The Justice Vigil, which was started by relatives of sick prisoners in the Van Bar Association, continued on its eighth day.

Visits to the families on vigil continue as well. Ümit Dede, Co-Chair of the Law and Human Rights Commission for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), paid a visit to the families on Thursday.

'59 ILL PRISONERS HAVE DIED SINCE 2020'

Dede stated that 59 sick prisoners had died since 2020 and that the vigil was a "vigil for life." He emphasized that Turkey's prison history is one of the places of torture, violations of the right to life, and a way of life that does not comply with human dignity. "Especially, the political power, which saw the coup in 2016 as God's grace, made prison life unbearable, also using the pandemic crisis as an excuse. Rights violations in jails have never been as severe as they have been in the last 4-5 years," he stated.

Dede remarked that as the HDP's legal commission, they are carrying out a legal struggle to avoid breaches of rights and that they are doing anything possible to bring the problems in jails to the public's attention and to force the political authority to change these policies: “We have witnessed how feeble and incomplete the battle and efforts made till today have been, in the face of violations such as the deaths experienced yesterday and our friend Garibe's case leading her to suicide a week ago. This vigil must be strengthened and supported by the entire opposition and social circles. We must expose the government's prison policies, both legally and politically."

‘OUR ONLY APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT IS A SURRENDER CALL'

Dede stated that the Ministry of Justice and political power are accomplices in the crimes committed in jails, and that "the only appeal we would make to them is a call to surrender. The minister of justice should resign immediately, and the government should put an end to this. We urge people to speak out against these right breaches, including execution delays, torture, transporting prisoners to jails thousands of kilometres away, strip searches, infringement of the right to health, and restrictions on other social rights.”

The mothers on the justice vigil have stated that they will continue to fight until the violations stop.