The Prisons Commission of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Diyarbakir Branch visited prisons in Elazig, Malatya, Erzincan, Diyarbakir, Erzurum and Bayburt last week and talked to the detainees about the problems they are experiencing. During the meeting, rights violations such as restriction of social activities, bans on Kurdish and ill-treatment came to the fore. Lawyer Şemdin Şahin, one of the members of the commission, spoke about their meetings to Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

Lawyer Şahin said that there is an attempt to isolate prisoners through various violations. Referring to the latest situation in Diyarbakır No. 1 High Security Closed Prison, which is one of the prisons where violations of rights are most experienced, Şahin noted that there are practices here that amount to torture.

Şahin described the incident that took place on March 25 as follows: "A prisoner was isolated, officially in 'quarantine' while returning from the hospital. The prisoner's belongings are requested to be passed through the X-RAY device. The prisoner submits a petition to the administration to receive a battering report. However, despite the petition, the prisoner is not taken to the hospital."

Military rules

Stating that after the incident, the chief guard and 10 guards entered the cell where the political prisoners were, dragged 3 detainees on the ground and took them to a different cell, Şahin said: "The chief guard is threatening the prisoners saying, 'I can do whatever I want, no one can do anything to me, you can apply wherever you want'. Again, when the guards enter the cells, they impose military order on the detainees.” Şahin noted that the guards justified their actions saying that "the circular came from Ankara".

Kurdish language prohibited

Stating that the guards warned the detainees singing in Kurdish on the morning of 21 March, Newroz day, as "forbidden", Şahin added that the detainees were also threatened with physical violence and disciplinary punishments. "This shows us that the state's mentality regarding the Kurdish language has never changed. Although there is a channel like TRT 6, we see that this channel is only used as a propaganda tool by the government."

Impunity policy

Stating that they submitted the report they prepared on the violations of rights in the prison to the necessary authorities and filed a criminal complaint, Şahin said: "However, no response was given. This situation means the protection of those responsible. Thus, the guards will continue to torture and violate the prisoners’ rights by gaining strength from this impunity policy. Just as those who killed Kurdish children killed in the middle of the street are rewarded thanks to impunity, thus the state maintains the same policy of impunity against violations of rights in prisons."