WAN - ÖHD member Halil Kaya, noting that there is an expectation for legal reform following their meetings with families and prisoners, said, “It is not a repentance law that is needed, but a freedom law.” 

 

Whilst human rights violations continue in prisons across Turkey and Kurdistan, discussions regarding sentencing regulations, the situation of political and ill prisoners, and freedom laws remain on the agenda within the framework of the Peace and Democratic Society Process. 

 

Halil Kaya, a member of the Wan (Van) branch of the Lawyers’ for Freedom Association (ÖHD), who visited prisons, stated that prisoners are unable to access their right to healthcare and that coercive oral cavity searches continue during the referral process to hospitals, noting that this approach is incompatible with human dignity. 

 

Kaya stated, “In prisons, many prisoners are losing their lives every day due to illness that have reached their final stages. Those released are also losing their lives months later.” 

 

ARBITRARY PRACTICES 

 

Highlighting that prisoners are not being transferred to hospital due to the prison administration’s arbitrary practices, Kaya stated that Azat Suvari, held at Ahlat Prison, is suffering from hearing loss; whilst this condition was diagnosed by the prison doctor and the necessary documents prepared, the prison administration has failed to transfer the prisoner to hospital for 17 months. 

 

He also stated that Mehmet Çağırıcı, a prisoner held in Giresun Espiye, had been referred to the Forensic Medicine Institute due to health issues, but that his right to access healthcare had been restricted due to a gag order. 

 

Kaya stated that Yüksel Sümbül, a prisoner held in the Van prison, had contracted tuberculosis, and as effective treatment had not been provided, Jiyan Alpsar, another prisoner, had now also contracted the disease. “Jiyan Alpsar is currently being held in solitary confinement and has no access to any healthcare,” he said. 

 

RELEASES ARE BEING BLOCKED

 

Lawyer Kaya stated that the Administration and Observation Boards, established in 2021 to decide whether prisoners should be released, were acting in a manner that bypassed the courts and constituted an unlawful system. 

 

Kaya said: “In Giresun Espiye Prison, a prisoner named Sefer Baran, despite having served his full sentence, is having his release postponed by the board not composed of legal professionals on the grounds that he is not ‘of good conduct’. This constitutes a clear violation of the right to liberty. Similarly, the release of a prisoner named Vedat Fidan, held at Van F-Type Prison, is being blocked in the same manner.”

 

NOT A REPENTANCE LAW, BUT A FREEDOM LAW 

 

Kaya noted that during their meetings, families and prisoners had expressed their expectations regarding legal reforms. He stressed: “What is needed is not a repentance law issued by the state, but a freedom law, as described by the Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The individuals we classify as political prisoners are in prison due to their political demands, not because they have committed a crime.”

 

MA / Bilal Babat