Torture and rights violations against prisoners continue to emerge in different jails of the country.

Nevzat Özer and Hüseyin Özen are imprisoned in Edirne F Type Prison. They told about the rights violations they experienced in prison in letters they wrote.

Put in isolation cell after surgery

The letter also conveyed the information that prisoner Ercan Kartal suffered a heart attack twice and underwent surgery in handcuffs at Tekirdağ City Hospital. The arrest of Mehmet Gövel from TAYAD, who suffers from prostate cancer, is also an indication of how violations are carried out on a daily basis.

Özer said: "Two people staying in the same cell cannot write a letter to their mutual friend. When we ask why, the only answer we get is that it is 'forbidden'. The recent increases in stamps also make it very difficult for us to write letters and faxes. We are faced with many violations like these that aggravate our isolation. Our right to chat, access to books and publications, letters, telephone and visits is restricted. The right to treatment is prevented by impositions such as not removing the handcuffs in the hospital. Prisoners are handcuffed to the soldier or to the stretcher. Those who are sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment are taken to the yard for one hour a day."

Reminding experts' statements saying that staying in a cell for more than 40 days is harmful to human health, the letter said: "However, the prisoners are sentenced to stay in these cells for life. Isn't this death penalty spread over time? One of the most important issues is the obstacles to the treatment of ill prisoners. There are 1,517 prisoners, 651 of whom are seriously ill. They have been forced to live in severe isolation conditions in prisons. Don't you think that not releasing hundreds of seriously ill prisoners who cannot survive on their own is condemning them to death? Only in 2022, more than 76 prisoners lost their lives because their treatment was denied. Aren't those who turned a blind eye to all these deaths responsible for these deaths with their heavy isolation practices?"

Özer's letter pointed out that prisons are places built to implement isolation. Hüseyin Özen, who stated that the prison administration was engaged in arbitrary practices, said: "After the censorship law, they continue to show that they do not recognize any law. They prevent us from writing letters to our friends in another prison."