‘Efforts to Reduce Prison Population Cannot be a Tool for Targeting Political Prisoners’

* Photo: Pixabay

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Turkey Director Emma Sinclair-Webb has released a written statement regarding government's plan to amend the law on execution and release as many as 100 thousand prisoners in order to prevent Covid-19 from spreading in prisons.

CLICK - 'Political Prisoners Should Not be Excluded from Prison Release over Coronavirus'

In her statement entitled "Turkey Should Protect All Prisoners from Pandemic," Sinclair-Webb has emphasized that "early release program should seek to lower the threat of coronavirus for all prisoners."

Referring to the program as "a welcome step", she has stressed that "there should be no discrimination on the basis of political opinion." "It is important that prisoners not serving time for acts of violence but instead jailed for little more than their political views can benefit," she has noted.

'Terrorism offense used for political ends'

Reminding that the amendment will reportedly exclude thousands of inmates on trial or sentenced for terrorism offenses of crimes against the state, she has shared the following comment:

"Terrorism may sound like the gravest of offenses, but in Turkey, the government misuses the charge for political ends.

"Many inmates are placed in lengthy pretrial detention or sentenced without evidence that they committed violent acts, incited violence, or provided logistical help to outlawed armed groups.

"Among them are journalists like Ahmet Altan, politicians like Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdağ, human rights defenders like Osman Kavala, and thousands of dismissed civil servants, teachers, and others punished for association with the Fethullah Gülen movement."

'It should be non-discriminatory and objective'

Within the above context, HRW Turkey Director Sinclair-Webb has said,

"All efforts to reduce the prison population at this time are welcome, but such measures cannot become a tool for targeting political prisoners.

"Parliament should reject any discriminatory exemption of terrorism prisoners and sick prisoners who have applied for postponement of sentences."

"It should make sure that decisions on early release of all prisoners are non-discriminatory – taking into consideration the imperative of protecting their health, particularly where there are risks due to age or underlying medical conditions – and objective, based on the risk prisoners may pose to others if released early." (SD)