ANKARA - Visiting his brother, who is imprisoned in Maraş Türkoğlu Prison, the elder brother Fikret Çalağan said: "The personal rights were attacked during the searches. We are not allowed to sit side by side with my prisoner brother and not hug."
Violations of rights in prisons are increasing day by day. In addition to the rights violations experienced by the prisoners, the relatives of the prisoners are also faced with practices that amount to torture by the prison staff and administrations during the visits.
Fikret Çağlayan, who told about the rights violations and ill-treatment he experienced while he went to visit his brother Hikmet Çalağan, who was imprisoned in Maraş Türkoğlu Type L Prison No. 2, applied to the Human Rights Association (İHD) Ankara Branch for the violations he was subjected to.
'VISITING PRISONERS IS DE FACTO BLOCKED'
Emphasizing that they encountered inhumane attitudes during their prison visits, Çalağan said: “We are unable to make any calls due to attacks on personal rights, harassing calls, rudeness in their general approach, and constant interference in the field of view. We are not allowed to sit side by side with my brother who is in prison. We are not allowed to sit next to each other and hug, as we are told to sit across from each other. We are forced to have a formal meeting with each other as if we were two strangers. We are waiting for a month's contact visit, but the visit ends without seeing to each other well. Visit turns into a torture with these practices. De facto, this situation causes our right of visit to be blocked.”
THE PRISONERS ARE PREVENTED TO GREET EACH OTHER!
Stating that they tried to greet other prisoners as a humanitarian duty during the meeting, however, this situation was prevented, Çalağan said: “Even a greeting is prevented with these people who are in the same ward. Our greetings are hindered by shouts and calls and physical attacks. This situation terrorizes our visit and scales up torture. We are ashamed to be human at the moment of visit because they are trying to make us forget that we are human.”
'THEY ARE TRYING TO KEEP THE PRISONERS FROM LIFE'
Stating that the prisoners were harassed during the ward searches, Çalağan said: “These calls have turned into torture. During the searches, the letters and diaries belonging to them are confiscated. Attacks on the worlds they have created for themselves are trying to cut off our relatives from their lives.”
Çalağan stated that Türkoğlu No. 2 Type L Closed Prison turned into a form of torture.