should be referred to the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine (ATK).

• Medical process II - ATK Report

"The report No. 15686, drafted by the Institute of Forensic Medicine on September 3, 2021 maintained that Tuğluk could 'manage her daily needs by herself and could continue with the execution of her sentence under prison conditions with treatment and periodic clinical controls...'

Kocaeli Prosecutor's Office refused the demand for the 'postponement of execution of sentence," basing their decision on the report of the 3rd Specialized Board of the Institute of Forensic Medicine (ATK).

'ATK Supreme Board should examine her'

As indicated by the Solidarity Group in the report, after these two reports were issued, "Tuğluk's attorneys applied to the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV-HRFT)."

The report (2021/084R) of the HRFT, submitted on September 30, 2021, found that there were contradictions between the reports of the Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine and that of the 3rd Specialized Board of the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The report further indicated that the patient should be forwarded to an authoritative and independent medical institution so that the contradictions can be resolved.

The application made to the ATK Supreme Board has not yet been answered, notes the Aysel Tuğluk Solidarity Group.

Events sorrounding her mother's death 

Before moving on to share details about the legal and medical processes of Aysel Tuğluk, the report also gives an account of the events surrounding her mother Hatun Tuğluk's death as "Reyhan Yalçındağ, Aysel Tuğluk's attorney, stresses that the chain of events which led to Tuğluk's loss of memory have to do with the attack on her mother's funeral." 

The report recounts these events briefly as follows:

"Aysel Tuğluk's mother, Hatun Tuğluk 78, passed away on September 13, 2017 in Ankara. The next day, the mother's remains were taken to the Ergazi Pir Sultan Cem Evi (Alevi assembly house), in order to be laid to rest in the Incek cemetery after the funeral ceremony.

"However, a racist mob attacked the mourners with sticks and stones, shouting 'There are martyrs' bones here, we will not allow a terrorist's burial,2 and 'This is not an Armenian cemetery'.

"In the face of such threats as 'If you bury the remains, we will exhume them and tear them to pieces,' Hatun Tuğluk's body was removed from the grave and transported to Dersim for burial.

"Tuğluk, who had 48 hours of leave from the prison where she was being held, had to witness this insult to her mother's remains under the surveillance of two police officers. She was unable to proceed to the funeral in Dersim due to the trauma she suffered because of this attack.

"The Minister of Interior, Süleyman Soylu, posed for a photograph with Murat Alp, who was involved in the attack. A court case was brought against 19 persons who had attacked the funeral, shouting 'We will not allow an Armenian to be buried here.' Three of the accused were put under custody, however they were released at their first hearing.

"Reyhan Yalçındağ, Aysel Tuğluk's attorney, stresses that the chain of events which led to Tuğluk's loss of memory have to do with
the attack on her mother's funeral.

She says, 'We followed day by day how this trauma permanently affected Aysel Tuğluk and how she could not dissociate herself from this experience. We were in fact being witness to this tragedy simultaneously with the prison administration and personnel. We saw how grave the situation was becoming. Aysel Tuğluk saw, heard and witnessed all this."

(SD)