The Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch Prison Commission identified over 5,000 violations in released its 2025 “Marmara Region Prisons Rights Violations Report.”
The report's findings was shared with the public yesterday at a press conference held at the association’s office in İstanbul. Semiray Yılmaz, a member of the İHD İstanbul Branch Prison Commission, first took the floor and outlined the rights violations recorded throughout the year. Gülseren Yoleri, a member of the İHD Central Executive Board (MYK), then assessed the findings presented in the report.
Prison population
According to the latest data from the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (CTEGM), as of Dec 1, 2025, the number of prisoners stood at 433,543. As of Jan 2, 2026, this figure decreased to 402,014, of whom 338,109 are convicts, 63,905 are pretrial detainees, 18,946 are women, 4,421 are children, and 6,433 are over the age of 65. In 403 prisons with a total capacity of 305,286, there are currently 96,728 prisoners above capacity.
Applications were submitted to the İHD by detainees or convicts held in prisons where rights violations occurred, either by letter or fax, or by their families and lawyers via phone, email, or in person.
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Number of applications
There were 13 applications to the İHD in January, 15 in February, 8 in March, 15 in April, 18 in May, 19 in June, 18 in July, 15 in August, 26 in September, 13 in October, 18 in November, and 16 in December. A total of 194 applications were recorded, including 161 from prisons in the Marmara region and 33 from prisons outside the region.
Of these, 34 were submitted by women prisoners, 157 by men, and 3 by LGBTI+ prisoners. Twenty-nine applications came from inmates imprisoned for ordinary criminal offenses, while 165 were from those jailed for political reasons. Seven applications were submitted by migrant prisoners.
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In addition to 843 violations identified through media monitoring, İHD documented 4,086 violations in 194 applications from Marmara region prisons. These included 355 in January, 438 in February, 59 in March, 292 in April, 390 in May, 373 in June, 379 in July, 297 in August, 506 in September, 115 in October, 341 in November, and 557 in December.
A total of 5,283 rights violations
In applications from prisons outside the Marmara region, 22 violations were identified in January, 54 in February, 13 in March, 36 in April, 47 in May, 41 in June, 31 in July, 37 in August, 41 in September, 6 in October, 9 in November, and 4 in December, totaling 341 violations.
Thus, the total number of violations identified through applications reached 4,427.
Rights defenders reported that, in addition to the 4,427 violations identified through applications, including 4,086 in Marmara region prisons and 341 in prisons outside the region, a further 843 violations were identified through media monitoring, bringing the total number of violations recorded during the reporting period to 5,283.
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Most applications concern ill-treatment
The report stated that 34 percent of the documented violations involved torture and ill-treatment, 17 percent concerned violations of the right to communication or isolation and the right to health, 14 percent related to access to food and basic necessities, 6 percent involved violations of the principle of equality in the execution of sentences, 2 percent concerned access to justice, and 1 percent involved violations of the right to life.
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It also recorded 30 violations related to the right to life, 766 to the right to health, 631 concerning access to food and basic necessities, 1,502 involving torture and ill-treatment, 99 related to access to justice, 255 concerning the principle of equality in the execution of sentences, 1,134 involving obstruction of communication or isolation, and 10 related to hunger strikes, which prisoners resorted to as a last measure to prevent violations.
'Overcrowding remains a problem'
Assessing the data, İHD Central Executive Board member Gülseren Yoleri drew attention to the increasing number of prisoners in each reporting period:
“As of Jan 2, 2026, we see that there are a total of 402,014 prisoners in prisons. Compared to the December data, there appears to be a decrease of 31,529. This is related to the release of some individuals due to sentence reductions for certain criminal offenses within the scope of the 11th Judicial Package. However, the overcrowding problem still persists as a serious issue.
“Although no increase was indicated in January, we still see that there are 96,728 prisoners above capacity. This is a very important figure showing that the problem of overcrowding cannot be resolved solely through sentence reductions. The density in prisons aims to punish society and to exert pressure by spreading fear, accompanied by increasing rights violations.”
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Eighteen prisoners died
oleri stated that violations of the right to life continue and said they were able to identify the deaths of 18 prisoners. She noted that this figure is likely far below the actual number.
“Of these deaths, 9 were recorded as suicides, 5 as heart attacks, and 2 as suspicious deaths. These rights violations also affect suicide cases. We also know that some cases that should be recorded as suspicious deaths are instead classified as suicides. This is striking in that it shows deaths occurring in prisons as a result of lack of access to health care, psychological pressure, and attacks on the right to life.”
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'Increased sentence extensions'
Yoleri also criticized the decisions of Prison Administration and Observation Boards, which have frequently been debated since Jan 2021.
“In line with the evaluation reports of these boards, we are reporting on the problems experienced in conditional release, probation, or transfer to open prisons," she said. "We collect all of these issues under the heading of violations of the principle of equality in the execution of sentences. We see a particular increase in this area.
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“These violations also cause prisoners to feel a sense of helplessness. When they object to these violations, file complaints, or submit petitions to claim their rights, they are unfortunately treated not as victims or rights holders, but as offenders. Disciplinary investigations are launched against them.
“Due to disciplinary investigations or the sanctions imposed on these grounds, such as solitary confinement, communication bans, and restrictions on correspondence, prisoners’ lives are pushed into even deeper isolation and confinement. As a result, prisoners are effectively deprived of any mechanism through which they can voice their demands and seek their rights.”
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(AB/VK)
