Person with autism tied up in care home's garden

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The hands of a person with autism were tied up behind his back with his clothes in a care home in İstanbul. With his hands tied to a bench in the garden of the care home, he was left there in that state.

While the incident happened in the İstanbul Care Rehabilitation and Family Consultation Center in Pendik district, the scene was captured by the mothers of other persons staying in the care home.

Speaking to bianet about the incident, lawyer and CEVİZ AUTISM Research and Social Defense Association Secretary General Deniz Yazgan has said that she spoke with some of the families and she was informed by the families that who did this was a care worker and an administrative investigation has been launched against him or her.

When we called the rehabilitation center, they said that they could not give information about the issue.

'He was putting his hand in his mouth'

Lawyer Yazgan has also indicated that the families talked to the institution officials and the person who was responsible for care put forward some reasons, first saying that the person with autism "had been throwing his excrement" and then, "he was putting his hand in his mouth."

"The care center where persons with autism aged over 18 are admitted is a public institution organized in a ward-like manner. Those who stay here stay together and do activities. As it is a care home providing this service in the city, it has a long waiting list," Yazgan has said.

"As families cannot find a regular school or an institution that will offer behavioral therapy for their children and as they cannot afford the private ones, they want to send their children to this care home when they are over 18. And there is a problem of vacancy," the lawyer has added.

'When they cannot tell, it ends in non-prosecution'

Deniz Yazgan has underlined that there cannot be any reason that would justify tying up a person like this, protesting that it is legally and psychopathologically unacceptable. "Mothers can sometimes shy away from filing a complaint, fearing that their children can be expelled from school," lawyer Yazgan has said and added:

"In complaints in such cases, it ends in non-prosecution when the persons with autism staying in the care home cannot tell what they went through. Those who did it deny it. When there is no medically detectable mark or evidence, such practices end in impunity. There is an aggravated impunity.

"It is an institution that aims to care for the individuals with autism who have mental retardation and/or behavior disorder. As it is an institution where there are persons with autism who have difficulties in toilet or sexual training, we are constantly getting news about violence. Most of the criminal complaints are pending an investigation for a long time and the majority end in non-prosecution. The inability of persons with autism to express themselves in words is considered to be a lack of evidence."

'Aggravated torture of a person with disability'

Lawyer Yazgan has also noted that, from a legal perspective, what is seen in the video is "aggravated torture" of a person with disability and whether his family allowed it or not will not change anything.

Yazgan has stressed that the responsible parties must be investigated for the incident: "If this is within the family's knowledge, then, they should also be put on trial. While there are numerous alternatives in the doctrine, rear-handcuffing must not be accepted."

'Several of them are tied up inside'

Ayfer Özdemir, one of the mothers whose children stay in the center, has spoken to bianet about the issue and said that persons with autism staying there are subjected to violence, adding that it is not the first incident of "tying up." "Several of them are tied up inside," Özdemir has told bianet.

Özdemir, who also previously spoke to bianet about the violence suffered by his son Sinan Gündoğdu, has indicated that she shared the photos of this incident on social media, she was called from the institution afterwards and the meetings with parents were suspended for some time.

The legal and administrative proceedings regarding the violence suffered by her own son are still ongoing. (AS/SD)