HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Turkey bans lawyer visits to prisoners 

  The Turkish Ministry of Justice has banned lawyer visits to prisoners for two weeks because of the corona crisis. The prisons are extremely overcrowded and demands for the release of all prisoners are growing louder and louder.
• Alevi organisations demand the release of all prisoners 

  Alevi organizations demand that all prisoners be released immediately to avoid the coronavirus epidemic to spread in jails.
• Over 50 thousand people demand the release of prisoners 

  A petition demanding the release of prisoners because of the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak, was signed by over 55 thousand people.
• Ill prisoner Sabri Kaya suffers a stroke 

  Sabri Kaya, one of the prisoners on the list of seriously ill prisoners, is held in Osmaniye No. 2 T-Type Prison. He suffered a stroke and was taken in intensive care.
• Güven warns of tragedy ready to happen in prisons 

  DTK co-chair Leyla Guven warned that "a strategic mistake can cause the death of hundreds of thousands of prisoners". She was referring to the new law to be brought to parliament which should allow the release of prisoners.
• Families launch petition demanding release of prisoners 

  The prisoners' families made an application to the Ministry, the Parliament and CIMER demanding the release of prisoners as the coronavirus outbreak poses a great risk for those in prison. 
• Colombian Ombudsman launches investigation into riots in jails 

  The demonstration ended with security forces shooting at prisoners, killing 23 and wounding at least 83.
• Frozen bodies of 12 refugees found in Van countryside 

  Bodies of 12 refugees have been found in the border area in Van countryside. Bodies of dozens of refugees are said to be buried under snow in the border region.
• Report confirms prisoners not given masks, gloves, disinfectant 

  MED-TUHAD FED and ÖHD have compiled reports on 12 prisons and denounced that prisoners are not given masks and disinfectants.
• HDP deputy Eksik: Prisoners must be released immediately 

  HDP deputy Habib Eksik said that all prisoners should be released, starting from political prisoners, to avoid the spreading of coronavirus in jails.
• 'Release all prisoners', 20 associations say 

  "The lives of prisoners who are sadly deprived of hygiene conditions in normal times and who have difficulty in accessing their right to health are in great danger because of the Covid -19 outbreak."
• Lawyers say prisoners in Van not living in hygienic conditions 

  ÖHD visited the prisons in Van and stated that the cleaning and basic needs of prisoners are not met.
• Human rights organizations demand release of prisoners 

  Human rights organisations in Turkey are calling for immediate protection measures for prisoners in view of the Corona pandemic. Turkish prisons are extremely overcrowded with 300,000 inmates.
• Italian prison riots appeal 

  Thirteen dead prisoners. Numbers – not even dignified by names – on which the Italian Ombudsman for the rights of persons deprived of liberty is now working. The prisoners died following riots erupted in the first days of the coronavirus crisis.
• Three political prisoners go on hunger strike in Giresun 

  Three political prisoners are on hunger strike in the high security prison in the province of Giresun. They are protesting against the confiscation of their medicines and disciplinary punishments.
• TUAY-DER warns of high risk in prisons as coronavirus spreads 

  TUAY-DER said that hygienic conditions are not guaranteed in prisons and that prisoners should be released immediately due to the coronavirus emergency.
• 33 bar associations call on government to release prisoners 

  There are over than 270,000 prisoners in 375 prisons in Turkish prison, according to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Concern is growing because overcrowding may help the spread of coronavirus as it is of other diseases.
• Political prisoners in Amed not given cleaning materials 

  Political prisoners denounced lack of cleaning supplies and poor food.
• Prisoner on death fast tortured during 5 days of forced treatment 

  Lawyer Ezgi Çakır met with his client Mustafa Koçak, who was forced fed on the 255th day of his death fast. The lawyer said that her client was tortured for 5 days in Aliağa Prison campus hospital.
• Journalist with cancer to be released from prison 

  Kurdish journalist Devrim Ayik, who suffers from Crohn's disease and colon cancer, will be released from prison. The arrest warrant was lifted at the request of his lawyer, as Ayik belongs to the (high) risk group in the case of coronavirus infection.
• Jailed journalist: No Corona prevention in prisons 

  Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent contradicts the government’s claims that preventive measures against the corona virus have been taken in Turkish prisons.
• Grup Yorum members on death fast finally discharged from hospital 

  Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek, the two Grup Yorum members on the death fast, have been discharged from Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, where they had been held hostage for 6 days against their will.
• HDP MP Piroğlu: Forced treatment of hunger strikers is a crime 

  Prisoner Mustafa Koçak on death fast has been forcibly treated in Izmir. His condition is unknown, neither relatives nor lawyers are allowed to see him. HDP member of parliament Musa Piroğlu calls forced treatment a criminal offence.
• Report: 447 civilians killed by Turkish forces at Syrian border 

  The 447 refugees killed by Turkish security forces at the border with Syria include 83 children under the age of 18 and 56 women.
• Torture exposed in Manisa T Type Closed Prison 

  In Manisa T Type Closed Prison, prisoners who refused standing count were tortured. The Prison Director also threatened the prisoners with death.