Human Rights Association took a decision to identify 19 December as "Fight for Human Rights in prisons and Solidarity Day" in Turkey at its general assembly held between 16 and 17 December 2002. The Day aims at strengthening solidarity with convicts and prisoners and ensuring that convicts and prisoners to live in prisons in conditions appropriate to human dignity. The aim is to ensure the respect for human rights in prisons identified in supra-national documents concerning human rights. The aim is not only to draw the attention to situations and to demand respect for human rights in prisons in Turkey but also in the world. The aim is also to share graves of families who have lost their children in prisons. This is to discuss prison related problems and to inform public and the governments about outcomes of those discussions on 19 December in every year.
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Public opinion in Turkey and the World had observed the prison operation held on 19 December 2000 in 20 prisons of Turkey with a great bewilderment and sorrow. The humanity had witnessed to the violence towards hundreds of prisoners and convicts, burnt bodies and rising flames from prisons.
Together with two military personel a total of 32 people were lost their lives, and hundred of those were injured and burnt.
Before this bloody operation, on 20 October 2000, some prisoners and convicts had initiated a hunger strike. Hunger strikes were representing a reaction against isolation conditions to be introduced by the F type prisons.
Hikmet Sami Türk, then Minister of Justice, had to make a decalarion vis a vis the increasing criticism from the public opinion on 9 December 2000 that F type prisons were not opened without obtaining the consent of the public opinion.
However, after a while, the methodology to solve problems with dialogue had been left aside and the well-known tragic developments had been experienced in prisons. In the death fasts lasting in two years and in related events a total of 104 people were died. It is obvious that reason of those deaths are the prison policies based on the isolation system and implementation of these policies.
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On the "Fight for Human Rights in prisons and Solidarity Day, we, as the Human Rights Association, would like to share our opinion on prisons once more.
The HRA longs for and wish to have a world without prisons. Punishment by imprisoning and prisons has a long history of 300 years in the human history anda re under discussion in last 50 years as a methodology and spaces to be abandoned. At the international level, actions defined as crime are limited. In all countries, human actions defined as crime and penalty are eliminated. Especially in democratic countries, the method for punishment by imprisoning is being used at possible minimum levels.
Second issue is related to the policy of execution. With regard to actions defined as "crime" , alternative methods are used instead of imprisoning people in prisons, like giving duty in charity organisations or limiting to participate in some activities (not allowing to enter stadiums, or to gor another city for a certain period of time, etc.)
In the supra-national human rights documents, protection of human dignity is underlined as main target in capturing people in spaces named prisons or detention houses. Contradictory nature of prisons to the human nature is not hidden in these documents. Within these conditions, protection of human rights and freedoms of prisoners and convicts are tried to be taken under guarantee. In this context, the isolation is not regarded as an ordinary application but rather as the extraordinary practice and the heaviest punishment. This sort of punishment is considered to be given only with a report provided by a medical doctor and only for a certain period of time.
We would like to underline that the Human Rights Association refuses the isolation as a punishment. According to the Human Rights Association the isolation is a method of torture and can never be used as a sanction. Gathering of prisoners and convicts with others in prisons and being involved in various activities cannot be hindered. In prisons, a person has rights to life, health, education, feeding, sports, and right to be involved in cultural and social activities and these rights should be respected.
The Human Rights Association had reacted to the provision of the Anti-Terror Law of 1991 in its earliest stages before enforced which established the legal basis for F type prisons. This provision was related to the capturing convicts and prisoners in prisons to be built on the basis of single and three-person room system. The HRA had declared that this provision was aiming at isolation. Later, the HRA in several occassions had outspokenly reacted to the tendering and building process of F type prisons since 1997. In its General Assembly of 28 October 1999, a decision was made to organise a convention on F type prisons and realised its decision on 29-30 January 2000. The HRA has initiated intensive activities in due course against isolation.
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A call on to the Government and Public Opinion
The HRA draws the attention to the problems of convicts and prisoners in all prisons without making any distinction whether they are political or not. Moreover, the HRA gives a special attention to the conditions of women and children in prions and refectories.
The 58th Governments declares that the human rights and fundemental freedoms are establishing their basis. This is an undertaking towards citizens of Turkey too. We call on the Government concerning prisons in general and hunger strikes lasting in prisons in particular.
– We call on the Government and Minister of Justice to fulfill their responsibility. Remove isolation conditions applied to prisoners and convicts in prisons. End the death fasts by doing this.
– Eliminate isolation conditions in all prisons. This include prison in Imrali island.
– Bring all who are responsible for the prison operations which were held in Turkey and caused deqths of tens of prisoners before the courts.
– Respect to the rights of prisoners and convicts in all prisons of defence, not to be subject to violence, health, education, food and communication with their families and outside world.
– Bring conditions in all prisons in line with human dignity, especially the ones where women and children stay.
– The human dignity is an expectation to receive tretment appropriate to the mental Picture of human beings. Ensure that all prisoners shall receive treatment appropriate to the human dignity.
– Lastly, we call on the democratic public opinion to support and to be in solidarity with us in our struggle for human rights in prisons.
Human Rights Association