Turkish Medical Association meets Parliamentary Human Rights Commission

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Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı met Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission Chair Hakan Çavuşoğlu and Director General of Prisons and Detention Houses Yunus Alkaç yesterday (February 17).

The main issues on the agenda of the meetings were the violations of rights reported to the TTB from prisons across Turkey.

During the meetings, Prof. Korur Fincancı mentioned a series of problems reported to the TTB such as "the belated referrals to hospitals during the pandemic; spending 15 days in small and stuffy isolation cells upon returns from hospital; the inadequacy of Forensic Medicine Institution reports in deferring execution of ill prisoners' sentences; restrictions on ill prisoners' access to healthcare services, routine health checks and medication; forcing prisoners to undergo medical examination in handcuffs; the inadequacy of nutrition, cleaning and sheltering measures in prisons..."

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Korur Fincancı said that they also receive several complaints about unfavorable conditions during transfers from one prison in one city to the one in another and the violations of rights caused by prisoners being forced to move away from their private belongings and relatives.

Noting that they wrote to the Ministry of Justice about the violations of rights several times before, TTB Chair Korur Fincancı noted that all types of violations of rights are closely followed by the TTB.

Speaking about the meetings, Çavuşoğlu and Alkaç said that the applications are taken into consideration and they will show the necessary sensitivity. (RT/SD)