Turkey Human Rights Activists: ‘Sick Inmates Left to Decay’

 

ANKARA, Turkey – Human rights activists across Turkey are calling on the government to improve conditions for hundreds of prisoners and stop acts of torture.

Raci Bilici, head of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), said that rights groups have gathered as “the voice of freedom” for sick inmates.

According to an IHD press release, until September 10 there were 526 sick political prisoners in Turkish prisons, 154 of them in need of extremely urgent treatment.  It said that sentencing of prisoners was inhumane, because they were left in F type prisons while waiting for their verdicts.

“The history of prisons in Turkey is filled with deaths, torture and violations of rights. The Turkish state has had the same mentality against political prisoners for years,” Bilici said.

Commenting on a “democratization package” that has been recently proposed by the government, Bilici said: “No package that has been issued so far has offered a solution for the violations of human rights in prisons. Necessary regulations should be made so that sick inmates could be released.”

IHD’s Van branch also organized a press conference in an attempt to attract attention to the plights of prisoners Ramazan Ozalp and Ergin Aktas, who have not been released despite the recommendations of the Forensic Medicine Institute.

“After Turkey’s transition to the F type prison system, the prisoners have been left to decay. The number of political prisoners who have lost their lives in prisons so far according to the data of the Ministry of Justice as well as that of our association openly demonstrates the gravity of the situation,” Omer Isık, head of the Van branch of IHD said.

Ramazan Ozalp, father of seven, was sentenced to life on grounds that, 20 years ago, he had been a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Paralyzed and confined to bed, he has been given a medical report demonstrating his disability and stating that he should be released. His family wants him to spend his last days at home, but he remains incarcerated, said his wife, Kocer Ozalp.

Ergin Aktas, who lost both hands in an explosion, has been held in solitary confinement, even though the 25-year-old is unable to meet any of his needs on his own.  The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), in a written statement, said that this ruling means “de facto capital punishment” for the prisoner.

Aktas and Ozalp remain behind bars on grounds that “they threaten the security of the society.”

“The state of the sick inmate Hakan Golunc shows the insincerity of the government in the resolution process. Golunc has been given a report indicating that his imprisonment will lead to very serious risks and that his sentence should be delayed until his treatment is completed but he is still behind bars,” Isık added.

Golunc suffers from a brain tumor that has blinded his right eye and reduced the sight of his other eye. Having undergone 12 medical operations, he has been using 20 kinds of medicine and is also suffering from epilepsy, herniated disc, osteolysis, ulcer and several other diseases.

Golünc was jailed in 2006 for “being a member of the PKK.”

The Mersin Branch of the Human Rights Association also held a press conference to say that the government’s “democratization package” falls short of public expectation for a democratic and peaceful resolution for the Kurdish issue.

Ali Tanrıverdi, head of the Mersin branch of IHD, said that the package ignores the demands for democracy of all oppressed groups such as Kurds, Alevis and other minorities.