>From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: "[Ozgurluk.Org]" Turkey/Prisons: Calm Before the Storm >20 August ,2000, Turkish Probe issue 396, Copyright� Turkish Daily >News > >Calm Before the Storm > >It's been a week and silence dominates the dispute over the new F-type >prisons consisting of one- or three-inmate cells, but this silence >certainly doesn't mean that the dispute is over... > >There are many sides involved in the dispute such as government, the >Justice Ministry, inmates and inmates' families, and these groups are all >directly affected by the new prison system. Turkey's human rights groups >are reacting against F-type prisons just because they believe it will harm >inmates' health and may result in further human rights violations > > >Esra Erduran > >Everything seems to have cooled down. It has been a week of silence in the >dispute over the new F-type prisons consisting of one- or three-inmate >cells, but silence certainly doesn't mean that the dispute is all over... > > >In the aftermath of scores of protests and prison unrest over the issue, >silence dominates the prisons. Human rights activists fear that it is the >calm before the storm. > >Turkey has been experiencing numerous problems in prisons recently, which >cannot be defined solely in terms of uprisings and human rights >violations. The government has been working on trying to solve the >shortcomings of the present situation by constructing a new type of prison >called the F-type prison. > >But the government's solution -- F-type prisons consisting of one- or >three-inmate cells instead of dormitories -- is turning into a problem >itself. > >The government's claim is that small prison cells are crucial to ending >riots, hostage takings and hunger strikes by inmates who are currently >housed in dormitories of up to 100 individuals. As a result Turkey is >engaged in a program to build this type of facility. Prisoners loyal to >Kurdish and Islamist groups often run their own dormitories like recruiting >and initiation centers. > >On the other side of the dispute, inmates and families of inmates are >taking every opportunity to protest the government's decision to >construct this new type of prison. Inmates' families fear that the new >prisons carry the potential risk of violating human rights and are harmful >to prisoners' physical and psychological well-being. > >As mentioned above, there are many sides to the dispute such as >government, the Justice Ministry, inmates and their families, and these >parties are all directly affected by the new prison system. Turkey's >human rights groups are reacting against F-type prisons just because they >believe inmates' health will be at risk and they fear the possibility of >further human rights violations. > >After visiting Sincan Prison, an F-type prison in Ankara, Turkey's most >well known human rights groups, the Human Rights Association (IHD), the >Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples >(Mazlum-Der) and the Association for Inmates' Families' Solidarity >(TIYAD), issued their reaction in a report. > >In the concluding comments, the report said: "F-type prisons consist of >one-inmate cells or three-inmate isolation units and there are no [set >construction] standards for the one-inmate cells." > >The Justice Ministry in promoting the new type of prisons claims that >there will be recreation areas in the prisons where inmates can socialize >with each other. In contrast to this, human rights groups claim all closed >and open-air activity areas are not suitable for all needs and from that >point of view there are actually no activity areas for inmates. > >Meanwhile human rights groups also maintain that torture is common in >Turkish prisons and that leftist and Kurdish prisoners are sometimes >singled out for abuse. Critics of the new, more segregated system say >that prisoners will be more vulnerable in smaller cells. > >The associations claim, "Everything possible is being done in an effort to >isolate inmates," with the construction of new prisons. > > >--- >Press Agency Ozgurluk >In Support of the Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey and Kurdistan >http://www.ozgurluk.org >DHKC: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc > _______________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
