A report drafted by Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD) has revealed that at least 663 rights violations took place in 32 prisons in Turkey’s Marmara region over the past three months, according to Turkish media reports.
The İHD report, titled “Rights Violations in Prisons in the Marmara Region,” covers the July through September period.
The report was prepared as a result of visits by volunteer lawyers from the association to prisons as well as based on letters or faxes sent by inmates to their families.
“Torture, beating and maltreatment,” “bans on communication,” “violation of the right to have access to healthcare services,” “being sent to a remote prison as a method of punishment” and “disciplinary punishments” are the titles mentioned in the report regarding the content of the rights violations in the prisons.
According to the report 19 female inmates and 170 male inmates from 32 prisons got in touch with the İHD to complain about the rights violations they have been subjected to in prison. Among them, 172 of them are in jail for political reasons, while 17 are jailed for various crimes.
Rights violations in Turkey’s prisons and the denial of medical care to inmates have increased since a failed coup in July 2016, as a result of which the Turkish government has jailed more than 30,000 people on the pretext of an anti-coup fight.