‘Pandemic restrictions turn into violations of rights in Turkey’s prisons’

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The İstanbul Bar Association and the İstanbul Medical Chamber (İTO) held a joint press conference yesterday (October 5) and discussed the pandemic restrictions in Turkey's prisons and courthouses.

Held at the İTO office in Cağaloğlu, the press conference was attended by İstanbul Bar Association Chair lawyer Mehmet Durakoğlu, İTO Chair Dr. Pınar Saip, İTO Secretary General Dr. Osman Küçükosmanoğlu and İTO Executive Board member Dr. Murat Ekmez.

'COVID-19 used as an excuse for unlawfulness'

Taking the floor at the conference, Mehmet Durakoğlu reminded the audience that since the outbreak of the pandemic, they have been emphasizing that the rules to be set to protect public health must be within the framework of the law. "In spite of this, the executive has remained distant from these issues. It has started using the COVID-19 phenomenon as an excuse for the executive's force on other other powers," he said.

Noting that courthouses and prisons are the most dangerous places after medical institutions, Durakoğlu stated:

"In prisons, the rights legally and lawfully granted to prisoners have been considered as a policy of security and restricted under the pretext of COVID-19, which has brought us to state of emergency conditions. We are aware of how important human life is. Measures can be taken to protect human life. But it needs to be done within the frame of the law."

'Data on cases, vaccination not shared'

Speaking after Durakoğlu, İstanbul Medical Chamber (İTO) Chair Dr. Pınar Saip underlined that the violations of human rights and the problems faced by prisoners in accessing their right to healthcare and means of treatment have increased during the pandemic. Saip said:

"While the problems are getting more and more entrenched, they are not even brought to the agenda.

"While measures have been almost lifted all across the country, extraordinary measures are taken in prisons and prisoners have been isolated. Rights of visit and going out for fresh air, etc. have been restricted. The data on the pandemic in prisons is not shared, either. The number of patients, the rates of vaccination, etc. are not shared with the public, with us.

"Prisoners are punished one more time in a sense due to these restrictions. This current situation has turned into a violation of human rights."

'Ministry didn't manage it transparently'

After the speeches of Durakoğlu and Saip, Dr. Murat Ekmez read out the joint statement for the press of the İstanbul Bar and Medical Chamber.

Ekmez raised concerns that the pandemic process, which is not transparently managed by the Ministry of Justice, continues to cause violations of the right to healthcare and a fair trial in Turkey.

He reiterated that "while there are arrangements of normalization in almost every sphere of social life, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Ministry of Health has introduced any arrangements pertaining to normalization in prisons or courthouses, which is unacceptable."

Dr. Murat Ekmez said that one of the major troubles faced by prisoners during the pandemic is the restriction on their social opportunities and right to get fresh air. Reading out the joint statement, Ekmez asked, "While prisoners are already isolated from life outside and their relatives in prisons, is there a rational justification for isolating prisoners from one another?"

The physician stressed that it must be the primary priority of the Justice Ministry to take the pandemic measures in such a way that they comply with human rights and human dignity. Ekmez stated:

We, the professional organizations of law and medicine, would like to emphasize that health means a state of physical, mental and social wellness and the measures to protect the human body during the pandemic must be introduced in such a way to comprise humans' social and psychological priorities as well.

Recommendations

Ekmez also listed the recommendations of the İstanbul Bar and İstanbul Medical Chamber for prisons and courthouses during the pandemic.

Among these recommendations are the resumption of contact visits for prisoners in compliance with the pandemic rules in other social spheres, the elimination of the obstacles standing in the way of prisoners' hours to go out for fresh air and social opportunities, the removal of the restriction on prisoners' presence in courtrooms in person, the elimination of the obstacles faced by lawyers and relatives of the parties in following the hearings in courtrooms, the removal of the obstacles faced by prisoners in accessing medical institutions and the lifting of 14-day isolation period upon returns from medical institutions. (KÖ/SD)