AMED - Stating that High Security and Type S prisons are "isolation prisons", İHD Amed Branch manager Yusuf Erdoğan said: "Building prisons is not a service."

 

In prisons, where human rights violations and practices amounting to arbitrary and torture are on the agenda, the isolation of prisoners is deepened with the types S and Y built after the types F. Type S and Y prisons, which are the increased capacity of Type F prisons, which are High Security prisons, were created for prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, TMK crimes and those with "Dangerous" status in accordance with Article 9-3 of Law No. 5275. According to the data announced by the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses on June 1, there are 19 High Security and 7 Type S Closed Prisons. High Security Prisons (YGC), consisting of 2 floors with cells for 1 and 3 people, have a capacity of 487 people. 4 blocks consist of single cells and one block consists of rooms for 3 people.

 

EVERY STEP IS MONITORED

 

In High Security Prisons, 5 corridors (sections) in each block are built as a separate block, and the cells are called "modules". The doors of the cells are opened and closed with an automatic button pressed from the hut. While this hut is called the local door panel (LKP), there is also a central door panel (MKP) that monitors the LKPs. Thus, while every movement of the prisoners is monitored, all communication is provided through megaphones and buttons.

 

 PRISON LOOKS LIKE A CAGE

 

While the "module" cells are 12-13 square meters in size, including the bathroom-toilet and kitchen counter, there is a window called "sunshade" that opens to an empty space resembling an apartment space. Since the claws on the first and second floors are covered with a steel mesh resembling a sieve, apart from the iron railing, it is not even possible to see the sky. Cameras were attached to these cage-like windows (sunshades) to see inside the cells. There are also cameras in the cells for 3 people. While the ventilation area is 63 square meters, the ventilation of the two corridors facing each other was designed to be in diagonal alignments. The prison, which is surrounded by walls on four sides, is surrounded by electric wires, and even the ceiling, which is the only open space, is covered with wires, giving the appearance of a cage.

 

CELL FOR ISOLATION

 

Type S Closed Prisons, consisting of two floors, were built on an area of 35 thousand 811 square meters. Types S, with a capacity of 552 and consisting of 3 and single rooms, resemble Types F. While there is a common area on the lower floor, there are 3 floors of bunk beds on the upper floor. There are two cameras in the ventilation and interior areas.

 

In the report prepared by the Human Rights Association (IHD) Central Prisons Commission on Type Y and S prisons, the rights violations were summarized as "standing count, isolation, strip search, ill-treatment and solitary confinement".

 

İHD Amed Branch Manager Yusuf Erdoğan made evaluations about prisons.

 

'ABSOLUTE ISOLATION IS BEING IMPOSED'

 

Stating that the prisoners in these prisons only go out for air for one hour a day, Erdoğan said: “Prisoners spend 23 hours a day either alone in a single room or have to spend it in a room occupied by three people. Other than that, they have absolutely no connections with the outside. We define Types YGC and S as isolation prisons. Regardless of the type of crime or punishment they received, prisoners are placed in single rooms as a result of the decisions of the Administrative and Observation Boards. The practices in Type S prisons cause a lot of damage, especially in psychology. It is understood from the applications made to our association that suspicious deaths, suicide cases, torture and ill-treatment practices have been common in the past. In these types of prisons, there is a policy in which the prisoners' relations both with the outside world and with other prisoners are restricted as much as possible, their relationships are cut, and the prisoners are held in absolute isolation.``

  

'BUILDING A PRISON IS NOT A SERVICE'

 

Stating that the state is responsible for ensuring both the life and social and cultural rights of the prisoners, Erdoğan said: "There is an attack on the political personality of the prisoners in these prisons. Erdoğan continued: “Building prisons is not a service. On the contrary, policies need to be produced to build a society where there are no prisons and the number of prisons is reduced or closed. Achieving social peace is not possible by building prisons, but on the contrary, by closing these prisons. Or it is possible by ending isolation and isolation policies. We are trying to implement all legal processes. However, it is not enough; we are not satisfied with just the legal process. This needs to turn into public pressure. Our main demand is the elimination of isolation prisons such as Type S and F.”