The second day of the international conference organized by the Free Women's Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) and titled "Chain of Silence: Breaking the Walls Surrounding Women Political Prisoners" has kicked off in Amed (Diyarbakır).

The first day ended with a session moderated by lawyer Ruken Gülağacı. Lawyer Diana Restrepo Rodriguez spoke via Zoom about the situation of women in prisons in Latin America. Rodriguez said that even legally talking about politics to women is considered a crime in Latin America, and added: "All torture in the world was first tried on women. When it was successful, it was also used in male prisons."

Referring to the arbitrariness in prisons, Rodriguez said: "Silence creates loneliness. It strengthens fear. This causes us to make decisions to betray. First we need to see the right path. We also need to remember that silence can take on all forms. This is a part of deception and assimilation. It continues to drag us into unnecessary struggles. It is important that we break the silence in this sense. I want to express that if we do not eliminate punishment as women, we will not be free. We need to overcome fear. Jin jiyan Azadi."

Activists presented as terrorists in the Philippines

Lawyer Maria Kristina Conti spoke about Filipino women who have problems with the law. Maria Kristina Conti spoke about discriminatory examples experienced by women, in a system resembling the Spanish legal one, and presented the stories of women arrested for different crimes. Referring to the antiterrorism law in the Philippines, Conti said: "A person who is against the government is portrayed as an activist, an activist as a communist, and a communist as a terrorist." Referring to the prisoners who gave birth in prisons, the lawyer pointed out legal improvements and said: "We must work on putting pressure on the institutions. This pressure may lead to the release of some prisoners. That is why I say Jin jiyan Azadi."

The Catalan case

Catalan Lawyer Altemira Guelbenzu Gonzalo also attended the conference online. Pointing out the situation of international institutions in the defense of female prisoners in the Catalan case, Gonzalo gave examples of conflict between police and citizens in the Catalan referendum protests and said that there were protesters who were sentenced to 11 years in prison. Gonzalo said: "Prisons are places of torture and pain. What happens to women in prison is of little importance to the general population. Prisons are patriarchal and at the same time they lead to a new position of obedience where female prisoners are tried to be subjugated."

Stating that the bad conditions of prisons make those inside ill, Altemira Guelbenzu Gonzalo said that "a high percentage of women in prison are exposed to sexual violence."

Lawyer Ebru Akkal, a member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), said that when we look at the last 40 years of Turkey, there has been systematic judicial harassment against women and added: "As women's movements become socialized, and we see the women's struggle grow, we see that judicial violence also increases."

Akkal said that situations such as Turkey's prosecution of the Kurdish Women's Movement's working areas and institutions, the arrest of thousands of activists, and the criminalization of the co-chairmanship reveal the government's approach to women, and continued: "The Kurdish Women's Movement, women's institutions and associations, the closure of women's institutions in local governments and the arrest of women activists are a reflection of the AKP-MHP's view of women. We have seen women in organizations such as TJA, KJA, DÖKH, Rosa Women's Association being put on trial. All of them are accused of participating in the 8 March and 25 November marches, protesting the massacres of women, and defending the co-chairs system. For these “crimes”, women have been detained for a long time. As a result, the existing legal system continues to intimidate society with its politicized judiciary. This situation gave birth to and developed its own struggle on the women's side."

The first day of the conference ended with the speech of People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Amed Deputy Ceylan Akça.