* Photo: İHD
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The Marmara Region Prison Monitoring Delegation, an umbrella platform of rights, law and health organizations, made a statement for press about the condition in Turkey's prisons today (January 12).
Consisting of representatives from the Human Rights Association (İHD), Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), TUHAYDER, TAYAD and Solidarity with Prisoners Initiative, the delegation stated that they will keep on working until the violations of rights in prisons end.
At the press statement held in the İHD İstanbul Branch, it was noted that the grave violations of rights in prisons are gradually becoming systematic and the problem has come to a deadlock in several respects, from the violations of right to healthcare to the violations of right to communication, from torture and ill treatment to obstacles to accessing justice.
According to the statement, at least seven prisoners have lost their lives in different prisons in Turkey over the past month. The rights organizations raised concerns that "it is now seen as an ordinary incident in the country that the dead body of a person is taken out of a prison any time."
Referring to the Justice Ministry data, the delegation recalled that there are 297 thousand 726 prisoners, including 38 thousand 43 arrested people, in Turkey's prisons as of December 31, 2021.
Citing the İHD data, the statement also indicated that as of March 2021, there are at least 1,605 ill prisoners, 604 of whom are seriously ill.
"In 2021, at least 59 ill prisoners, seven of whom shortly after the execution of their prison sentences had been deferred, lost their lives," reiterated the Marmara Region Prison Monitoring Delegation.
Rights organizations underlined that the state is responsible for the health and lives of prisoners in prisons and obliged to ensure that they have access to their right to medical treatment and healthcare.
The delegation shared the following information about the ones who have lost their lives in Turkey's prisons over the past month:
(AS/SD)