Report on 16 prisons: Systematic violations persist

The Diyarbakır Bar Association, ÖHD, IHD, and TUAY-DER released a report highlighting ongoing systematic violations in 16 prisons across Diyarbakır, Elazığ, and Erzincan.

The Diyarbakır Bar Association, ÖHD, IHD, and TUAY-DER presented a report highlighting ongoing systematic violations in 16 prisons in Diyarbakır, Elazığ, and Erzincan. At the press conference held at the Diyarbakır (Amed) Bar Association, Ahmet Güler, Secretary of the Prison Commission, stated that rights violations, including the restriction of the Kurdish language, limited access to medical treatment, and ill-treatment in prisons, have become systematic.

The report prepared by the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), the Human Rights Association (IHD), and the Association for Solidarity with Prisoners' Families (TUAY-DER) outlined the following key violations:

- Restrictions on the Kurdish language: Prisoners’ requests for Kurdish books and letters are denied, and they are required to pay for translation services.

- Limited access to healthcare: The practice of double handcuffing during hospital transfers continues, gendarmerie officers are present in the room during medical examinations, and sick prisoners are sent back to prison before receiving their test results.

- Ill-treatment: Prisoners are forcibly relocated to distant prisons, and those subjected to torture and mistreatment are punished with disciplinary sanctions instead of receiving justice.

- Female prisoners: Women detainees are not provided with hygiene products, and only low-quality sanitary pads are distributed.

- Communication restrictions: The right to receive newspapers, magazines, and letters is denied, while social activities are banned.

Human rights defenders have called for the release of critically ill prisoners and the immediate abolition of degrading practices that violate human dignity.