Three prisoners at a high-security penal institution in northwestern Turkey allege that guards beat them while their hands were cuffed behind their backs after one of them shouted an anti-torture slogan on May 20, according to a letter published Tuesday by the BirGün daily.
Ufuk Keskin said he, Ali Dilmen and Bakican Işık were assaulted in an area covered by security cameras at Kocaeli No. 2 F-Type Prison and later filed criminal complaints against the guards. Keskin, who has several chronic illnesses, also alleged that prison authorities prevented him from obtaining medication he regularly uses.
Keskin said the incident began after Dilmen shouted, “Human dignity will defeat torture,” in the prison yard. Guards then intervened against all three prisoners and beat them while they were rear-handcuffed, according to his account.
The letter did not explain why Keskin and Işık were also targeted. It said the prisoners were taken to a padded cell after the alleged beating but did not say why the cell was used or what happened after they were put inside it.
All three were taken to the prison infirmary that day and received medical reports documenting their condition, according to the letter. Keskin alleged that he had swelling and open wounds on his body and that his clothes were torn.
The letter said Keskin has Type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, ulcers and herniated discs in his neck and lower back. It did not identify the medication he was allegedly denied or say for how long he was unable to obtain it.
Işık is a member of Grup Yorum, a left-wing folk group known for its protest songs. Earlier BirGün reporting said he was serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence but did not specify the offense. It was not immediately clear whether Keskin and Dilmen had been convicted or were awaiting trial.
Kocaeli No. 2 is an F-type high-security prison in Kandıra, a district of Kocaeli province east of Istanbul.
Neither Turkey’s Justice Ministry nor the prison administration had issued a public response to the allegations as of Tuesday. The reports did not say whether prosecutors had opened an investigation into the prisoners’ complaints.
The European Commission said in its latest annual report on Turkey that allegations of abuse by prison officials continued to be reported and that accountability for such treatment remained limited.
