Political prisoner Adem Alp, who has been in Eskişehir Prison since 29 February 2012, has sent a letter to the Human Rights Association (IHD) Prison Commission, detailing the torture he was subjected to by a group of 20 prison officers when he wanted to see a doctor. Alp, born in Ağrı, said in his letter that he was tortured for being a Kurd.

Alp said his written application to see a doctor was returned to him on 9 March by a prison officer who crumpled it in his hands. When Alp wanted to ask the reason for the unanswered return of his application and came closer to the door, the prison officer slammed it, and Alp, wanting to stop the door closing, touched the officer, according to his own statement. Alp said this incident was the reason for his being tortured.

The Kurdish prisoner  said that he was taken by a group of 20 prison officers, known as the “Urgent Intervention” group and two other officers, whose names are Turan Oleroğlu and Mesut Türe, from the block and beaten in the corridor and then taken to a cell, known as the discipline room. Alp said the prison officers told him “We will kill you. We are the justice here” and beat him for over 1 hour. He said his hands were tied behind his back when he was taken away and in the cell his feet were also tied to leave him defenceless. He said he fell unconscious under torture and was then taken to the doctor, Sibel Ünal. Previously he was told that the doctor was not in the hospital.

Alp said he was not directly taken to a hospital, but only one day later. He said he had a report from the Eskişehir Public Hospital because of the marks on his body caused by the torture.

The Kurdish political prisoner said he was tortured because he was a Kurd and added that many Kurdish prisoners are being subjected to the same kind of torture in the prison. He also said that the prison administration started an investigation after he received the report from the hospital, but many of the letters he wrote were not sent by the prison administration.

Alp’s father, Abdülhamit Alp, told DİHA News Agency that the prison administration wanted to cover up the incident, adding that he filed a complaint to the Ministry of Justice regarding the torture to which his son was subjected and demanded that his son be transferred to another prison closer to Ağrı. Alp said they were threatened by the prison administration after he filed a complaint and told by the administration that his son would be sent to Edirne, the prison furthest away from Ağrı.

In the meantime, the Human Rights Association’s Prison Commission member Necla Sengül said they received a complaint from the family of Alp and that they took it to the Ministry of Justice, adding that they will follow up the case. Sengul said they also received many torture complaints, especially from Osmaniye and Sincan prisons, adding that torture is used widely in the prisons in Turkey.