Sexual assault and torture against woman prisoner in padded cell

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Garibe Gezer, a prisoner at Kandıra No. 1 Type-F Prison in the northwestern Kocaeli province, has announced that she was tortured and sexually assaulted by wardens in a padded cell.

Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin filed a criminal complaint against the wardens and the prison doctor.

Keskin described the torture, ill-treatment and assaults against the prisoner in the petition she submitted to the Kandıra Prison Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Stripped in front of wardens

Gezer was transferred from the Kayseri Prison from the Kandıra prison on March 15. She had been kept in a cell for 22 days there. After her cell punishment was over, she requested to be transferred to a three-person cell.

She objected to being put in a cell again on May 21. Women wardens dragged her on the ground while holding her from her hair and arms. They took off her shalwar (a type of trousers) and passed by men wardens. They put her in a cell.

Gezer had been kept in the cell for two days. She protested against that. Wardens came to her cell because she punched the cell door and beaten her. They told her they would put her in a padded cell if she continued punching the door.

Padded cells are cells the walls of which are covered with foam and considered as a means of torture. The government denies the existence of them.

Sexual assault in the padded cell

On May 24, eight men and women wardens came to her cell and beat Gezer. Women wardens bent her hands and men stepped on his neck with their boots.

She was then taken to a padded cell. At the door of the room, her clothes were taken off and she was searched. Meanwhile, they sexually assaulted her.

Handcuffed behind the back

According to the petition that lawyer Keskin submitted to the Chief Prosecutor's Office, Gezer tried to remove the foam in the cell. Seeing this from camera, the wardens came to the cell again and heavily battered her. She fainted. She was put into the cell with being handcuffed behind the back and had kept in the cell for three-four hours.

Suicide attempt

Unable to cope with sexual violence, Gezer tried to kill herself in her cell by hanging herself with sheets. She fell after the sheet broke and hit hear head. Despite the bleeding, she was kept on the ground for one to hours.

Censored letters

She refused treatment because of the discriminatory attitude of the infirmary doctor and that she hadn't been treated for a long time. She was brought back to her cell. The bleeding in her head continued until te next day.

Gezer wanted to write letters to her attorney and family, but some letters she wrote were not sent while some were sent after being censored by the letter reading committee.

Toilet in front of the camera

Without carrying out a psycho-social investigation into whether she would try to kil herself again, the Correction Institution Administration continued to keep her in a one-person cell.

Not being able to talk about the psychological effects of the sexual torture and ill-treatment that she was subjected to, Gezer burned her cell on June 7. She was put into the cell again and kept there for 24 hours.

She had to meet her toilet needs in front of the camera. During this time, prison officers tortured her by blowing cold air through the ventilation system.

In her petition, lawyer Keskin also mentioned her meeting with Gezer:

"The client said the cell that is called the 'foam cell' was a two to three meters long place, it was fully covered with leather, it was monitored by a camera for 24 hours, there were feces all over the room, the smell of urine and feces was unbearable, there was only a hole as a toilet in the toom and it was seen from the camera."

Investigation for talking about torture

During a visitation, Gezer told her sister Asya Gezer about the torture and assaults against her. A disciplinary investigation was opened against her because of that. Giving a statement in this investigation, she talked about the torture as well.

In further proceedings, she explained the torture and ill-treatment to the Kandıra Prison Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and to the Kocaeli Judgeship of Criminal Enforcement.

Resmiye Vatansever, who is kept in the same prison, also talked to the judgeship about the torture of Gezer.

Call for an effective investigation

Keskin requested an effective investigation into the incident under Turkey's domestic law, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the United Nations Convention against Torture.

She demanded the correction officers be sentenced as per the crimes defined in articles 86, 94 and 102 of the Turkish Penal Code. she also demanded the infirmary doctor be sentenced as per article 257 of the penal code.

"A Kurdish family"

"What happens in prisons is grave but what Garibe has experienced is much worse. Because the suffered so much traume that she tried to die. This is horrible for a young girl. They have already experienced a lot of pressure as a Kurdish family. Garibe wants everyone to react to what she has experienced recently. We'll stand by her." (EMK/VK)