From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 16:46:16 +0200
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: "[Ozgurluk]" AI: "END ISOLATION IN TURKISH PRISONS"
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
AI Index EUR 44/026/2001
News Service Nr. 72
TURKEY: Urgent need to end isolation in Turkish prisons
Embargoed for : 24/04/2001 00:01 GMT
"Isolation regimes in Turkish prisons must be stopped
immediately" Amnesty International said today as it launched
its report on the F-Type prisons. The report Turkey:
"F-Type" prisons - Isolation and allegations of torture and
ill-treatment, relates to an ongoing crisis in the Turkish prisons.
"Amnesty International calls on the authorities to end
abuses in the prisons and ensure that prisoners be allowed
to associate widely with each other for at least several
hours each day" added the organization.
All reports confirm that a regime of solitary confinement
and small group isolation is being imposed in the new F-type prisons.
Prisoners are held in small cells either on their own or
with up two others. Many prisoners have allegedly gone
without human contact for days, apart from roll-calls, which
are said to be frequently accompanied by violence.
To the knowledge of Amnesty International none of the
prisoners in the F-type prisons have yet been brought out of
their units for recreation, proper exercise or sport, nor
have they been permitted to associate with other prisoners.
"Prolonged isolation can in itself amount to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment and can facilitate torture and
ill-treatment. The Turkish government must immediately stop
such abuses," said the organization.
Amnesty International welcomed recent announcements by the
Turkish government that they will amend the law and allow
association of prisoners in recreational areas. The
organization has repeatedly urged the Turkish authorities
to take the following measures to bring Turkish prisons into
line with international standards:
The regime of small-group isolation and solitary
confinement in F-Type and other prisons should be ended
immediately. Areas of common use for purposeful activities
should be made accessible to prisoners for several hours
each day. Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law should be
amended;
Prisoners should never be tortured or ill-treated. They
should receive necessary medical treatment. Gendarmes should
not be brought into contact with prisoners;
An independent and comprehensive investigation into deaths
and allegations of ill-treatment and torture during the
December operation should be conducted immediately with the
results made public and those responsible being brought to justice;
The prisons should be opened to the scrutiny of human
rights defenders including doctors and lawyers to ensure
that they are run in accordance with Turkish law and
international standards for the humane treatment of prisoners.
Background
Since October 2000 more than 1,000 political prisoners have
participated in hunger strikes against the F-Type prisons.
Reportedly up to 800 people remain on hunger strike.
Seventeen people have already died as a result.
On 9 December the Justice Minister promised that the planned
transfer of prisoners to the F-Type prisons would not take
place until Article 16 of the Anti-terror Law, which lays
down a draconian regime of isolation, was amended. Yet on 19
December an operation was conducted by the security forces
in 20 prisons, as a result of which 30 prisoners and two
soldiers died. Subsequently, hundreds of prisoners were
transferred to three new F-type prisons.
Representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch were in Turkey in early January to research the
December operation and the conditions in the new F-Type
prisons. Both organizations sought talks with the Justice
Ministry as well as access to the prisons, but the requests
were refused. They met representatives of the Human Rights
Commission of the Turkish Parliament, several human rights
organizations, lawyers and doctors.
AI's new report Turkey: "F-Type" prisons - Isolation and
allegations of torture and ill-treatment, AI Index: EUR
44/025/2001, is also available in Turkish. Please refer to
this report for more details.
\ENDS
public document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's
press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web :
http://www.amnesty.org
*******************************************
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