The number of minors held in pretrial detention in Turkey increased by 17.7 percent in three months to 3,809, far outpacing the roughly 1 percent growth in the country’s overall prison population, according to Justice Ministry figures.
The latest statistics, dated November 2, show that 3,809 of 5,121 incarcerated youngsters ages 12 to 17 were being held in pretrial detention, compared with 3,235 of 4,636 minors on August 3. The proportion of teens in pretrial detention rose from 69.8 percent to 74.4 percent over the period, while the number serving sentences declined from 1,401 to 1,312.
The increase comes despite legal safeguards intended to limit the detention of minors. Under Turkey’s Child Protection Law No. 5395, deprivation of liberty must be used only as a last resort. Article 20 provides for alternatives to detention, including restrictions on movement and contact with certain individuals, and permits pretrial detention when those measures fail, are considered unlikely to succeed or are not followed.
Article 21 of the law also prohibits pretrial detention for children younger than 15 accused of offenses carrying a maximum prison sentence of no more than five years. The ministry’s statistics do not specify the offenses for which the children were detained or the circumstances of individual detention decisions.
The rise among minors was part of a broader increase in pretrial detention. The number of people held in pretrial detention across Turkey rose from 65,227 in August to 72,131 in November, an increase of 10.6 percent, while the overall prison population grew from 433,520 to 437,889.
The latest figures also showed that Turkey’s prisons were operating at approximately 144 percent of official capacity, exceeding it by 133,585 people, the BirGün newspaper reported Friday. According to the Justice Ministry’s Directorate General of Prisons and Detention Houses, the country’s 402 prisons had a combined capacity of 304,304 as of October 9, compared with the November 2 prison population of 437,889.
The growing use of pretrial detention has been a longstanding concern in Turkey. Justice Ministry figures showed in April that the number of people held in pretrial detention had increased by 62 percent since 2023, reaching 62,514.
The Council of Europe’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) raised concerns in October about the treatment of youngsters in Turkish detention facilities, documenting allegations of physical abuse and inadequate safeguards against ill-treatment.
In reports based on visits conducted in 2021 and 2024, the committee said boys in juvenile detention had reported beatings following disciplinary incidents or acts of self-harm, while detained girls described physical and verbal abuse by prison officials.
The committee also warned that building more prisons would not resolve overcrowding and urged Turkish authorities to address its underlying causes by reducing reliance on imprisonment and the length of time people remain incarcerated.
