Thirteen PKK prisoners who were transferred to Van F Type prison after the jail break in Bingöl M Type prison are suffering from repression, being put in cold cells, denied food and warm water and subjected to humiliating and arbitrary practices.

18 PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) prisoners escaped from the jail on 25 September via a 70 metres tunnel they are believed to have dug over a year period. 17 of them were captured one day later, while the last PKK prisoner is still on the run.

Following the capture, fugitive prisoners were transferred to other jails, 13 to Van F Type prison and 4 to Sincan F Type Closed Prison in Ankara. The transfer of four to Sincan prison was followed by that of 14 other inmates in Bingöl prison.

Feleknaz Kaydu, sister of Diyar Kaydu, one of the inmates transferred to Van, said that the prison administration didn't allow her to give the pullover she brought for her brother during her visit to the prison.

“When I saw him, he was trembling with cold, wearing only a torn undershirt. His nose was broken. He didn't tell me anything no matter what I asked. Two prison officers were waiting near us during our talk and they didn't even allow me to hug my brother, nor stopped intervening our conversation until it ended. These prison officers were not wearing a name tag on themselves and this is because they are officers who are allowed by the prison administration to commit violence against inmates”, Kaydu told.

Kaydu noted that her brother was dirty and had been denied food for many days. “They are all ill but none of them is being allowed to see a doctor”, she added.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Van deputy Özdal Üçer also called for public sensitivity towards the inmates.
According to TUHAD-FED (Associations of Help for Prisoners' Families Federation) and BDP lawyers who last Wednesday visited the 16 inmates recently transferred from Bingöl to Sincan prison, the inmates here are also facing repression by prison officers.

The 16 inmates were subjected to "detailed search" -naked body search – soon after their arrival in the jail. Two among them, Şahin Biçimli and Bilal Demirdağ, were assaulted by wardens for objecting to the naked search.

The prison administration has launched an investigation against the inmates for chanting slogan during “detailed search”. Other prisoners in the jail have also been subjected to investigation for the same reason.

The transferred inmates have nothing in their cells for they were not enabled to bring their things from Bingöl to Sincan prison. They have also been denied some social rights including talking to other inmates and joining workshop activities on Tuesday.