Rights violations against political prisoners and ill prisoners in prisons continue to increase. According to the 2025 data of the Human Rights Association (İHD), there are at least 1,412 ill prisoners in prisons across Turkey and Kurdistan. Of these, 335 are seriously ill prisoners.

 

Among the seriously ill prisoners, 230 are reportedly unable to maintain their lives on their own, while 105 require assistance. In addition, 188 prisoners require regular medical monitoring due to their illnesses.

 

Abdülmenaf Aytaç is among the seriously ill prisoners. He was first detained in Agirî (Ağrı) in 2014 on charges of “terrorist organization membership” and remained in prison for one year before being acquitted and released in 2015. However, after the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal, Aytaç was retried in 2023 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

 

HE SUFFERS FROM MULTIPLE ILLNESSES

 

Lawyer Nazlı Turan, co-spokesperson of the İHD Central Prison Commission, said Aytaç is currently being held in Menemen Type-R Closed Prison.

 

“His case is currently before the Court of Cassation and he has been imprisoned continuously for three years. About two months ago he was transferred from Elazığ to Menemen Type-R Prison,” Nazlı Turan said.

 

She stated that Aytaç suffers from thyroid cancer and prostate disease, and that he also suffered a heart attack in prison before undergoing angioplasty. “He also has chronic high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol problems and regularly uses medication for all of these illnesses,” she added.

 

THERE IS A REPORT, BUT NO RELEASE

 

Nazlı Turan stated that these illnesses were officially documented by the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) in 2025.

 

“There is also an official report showing that the prisoner is 65 percent disabled, yet he has still not been released,” she said and added: “It is clear that his health condition can no longer be managed under prison conditions.”

 

‘HE IS BEING HELD IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT’

 

Nazlı Turan said Aytaç is being held alone, with prison authorities reportedly justifying the practice by saying there are no other prisoners convicted on the same charges. She noted that Aytaç uses a wheelchair because of tissue loss in his left arm and loss of sensation in his arms and legs.

 

Nazlı Turan said: “Despite this, he is being kept in solitary confinement. Failing to release him despite his worsening illnesses, while also keeping him isolated, now constitutes a violation not only of the right to health but also of the right to life.”

 

Stating that, Aytaç is taken alone to social activities and conversations, which she described as an additional violation considering his age, severe illnesses and reported memory problems Nazlı Turan stressed: “We call on the relevant public institutions to take responsibility and ensure his release as soon as possible.”