Continuing Abuse in F-type Prisons

They claim that in an F-type prison in Tekirdag (Thrace), a prisoner who asked to be sent to hospital was beaten by both the doctor and the guards. It is said that in the same prison a prisoner's injured leg was hit.

Those complaining are punished

Güray Dag of the Istanbul branch of the Contemporary Lawyers' Association (CHD) says that prisoner Kemal Avci, who had had pains in his fingers for two weeks, had been sent to the doctor's on 13 June. When he asked to be sent to hospital, he was beaten by the prison guards and by the doctor. Avci complained about the guards and the doctor, but was punished with 20 days in the cell for "resisting the doctor and civil servants on duty".

According to lawyers Barkin Timtik and Sükriye Erden of the CHD prisons' commission, prisoner Hakan Özek has a serious injury on his leg and cannot walk without crutches. When he could not stand any longer and asked for a chair, he was beaten by prison guards.

The two lawyers say that six other prisoners have been maltreated in a similar way. When they complained, they were punished with a withdrawal of family visits for one month and a ban on communication for 45 days.

These prisoners are: Muammer Simsek, Turan Özen, Ilhan Iseri, Zeynel Ertürk, Mesut Omur, and Bülent Pelit.

Order 45/1 not applied

The CHD, which has prepared a report on F-type prisons, says that Order No. 45/1, which had been introduced in order to stop the protest hunger strikes of prisoners, was not being applied.

Lawyer Behic Asci, a member of the CHD, had initiated the hunger strikes on 5 April 2006 to protest against the isolation policy in F-type prisons, and the strikes continued for 294 days.

Order 45/1, which was then issued, allows for detainees and prisoners to use common space for 10 hours a day. (GG/EÜ/AG)