There are a total of 1,517 sick inmates in Turkey’s prisons, 651 of whom are suffering from severe illness, an opposition deputy said, citing figures by the Human Rights Association (İHD).
In a parliamentary inquiry addressed to Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy and Equality Party (DEM Party) deputy Cengiz Çiçek said that at least 63 inmates in southern Turkey recently waived their rights to medical care due to systematic mistreatment by prison authorities as well as security forces accompanying them during their transportation to hospitals.
Çiçek asked if any investigation has been launched into the allegations of mistreatment and if the government is working on plans to restore the inmates’ access to healthcare.
Reports by Turkey-based rights groups have in recent years documented a systematic disregard of prisoners’ health, particularly in the cases of those jailed on political grounds.
The mistreatment includes the denial of hospital referrals, refusal to provide medication and special meals prescribed by doctors, requiring inmates to undergo invasive searches during hospital transfers and compelling inmates to undergo treatment in handcuffs and refusing treatment to those who resist.
Another issue is the authorities’ refusal to release critically ill inmates, sometimes despite hospital reports pointing to the serious health risks of imprisonment.
The Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) frequently comes under criticism over its questionable reports that find ailing inmates fit to remain in prison. Rights advocates slam the agency over its lack of independence from political influence and its role in compounding the persecution of political prisoners.
Every year, rights groups report the death of dozens of sick prisoners, either while behind bars or shortly after their belated release, which often comes at the end-stage of their illnesses.
