Amid Coronavirus outbreak, demands for releasing prisoners in Turkey

The worldwide spread Coronavirus (Coved-19) has also arrived in Turkey and many people have lost their lives so far. Prisons are among the hotspots at risk of the virus which  are expected to experience real massacres if the virus spreads. There are hundreds of prisoners with chronic and serious illnesses under very poor healthy conditions. With all these in mind, the two prisons are denied any protection against the virus. In order to avoid this situation, prisoners and their families and civil institutions called for immediate intervention and release of detainees.

On the virus outbreak risks in prisons  and precautionary, we held a meeting with the disabled Suhaila Tash and her sister Alif Tash, as well as with the co-chair of the Federation of the Detainees Support Association and their Families.

Suhaila Tash, a detainee with chronic illnesses who was arrested on charges of "belonging to the organization" and sentenced to nine years in prison, serving four years of them.

Suhaila Tash is currently serving her sentence in the closed women's prison in Sanjan. During her weekly phone call with her relatives, Suhaila spoke about the conditions of detention in prison and the risk of the coronavirus outbreak.

There are no precautionary measures. They give contaminated water to prisoners. Suhaila said that the prison authorities only work once a week to sterilize the prison, as a precautionary measure against the risk of the spread of the coronavirus, she added, "After repeated demands from prisoners, they are given hot water twice a week, yellow contaminated water is unclean.

Suhaila said the prison authorities do not give and prevent the hygiene materials to prisoners, and she continued: "They do not prepare clean food. Prison workers prepare food without wearing gloves, put unclean stickers on loaves of bread. There are no hygiene measures. With COVID-19 outbreak, the price of food in the cafeteria rose."

We must intervene immediately for sick prisoners.

"In our dormitories,  there are the old and chronically ill prisoners without any measures for these prisons. In the dormitory, Coronavirus-like symptoms are noticed, but doctors did not intervene in any way to diagnose the disease, and they were sent back to dormitories." 

Suhaila Tash called on everyone to act immediately on behalf of sick prisoners. 'We fear for the lives of prisoners'

the AKP and the National Party prepared a bill on the evacuation of the prisons, but the project ignored political prisoners. "The bill must include all political prisoners as well. We are afraid of my sister and all political prisoners situation. All prisons in Turkey are full; if a prisoner is infected with the virus, the disease will infect thousands of prisoners putting the lives of thousands of prisons in danger. Suhaila, as well as hundreds of prisoners, suffer from serious and chronic illnesses, as well as many elderly people, all of whom are at risk. We have sent a petition to the Ministry of Justice, but we have not yet received a response. We fear for the lives of all prisoners."

Political prisoner, Suhaila Tash had participated in the hunger strike campaign initiated by the Co-chair of the Democratic Peoples' Party of Golmerk Parliamentary Congress. Leila Kovin, demanding lifting the isolation on the Kurdish leader and ended the hunger strike on December 26, 156 days after the strike.

The co-chair of the Federation of the Detainees Support and their Families(MED TUHAD-FED), Alif Haran spoke about the recent conditions in Turkish prisons.

There are about 200 political prisoners suffering from chronic diseases'

She noted that there are more than 10,000 political prisoners in Turkish prisons, adding that "there are political prisoners of all ages." "Given the prison conditions, the isolation imposed on prisoners, solitary confinement, torture, bad food and the lack of health conditions, we can never talk about sanitary conditions," she said. According to the data, there are about 200 political prisoners suffering from chronic diseases in prisons, and because of the bad conditions of the prison, many other prisoners also become ill."

They took advantage of the spread of the virus and did not take the necessary measures'

 She made clear that dormitories in all Turkish prisons are overstretched, adding, "Because of the increased number of detainees in dormitories, isolation measures, social spacing and hygiene measures cannot be taken. Hygiene procedures  and materials are not granted. "Just as the chance of spreading the virus abroad is being exploited, so are the prisons, where the prices of hygiene materials have been raised."

The Turkish Minister of Justice had stated that they had prevented visits in prisons in order to prevent the coronavirus, in addition to preventing the prison staff from leaving. "No serious measures have been taken to prevent the virus," she said. "Prison staff and security personnel who communicate abroad have not been isolated, and they pose a serious threat to the lives of prisoners."

One prisoner died of Corona

"If the necessary measures are not taken to prevent the coronavirus, there will be a massacre in prisons." One of Bafra's prisoners lost his life to the Coronavirus." Alif also referred to the information the detainees passed on to their relatives. "Some of the detainees showed symptoms of corona, but no measures were taken, they were not brought before the doctors, and first aid and medicine were not provided to them," No health isolation room has been established or equipped to deal with emergencies. She said. 

The doctors examinations in Shakaran prison tested positive. Nevertheless, they continue to contact patients, a situation that worries us. People outside cannot protect themselves from the infection, despite all the measures, but in prison conditions prisoners cannot protect themselves.

In order to curb the spread of Corina, prisons must be evacuated immediately'

 Alif ended by saying, "The AKP and the National Party are taking advantage of the opportunity for the emergence of the Coronavirus.  They have issued a decision on the release of prisons, but they have excluded political prisoners from the law. This is an unfair decision. It is contrary to the principles of equality in the constitution. A fair penal code should be introduced immediately. The state is responsible for the lives of prisoners. The Justice and Development government must take the necessary measures before the lives of prisoners are in danger, and put an end to any massacre that may occur as a result of the infection. "Prisons must be evacuated, all prisoners released immediately, including sick prisoners and those at risk of the infection."

A.J

ANHA