İSTANBUL - IHD Istanbul Branch President Gülseren Yoleri stated that the only prison in the Marmara region that they could not get information about was Imrali and said, "The isolation practice that started in Imrali has spread to all prisons today."

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch Prisons Commission announced its 3 month report on violations of rights in prisons in Marmara region.  The report covering the months of July, August and September, hundreds of violations of rights were listed such as the restriction on visits due to Covid-19, the fact that the amount of food given per prisoners is insufficient, the prison not providing disinfectants, masks hygiene materials, the aggravation of the isolation conditions, the lack of access to health and etc. The report also emphasized that there were 786 violations of rights in 3 months.

 

ISOLATION DEEPENED IN IMRALI

 

Expressing that the only prison in the Marmara region from which they could not obtain information is Imrali Prison, Yoleri continued: "“Imralı is a completely closed box. It is a place that makes communication very difficult. You can not go to the prison as you like. We can visit other prisons but to visit İmralı we need the means of the state to be able to visit İmralı. The isolation in İmralı has spreaded to all other prisons. As the isolation deepens in İmralı, it deepens in other prisons too. Because the prisoners in İmralı is prevented from seeing their families and lawyers, we can not get information on what's going in there. We would not have any information at all about what's going in İmralı if the CPT reports did not exist. However, the CPT reports are announced too late and only some basic information is given in the reports. We can not learn about the general situation in there."

 

LIVES ARE AT STAKE

 

Saying that violations of rights in prisons threaten the lives of prisoners, Yoleri said: "There is a need for serious public support to stop these practices and of course the authorities should take the issue seriously and solve the problems at this point. We are a non-governmental organization, we are conducting a civil study. Therefore, it is very important that the demands of solution for problems in prisons become a social demand."

 

MA / Erdogan Alayumat