Turkey has refused to revise the aggravated life sentence, which affords no possibility of release, of a severely disabled inmate despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that found the punishment inhumane, the Mezopotamya News agency reported.
Civan Boltan was severely wounded in an armed clash with Turkish security forces in the rural Genç district of Bingöl province on April 24, 2012.
Initially declared dead, he was later found alive with life-altering injuries. His left hand had to be amputated, his left eye lost all vision and he retains only 20 percent vision in his right eye. Shrapnel remains lodged in his brain and throughout his body. He is currently held in Bolu F-type High Security Prison,
On February 3, 2014, the 9th High Criminal Court in Diyarbakır sentenced Boltan to aggravated life imprisonment on charges of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” and “attempted assassination of public officials.” Turkish authorities accused Boltan of membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. It has been waging a bloody campaign in Turkey’s southeast since 1984, resulting in over 40,000 deaths.
The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the sentence on October 23, 2014.
After exhausting domestic legal options, Boltan’s legal team filed an appeal with the ECtHR. On February 12, 2019, the court ruled that Turkey had violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
The ruling found that the imposition of an aggravated life sentence without the possibility of release constituted a violation of Boltan’s rights given his medical condition.
In the retrial ordered after the ECtHR ruling, Turkish courts issued the same sentence. The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the verdict, arguing that changes to the Turkish Penal Code would be necessary to comply with the European judgment.
Legal scholars argue that no such legislative change is needed. Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution explicitly states that international treaties on fundamental rights override conflicting national laws. Nonetheless, Turkish courts have yet to apply the ECtHR’s decision in Boltan’s case.
Human rights organizations have condemned the lack of implementation. Boltan remains imprisoned under conditions that his family and lawyers say constitute ongoing mistreatment.
“He is blind, has one arm and lives with shrapnel in his brain,” his mother Nazime Boltan said.
She described repeated instances of abuse and neglect, including an incident where a door fell on his hand. “They didn’t even take him to the infirmary,” she said.
Poor health coupled with unsanitary and unsuitable prison conditions have resulted in the death of many sick inmates in Turkey. Since 2002 more than 5,300 inmate deaths have been reported, including 709 in the first 11 months of 2024 alone.
