Female prisoner denounces torture in Şakran

More prisoners denounce ever-worsening conditions and inhumane treatment by authorities in the prisons of Turkey.

Prisoner B.D. tells of the torture perpetrated by soldiers and guards on prisoners in Şakran Women's Closed Prison in İzmir province, western Turkey during her 15-month prison term in 2019-2020.

B.D. remarked that torture was perpetrated in the wards and that the guards and the prison administration acted unlawful and inhumane. B.D. also claimed that the closed letters written to the Ministry of Justice were prevented from being read and forwarded.

B.D. stated that they were subjected to constant ill-treatment and insult in prison, and a pregnant woman aborted her child due to the torture she experienced in the ward.

B.D. revealed that gendarmes entered the ward of a prisoner with psychological problems and tortured the woman. They poured water on her so that no fingerprints come out. There was a trail of the officer's boat on her face. No criminal complaint was made against the prison administration. Because they threaten. I even woke up and wanted to intervene. Two or three officers were waiting at the entrance of the ward, two were beating the girl at the door and the other in the bathroom. They shouted at us, "You are leaving now". The prison echoed with her screaming voice.”

The jailed woman told that that standing counting is carried out in the wards, there is no social life, they are rarely taken to sports. “They keep a record about you even if you don't do anything. They write down the words you have never said on the minutes and you get a direct solitary confinement’’, she said.

Stating that the prisoners are employed for flexible hours and under difficult conditions, with a maximum of 120 TL per month in prison, B.D. said, “However, only those who do not have a family, are in bad financial situation and do not receive disciplinary punishment are employed. I went there one day but I could not do it, it was a very hard work.”

B.D. pointed out that the hygiene conditions were very bad. Accordingly, a woman was infected with lice in the C-9 ward and the whole ward was cleaned by her own effort as the administration remained indifferent.

“They turned off the heaters in February. We couldn't get warm under two blankets. We were going to the classes to sleep since heating is on in courses. It did not work maybe two months. They said that heating was broken, but why is it functioning there but not other places?"

B.D. told that she attempted suicide by injuring herself with a sharp object in prison. The guards insulted her when she was injured, and she was beaten in the corridor, which was recorded by a camera. The woman added that a guard uttered phrases such as "Why don’t you commit suicide with drugs? Do it in the morning so we find you dead".