Six civil society organizations in Turkey have called for an immediate end to what they describe as systematic human rights violations in prisons, saying the abuses reflect state policy.
In a joint statement the groups cited prolonged isolation in so-called “pit-type” high-security prisons, administrative decisions extending prison terms and restrictions on the release of critically ill inmates and access to medical treatment.
They said the practices violate Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protect the right to life and prohibit torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Turkey’s high-security prison system includes facilities classified as S-type, Y-type and other maximum-security units, collectively referred to as “pit-type” prisons. Long criticized by rights groups, these facilities involve near-total solitary confinement, sharply limit social interaction and heavily restrict yard time, sports and other recreational activities.
The groups said the strict isolation in “pit-type” prisons harms inmates’ mental health and pointed to indefinite hunger strikes launched by three prisoners — Tahsin Sağaltıcı, Gürkan Türkoğlu and Hüseyin Özen — as evidence of the conditions.
The groups also criticized denial of medical care for sick prisoners, saying the failure to grant release on medical grounds constitutes a clear violation of the right to life. As a recent example, the organizations cited the death of 70-year-old prisoner Mehmet Edip Taşar, who died on March 24 after authorities repeatedly denied his release despite his worsening health.
Under Turkey’s Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, courts may suspend the sentence of a prisoner who, due to a serious illness or disability, cannot sustain life under prison conditions and who is not considered a serious or concrete danger to society.
Rights groups say the provision is very rarely applied in practice.
The statement was signed by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), the Health and Social Service Employees Union (SES), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Association for the Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD).
The organizations called for an end to isolation, effective investigations into suspicious deaths in custody and full access to medical care for prisoners.
They also urged authorities to base release decisions on independent medical evaluations, establish an independent monitoring mechanism involving civil society to oversee prison conditions and abolish prison administrative oversight boards that block release on probation.
Under the Turkish Penal Code, inmates who have completed three-fourths of their sentence and have less than one year remaining are eligible for release on probation. However, administrative oversight boards, established in Turkish prisons in January 2021, have faced criticism for arbitrarily rejecting or delaying the parole or probation of political prisoners including on grounds such as “failure to display remorse.”
