Marta Sömek

 

ISTANBUL - Reacting to the fact that sick prisoners in prisons are not released, the artists called out: ‘’This is a process that is unlawful, unfair and contrary to all human rights. The voices of sick prisoners must be heard and they should be released.’’

 

While the situation of sick prisoners staying in prisons in Turkey and the region worsens day by day, violations of rights continue to increase with the coronavirus epidemic. According to the ‘’Prisons Report’’ published by the Human Rights Association (IHD) in 2020, there are 1605 sick prisoners, 604 of whom are extremely sick, in prisons in Turkey and the region. The number of prisoners who lost their lives in prisons is increasing day by day due to the fact that the prisoners do not have access to their right to health and their treatment is prevented. While severe isolation practices are imposed on the prisoners, their access to health and other rights is also prevented. The reports of sick prisoners who are being treated in hospitals that ‘she/he cannot stay in prison’ are not considered valid, they are almost left to die.

 

14 prisoners died in 2021

 

While 27 sick prisoners died in prisons in 2020, 14 sicl prisoners have died since the beginning of 2021. While the rights to life of the sick prisoners who could not be released due to the reports of the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) are violated, ATK is not the only obstacle for their release. Even if the ATK gives report as ‘’She/he cannot stay in prison’’, this time asked for an opinion from police station on the prisoners. In almost all applications, sick prisoners are not released because of the opinion of the police station that ‘’she/he poses danger for society’’.

While extremely sick prisoners in prisons were not released, Ayşe Özdoğan, a fourth stage cancer patient who was released due to her illness in December 2019, was arrested on October 2, as the suspension of execution was not accepted.

 

Artists Şebnem Sönmez, Yeşim Ustaoğlu and Canan Şenol spoke to JINNEWS about the situation of prisoners who are not released in prisons despite their serious illnesses. The artists called out: ‘’It is a process that is unlawful, unfair and contrary to all human rights. The voices of sick prisoners must be heard.’’

 

‘They have to get communicate immediately!’

 

Stating that she is against all kinds of captivity and violations of the rights of prisoners, actress Şebnem Sönmez called out: ‘’I demand that all these conditions be treated at the maximum level on behalf of the sick women, women who have to raise their children in prisons, on behalf of humanity.’’ Regarding the invalidation of the Forensic Medicine Institute’s reports of ‘’He/she cannot stay in prison’’, Şebnem said: ‘’They probably do not trust their forensic doctors and the Ministry of Health. They ignore the forensic doctors who are the experts of the Ministry of Health. Then there really is a huge gap between institutions, they have to establish this communication immediately.’’

 

‘They have to fix this peril’

 

Şebnem called for the release of the sick prisoners and gave the following message: ‘’If the prisoners are reported that they cannot live in prison conditions, it means that the conditions of the prisons are dire for the recovery of these patients. Either they have to correct this peril or they have to comply with the forensic doctor report, there is no other way.’’

 

‘The voices of the sick prisoners must be heard’

 

Director Yeşim Ustaoğlu also said the following about the rights violations against sick prisoners: ‘’This is a process that is unlawful, unfair and against all human rights.’’ Emphasizing that the voices of sick prisoners must be heard and released, Yeşim called for campaigns to be organized on digital media platforms and for all non-governmental organizations to show sensitivity to the prisoners. Yeşim continued her speech with the following words: ‘’First of all, it is necessary to ensure the functioning of justice and law. These decisions are arbitrary, and the functioning of justice is arbitrary. Justice, conscience, and law should be privileged over everything else.’’

 

‘Their being kept inside is very meaningless’

 

Painter Canan Şenol stated: ‘’I think it is against democracy for people to stay closed because of their thoughts.’’ She interpreted the unlawfulness towards sick prisoners as an unfair situation. Criticizing the fact that the prisoners were not released despite the ATK reports, Canan said: ‘’Even if a person is guilty, if the doctors think that they cannot stay inside, their being kept inside is very meaningless.’’