Lawyers of  Bars of Ağrı, Batman, Bitlis, Bingöl, Amed, Erzurum, Hakkari, Kars, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Urfa, Şırnak, Dersim and Van have released a preliminary survey report prepared in line with the work of a delegation created to expose the problems suffered by ill prisoners in Turkish jails.

The Surveying Commission had planned to met 12 inmates in Metris R Type prison no 2, Silivri prison and Bakırköy Women's prison on 29 November 2013 but they couldn't meet two of the inmates, Mehmet Mesut Tanrıkulu and Hasan Kaçar, who -the prison administration said- were in hospital during the delegation's visit.

The report highlighted that most of the applications the mentioned bars received from prisoners involved the major problems and discriminative practices they faced, such as their medical treatment period and prison circumstances.
The delegation stated that sick prisoners in different jails in Istanbul had to wait for a long time before receiving an answer to their demands for hospitalization and treatment. According to the report, even the prisoners with serious diseases have to wait for three to four months for treatment for which they are taken to hospital not in ambulances but in military ring vehicles, and are kept waiting not in the hospital but in the vehicle while waiting for the finalization of medical and formal procedures for examination.

Contrary to the relevant regulations and medical ethics, prisoners are held in handcuffs during treatment and other procedures, and this is generally instructed by doctors who display a discriminative attitude towards prisoners and insult them because of their ethnicity.
The report stressed that Kurdish ill prisoners in particular were subjected to insults and discrimination, and in some cases denied treatment, by doctors who treat prisoners in line with the answers they give to doctors' questions about the case they are tried in.

The report cited in this regard the case of 64 years old prisoner Osman Akdağ, patient with chest and cardiovascular disease, who objected to being held in handcuffs during his treatment at Silivri state hospital due to brain tumor. In response to his reaction, the doctor told him that “I can treat you in any way I want. If you have any complaints, go to BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) deputies and have yourself treated by them”.

Another ill prisoner Sevim Er, with 95 percent visual impairment, was denied treatment by a doctor who accused him of telling a lie when he said he cannot read the writing the doctor showed him during a eye examination. Er was taken back to prison without receiving treatment, which makes him face the risk of complete blindness now.

Also citing the case of paralyzed prisoner Salih Tuğrul (57) in Metris R Type prison, the report said Tuğrul couldn't meet his needs on his own, and needed assistance, but was taken care of by another prisoner Hayrettin Beştaş, 62, who is also receiving treatment following open heart surgery.
The report pointed out that prison conditions and the denial of proper food made the situation of ill prisoners severer, citing in this regard the situation in Bakırköy prison where dirty water has caused hair loss and bruises on the bodies of many inmates.

Seriously ill prisoner Hasan Kaçar, who is currently hospitalized at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, can avail himself of no legal support for he wasn't appointed a guardian by judiciary.
The report underlined that ill prisoners, including the seriously ones, were a number of times subjected to ungrounded and arbitrary disciplinary punishments.

According to the report, authorities make arbitrary decisions and do not rule stay of execution even in the cases of deadly ill inmates who have reports approving that they mustn't be held in prison. This process -the report says- is grounded the Article 16 of the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures which subjects the release of prisoners to the condition of “not posing hazard for the public safety”.
The mentioned bars called on the government, the Ministries of Justice and Health and all concerned authorities and institutions to launch an investigation into the mentioned violations of prisoners' rights and to take the necessary precautions to immediately end the violation of prisoners' right to life.

The Bars demanded an immediate end to discriminative practices imposed on ill prisoners, procedural act against those responsible for these practices, and the abolition of the Article 16 of the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures.
“We demand the improvement of prison and treatment conditions of all ill prisoners, and the stay of execution and urgent release of all those facing a life-threatening situation”, the bars added.