The Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed (Mazlum-Der) took action on the allegations of torture in prisons recently. The prison administration and the Mazlum-Der Prison Commission delegation, which met with the prisoners, reported the complaints and demands and shared them with the public.
Mazlum-Der has recently taken action regarding torture allegations in prisons. Complaints and demands were shared with the public as a result of the meetings held by the lawyers of the Mazlum-Der Prison Commission in prisons. During the meetings held in Silivri Closed Prison, while the current legal and political issues on the agenda, judicial packages and execution law studies for prisons, the current general situation in prisons and the complaints experienced were talked about, it was mentioned that especially political prisoners expect legal improvement and reduction in execution. The report also states that there are intense demands and complaints about reducing the trial processes of the prisoners to more reasonable periods.
“THE CLAIMS OF TORTURE COME OUT DUE TO YOUNG GUARDIANS”
The report also includes interviews with prisoners from the Military Academy Military Student Trial, and also touched upon the allegations of torture that have emerged in Silivri Prison in recent days. Mazlum-Der Delegation emphasized that they talked to the prisoners mentioned in the incident regarding verbal and physical brawls and allegations of torture in prison. In addition, as a result of the interviews with the prison director, the following determinations were made: “It has been understood that the incident occurred due to the inappropriate attitude and behavior of a prison guardian who is young, has just started his profession, and does not have sufficient maturity and professional experience. It has been claimed that a brawl broke out between the prisoners and the prison guardians due to the officer's acts of insulting, humiliating, dominance and pressure towards the prisoners, and verbal/physical violence and reverse handcuffs were applied to some prisoners. About subject, the prison director we talked to stated that the incident was calmed down in a short time, that the violence and reverse handcuffs cases were ended in a very short time, and that efforts were made to prevent such situations from happening within the relevant prison.”
“VIDEO PHONE RIGHT IS GRANTED ONLY TO JUDICIAL PRISONERS”
The following statements were included in the general observations and evaluations of the Mazlum-Der report:
“The prisoners who were interviewed; They expressed their complaints about issues such as limiting the visits to only half an hour a month despite the launch of open consultations, giving the belongings and clothes brought by the families to the prisoners after 24 hours of waiting, and the continuation of the transparent thick PVC barrier between the prisoners and the lawyers at the lawyers' meeting places. While the pandemic bans have been lifted across the country and ‘normalization’ has dominated all institutions/organizations, it is not understandable that normalization does not come to penal institutions. As long as the Ministry of Justice is indifferent, Penal execution institutions and administrations act as voluntary pandemic practitioners and use the pandemic as an excuse to limit freedoms and fundamental rights. This situation awaits immediate attention and intervention. Lastly, the prisoners claimed that the video phone opportunity (regardless of the offence) was only given to judicial prisoners, but that no political prisoner was able to benefit from this opportunity. In the meeting held with the administrators of Silivri Closed Penitentiary Institution, they confirmed this claim and stated that this right would not be granted to political prisoners.”
At the end of the report, Mazlum-Der made the following call:
"We find that not granting the right to video phone calls to political prisoners, even if they are detained or convicted, violates the 'prohibition of discrimination'. The fact that this right is not applied even to the detainees whose crime has not been determined violates the 'presumption of innocence'. We urge the Ministry of Justice to put an end to practice contrary to the prohibition of discrimination and marginalizing prisoners within themselves, and apply it equally to all prisoners. We think that limiting open visits to half an hour, PVC practice in lawyers' booths and keeping things waiting for 24 hours are not based on a logical justification. We call on the Ministry of Justice to end these practices. We demand action to be taken by starting an investigation into the violation of human dignity against prisoners and detainees in penitentiary institutions. Finally, we call for the basic needs and demands of prisoners to be met.”