PRISONS and HUMAN RIGHTS

Legal and Administrative Measures
Death Fast and Pardoned Prisoners
Deaths and Incidents in Prisons
Prison Conditions
Medical Neglect of Prisoners

PRISONS and HUMAN RIGHTS
The problems in prisons continued in 2005. Deaths in prisons had different reasons. Pressure in particular on political prisoners continued and necessary medical treatment was not provided. In December the independent prison watch group in İzmir stated that the new Law on Execution of Sentences had not lifted the deficiencies and inequality, positive provision were not applied and in many areas backward steps had been observed. The Law on Councils for Correctional Institutions and Prisons that entered into force in 2001 had not secured a serious supervision or transparency of prisons. 
The death fasts continued in 2005. On 9 May the 12th team started its action. Prisons of type L started to operate despite discussions that prisoners would be forced to work for small wages in these prisons. The first L-type prison opened in Ferizli district of Sakarya province. Another point of discussion was the admission that the amount of money allocated to food for prisoners had been cut down by one half. In the budget for 2005 each prisoner was allocated 4.82 YTL per day, but because of a lack of money the amount was cut to 2.50 YTL per day. In November Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek stated that it was impossible to provide three meals a day for that money. He argued that the amount had to be increased in order to prevent the provision of food from outside prison.
In November Ankara Administrative Court No. 3 took an important decision on the treatment of prisoners. It decided that the money that had been taken from prisoners in F-type prisons for their medication had to be paid back with legal interest. The decision was taken on an application from Bülent Barmaksız imprisoned in Bolu F-type Prison.
 

Death Fast and Pardoned Prisoners
The DHKP/C announced that on 9 May the 12th group of death fast activists had started its action. As members of the group the following prisoners were named: in Gebze Prison, Fatma Koyupınar, in Sincan F-type Prison, Serdar Demirel and in Tekirdağ F-type Prison, Faruk Kadıoğlu.
The Committees of Families of Revolutionary Prisoners (DETAK) declared during an action on Taksim Square on 26 June that Senpil Cabadan had started a death fast action in Gebze Prison. She had done so since at the fourth anniversary of the death of Aysun Bozdoğa on 26 June 2001 the isolation on prison was still continuing.
The Solidarity Association of Families of Prisoners (TAYAD) declared that on 24 June Fatma Koyupınar on death fast in Gebze Prison had been forcibly taken to Gebze State Hospital. Reports from Sincan stated that Serdar Demirel, on death fast in Sincan F-type Prison had tried to set himself on fire on 18 December. Reportedly he had refused to be taken to hospital and be medically treated. On 28 December Serdar Demirel was forcibly taken to Ankara Numune Hospital. After a visit his mother Mesude Demirel said: "Before I entered a psychologist had been in the room. He was over 50 years old and kept saying 'what can you do for someone like him?' I was allowed to stay with my son for 10 minutes, but he did not recognize me. He is not himself."
On 1 November relatives of prisoners held a press conference at the office of the HRA in İstanbul. They stated that Remzi Aydın, on death fast n Tekirdağ F-type Prison had been treated harshly when he was transferred to Kandıra F-type Prison No. 2. 
In October it was reported that Mahir Ertuğrul Zevkliler and Tahsin Mert imprisoned in Kırıklar F-type Prison for membership of the Union of Islamic Associations and Parishes were on death fast since three months. 
In Malatya E-type Prison Nevzat İçen, Suat Daştan, Ö. Haydar Konar, Çetin İlkhan, Yahya Figan, Hüseyin Yeter and Mehmet Yoldaş staged a hunger strike between 14 and 16 May demanding that military operations be stopped and Abdullah Öcalan be released.
TAYAD announced that some 150 prisoners in 15 prisoners had gone on hunger strike in protest at the forcible transfer of some prisoners to Tekirdağ F-type Prison on 30 July. The statement of TAYAD also pointed at a similar action in Gebze Prison on 3 August and named the prisons of hunger strikers as: Edirne F-type, Kandıra F-type (1 and 2), Tekirdağ F-type (1 and 2), İzmir Kırıklar F-type, Sincan F-type, Bolu F-type, Elbistan, Gebze, Sıvas, Ulucanlar, Kürkçüler, Uşak and Bayrampaşa Prison. 
In Kürkçüler Prison (Adana) female prisoners on hunger strike against the prison conditions in particular of Abdullah Öcalan were reportedly attacked by guardians. Lawyer Vedat Özkan said that the prisoners Esmer Yaman, Şehnaz Tümer, Kıymet Toprak, Gülten Toprak, Gülistan Arslan, Yeşim Ekinci and Hatice Yaman had gone on hunger strike each for 3 days. On 22 July 15 guardians had attacked them. He added that the prisoners Gülistan Arslan and Esmer Yaman were at risk of cancer.
The health situation of the prisoners reportedly deteriorated in August. Lawyer Osman Çelik stated that besides his client Yeşim Ekici the health of Gülten Poyraz, Şahcan Tünel, Esmer Yaman, Hürriyet Doğan, Kıymet Toprak and Hatice Yaman was poor. He added that Esmer Yaman was suffering from cancer of her chest and Şahcan Tünel had had an eye operation. "During the counts they are forced to stand up. On 3 square meters 2 to 3 prisoners are staying. Because the places are damp their blankets are on the ground. Personal belongings are not handed over to them and they do not get newspapers they want to read. Some guardians apply physical force. F.Ş. was sexually assaulted."
State President Ahmet Necdet Sezer pardoned İbrahim Ethem Yalvaç because of permanent illness according to Article 104 of the Constitution. The decision was published in the Official Gazette on 18 March. On 12 September the Official Gazette included the amnesty of İbrahim Ayhan Özgül, in prison as a member of the DHKP/C.
In Mersin the teacher Hacer Koçak was dismissed in January because she had participated in an action for the victims of the death fast action on 21 July 2004.
Reports on the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
In January the Honor Council of the Turkish Medical Association confirmed the ban on conducting professional activities for one month for the physicians Nur Birgen, Oktan Aktürk, Ömer Can Gökdoğan, Erbil Gözükırmızı, Cemal Yalçın Ergezer and Esin Öztürk, because of false reports relating to the prisoner Bekir Balyemez suffering from the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. İstanbul Medical Association had issued the ban on application of the lawyers of Bekir Balyemez.
On 10 July and 9 December 2002 Bekir Balyemez had been given reports that under his health condition the execution of his sentence should be suspended for six months. However, on 8 October 2003 he had been given a report that he had recovered.
The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
On 10 November the ECoHR passed a judgment on a number of applicants suffering from the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Parts of the judgment read as follows:
The applicants, all Turkish nationals, were sentenced to prison terms on account of their membership of terrorist organisations. Their prison sentences were suspended on medical grounds, as they were suffering from Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome as a result of going on prolonged hunger strike while in prison… These nine applications (with some details on each case, HRFT) are part of a group of 53 similar cases.
From 24 June 2004 onwards, the Court indicated various interim measures to the Turkish Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court (interim measures) to ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings. On 23 August 2004, in connection with its fact-finding mission and in accordance with Rule 39, the Court advised the Turkish Government that during the period from 6 to 13 September 2004, when the panel of experts was due to examine the applicants, the authorities should refrain from arresting or re-imprisoning them.
From 6 to 11 September 2004 a delegation of judges from the Court travelled to Turkey on a mission to a visit various institutions, including certain prisons. They were accompanied by a panel of experts whose task was to assess the medical fitness of the 53 applicants to serve their prison sentences.
Decision of the Court
…In those circumstances, the Court found that a decision to return the applicants to prison despite the lack of change in their condition would be sufficiently serious as to come within the scope of Article 3. The situation was solely attributable to the malfunctioning of the protective machinery that had been put in place in Turkey and which, in practice, had proved to be ill-adapted to cope. The Turkish authorities should have taken swift action to remedy the applicants' situation. The fact that the applicants had inflicted harm upon themselves by going on a prolonged hunger strike did not release Turkey from any of its obligations towards them under Article 3.
The Court therefore held that Turkey would violate Article 3 if the Turkish authorities decided to deprive the applicants of their freedom without there being any significant improvement in their medical fitness to withstand such a measure.
After a large number of prisoners had been released since 2001 on the basis that they were suffering from the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome the reports of the Forensic Institute changed after 2003 and 254 prisoners were issued reports that their health condition allowed for imprisonment.

Four years in F-type prisons (Evrensel/ Serpil Savumlu - on 18 and 19 January 2005) 
Prisoners describe the time after the 19 December (2000) operation when they were taken to the isolation cells of the F-type prisons (summarized translation)
Eyüp Baş (Sincan F-type Prison) 
Various institutions were founded in the F-type prison and isolation was institutionalized. You have the disciplinary council, the letter reading council, the council for publications, experts for social services, psychological advice and so force. Letters are not forwarded not for any legal reasons but rather on religious grounds. Letters that we sent to friends in hospital were not sent stating that we tried to manipulate them on their death fast action and in writing we were told that it is up to the creator to give and take life.
Only in our prison there are 24 folders with complaints but there is not a single case in which we received a positive response. It is hard or impossible to change the room. First the person you want to be together with is inspected. Is s/he from an organization, or independent? And then they say that the criteria to change a room were not met, but they don't tell you what the criteria are.
If there is an inspection of the prison the food is good. Of course the director will take the inspecting people only to certain places in prison. On that day the common spaces are crowded and the workshops are busy. We have elected representatives, but the council does not listen to our representatives. Once Ali Suat Ertosun came with a delegation from abroad and asked to speak to our representative. He was told that this was the murderer of a minister and not worth talking to. 
One day everybody in prison was poisoned with food. We protested and were told that we have to apply in writing for treatment. At midnight we were taken to the infirmary. Soldiers were lying there and given serum. We only got pills against pain and were sent back. Halil Yiğit committed suicide because he was left on his own. 
Gamze Ünal (Gebze Prison) 
Communication is one of the greatest problems. According to circulars letters to our lawyers are private. But they are always opened and not sent. Letters we sent to the press are also prevented. If you have received one letter we have certainly sent 10. We started to write by name, but once the council found out who the person was the letters were not forwarded. 
We got a letter from a friend in another prison and she mentioned that they had been able to obtain a certain book. The administration of our prison wrote to the other prison that they were wrong in allowing such a book. It is up to them to determine what kind of book may be of "harm" for us, because we do not get books even if there is no ban on it.
Elif Akkurt (Elbistan Prison) 
When they show the F-type prisons on TV you can see tables with cloth and flowers, but we are not allowed to grow our own flowers. For a long time we were able to get newspapers such as Evrensel or Özgür Gündem. Reports about hunger strikes were either cut out or the whole page was missing. 
One day we were taken to court. At the end of the hearing we made the victory sign while we were handcuffed. Soldiers attacked us, but we were put on trial for having attacked the soldiers; 5 women attacked 20 soldiers. Male soldiers participate in the searches although this is forbidden.
Hakkı Akça (Tekirdağ F-type Prison)
Isolation has to be taken as a whole. You lose your personality, move away from your ideas and are not able to decide on your own life. Through the windows of the cells the guardians will look inside and give you the impression that you are under constant control. They even installed cameras in the vehicles for transportation. Although three people are in one cell it is forbidden to take joint photographs. 
If there was an urgent health problem we used to send facsimiles. Later we found out that it lasted 10 to 12 days until the letters reached their destination. We had problems in changing our places. The applications were rejected stating that for cultural, religious or economic reasons it was not possible to get together (with friends). A friend called Orhan set himself on fire because of problems related to isolation. In the wing where Osman was staying a phone was found on a person imprisoned on charges relating to the mafia. Therefore all the prisoners in that wing were beaten. Afterwards Orhan set himself on fire.
Yasemin Kardağ (Uşak Prison) 
After 19 December we were first taken to Manisa Prison. Many of us were injured. For a long time we did not get any newspaper. Evrensel and Gündem are not among the papers and when we asked we were told that these newspapers had not been delivered. We had to read the journals in 10 days. If we had not finished reading in 10 days the next edition would not be given to us. Yıldız Türkoğlu was diagnosed schizophrenic, but she got a report that she can stay in prison under constant observation of a physician. But there is no physician in the infirmary. Even the healthiest person can suffer psychological problems. That can show itself as buzzing in one ear, problems with sight or sensitivity against sounds. 
Sadık Çelik (Edirne F-type Prison) 
For six months I stayed completely on my own in a cell for one person. The radios in these cells are controlled from outside. This disturbed my sleep and affected my psychos. We built archives to develop ourselves and protect us politically. In the larger cells we used six batteries a week for listening to the radio but we were only allowed to buy four batteries from the canteen. We appealed to the Justice Minister but the application was ripped to pieces because we had signed it jointly. We filed an official complaint but the prosecutor said that there was no case to answer. He said that it was forbidden that prisoners formed groups with the aim to destroy the public order.
Evrensel-30 November 2005 F-type letters 
Özer Akdemir 
"I am writing to you since the friend who wanted to tell you about the incidents in Tekirdağ F-type Prison during the last month has a ban on writing." The person who wrote this letter and wanted to send it via lawyers visiting us was banned from communication for five months. His name is Hasan Rüzgar.
From the letter of Hasan Rüzgar:
When the ban was announced on 14 September 2005, prisoners protested by shouting slogans and banging the doors. Therefore, the area for getting fresh air was closed. On 31 August the prisoner Erdal Süsem wanted to give one of his budgerigars to another prisoner via visitors. He was not allowed to do so under the pretext that the bird might secure a political contact among prisoners.
The Prison Watch Commission of the HRA in İzmir gathered information from letters sent by prisoners. One of the changes with the introduction of F-type prisons is the fact that the prisoners have to pay for electricity, medicine and other expenses. If there is no common canteen the prisoners are forced to buy TV, refrigerator and heaters. 

Instead of the remarks of the HRA on conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan the report on his situation of Amnesty International of 9 December 2005 "Turkey: Conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan is a Prisoner of Conscience and must be released now!" (AI Index: EUR 44/036/2005) is quoted:
Amnesty International is gravely concerned for the health and safety of conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan, 27, who is currently serving a four-year sentence in Sivas military prison on two charges of insubordination after refusing to do his military service. During his imprisonment, Mehmet Tarhan has allegedly undergone severe ill-treatment. Furthermore, he is now facing a possible forced physical examination which would amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as a breach of his right to privacy. Amnesty International considers Mehmet Tarhan to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Mehmet Tarhan first expressed his conscientious objection to military service on 27 October 2001, when he stated at a press conference in Ankara, "I condemn every kind of violence and believe that joining or condoning violence will only result in new violence and everyone will be responsible for the consequences. I think that wars caused by power-mongering states are first and foremost a violation of the right to life. The violation of the right to life is a crime against humanity and no international convention or law can justify this crime, regardless of any rationale. I therefore declare that I won't be an agent of such crime under any circumstances. I will not serve any military apparatus." Following this declaration, he remained active in his anti-militarist activities. On 27 October 2004 he again publicly declared his conscientious objection. He was first detained in Izmir on 8 April 2005 and brought to a military unit in Tokat after he refused to cooperate with military orders. As a result he was held in the military prison in Sivas from 11 April until 10 June. He was allegedly subjected to severe beatings and death threats by other prisoners during his detention there. When Mehmet Tarhan informed prison authorities of the abuse, no immediate action was taken to ensure his safety and the abuse reportedly continued. After his lawyer learned about the abuse, she raised her concerns for his safety with the prison administration, eventually prompting their intervention.
Conscientious objection is not recognized in Turkish law. A case was opened against Mehmet Tarhan under Article 88 of the Turkish Military Penal Code (TACK) on charges of insubordination. This charge carries a penalty of between three months' and five years' imprisonment. At the hearing on 26 May 2005 observers noted that there were signs of bruising on Mehmet Tarhan's body and that he was unable to walk properly. The case was adjourned and the last hearing took place on 9 June. Observers noted that Mehmet Tarhan appeared physically weak. He had been on hunger strike since 26 May. The military prosecutor agreed to release Mehmet Tarhan on the grounds that he had already spent two months in prison, which is the period of time he would be required to serve if sentenced. However, upon his release, Mehmet Tarhan was called up to serve again, and again refused. He was arrested and held in the Military Prison of Sivas until his trial on 10 August, when he was given a prison sentence of two years for each charge of insubordination (totaling four years).
Amnesty International received reports that on 30 September 2005, a prison officer accompanied by at least three guards forcibly cut Mehmet Tarhan's hair and shaved his beard against his will while he was held down by at least seven people. The incident reportedly left Mehmet Tarhan in great pain in his neck, hands, left arm and left foot, and unable to turn his head fully. Furthermore observers reported that he had bruises on his limbs. On 1 October 2005, Mehmet Tarhan was reportedly transferred to a military hospital against his will and examined by two military doctors. However, following the examination, which appears to have been cursory (allegedly lasting 10 minutes), he was apparently given a medical report stating that there were no signs of beating on his body and sent back to the military prison. Such an examination would be in clear contravention of the Istanbul Protocol, which stipulates that medical examinations should be thorough and carried out by civilian doctors. Following this incident, Mehmet Tarhan initiated a second hunger strike in protest at the prison authorities' ill-treatment of him, and against the cramped, unhygienic conditions in which he was allegedly being held. According to reports, he was held in a small, dirty cell without windows, and was sometimes held in solitary confinement and denied his rights to make phone calls, receive reading materials and letters or see visitors for up to 15 consecutive days.
Amnesty International believes that the fact that Mehmet Tarhan has been tried and convicted twice for insubordination contravenes Article 14, paragraph 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Turkey is a signatory, which states "No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure". The United Nation's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its Opinion 36/1999 on a similar case of a Turkish conscientious objector, Osman Murat Ulke, found that his repeated objection to military service was "one and the same action entailing the same consequences and, therefore, the offence is the same and not a new one".
In the most recent development in Mehmet Tarhan's case, the Military Court of Appeal overturned on 2 November 2005 the four-year prison sentence imposed on Mehmet Tarhan on 10 August 2005 on two counts of insubordination, and returned the case to the Military Court of Sivas. The initial reasoning for this decision was the fact that the sentence was disproportionately high and therefore unfair. However, in the Court of Appeal's final written decision, the overrule was attributed to the fact that Mehmet Tarhan's homosexuality (the reason he may be regarded as "unfit for military service") had not been established via "proper physical examination procedures".
Amnesty International is seriously concerned at the implications of the court's decision, which may lead to Mehmet Tarhan undergoing an intrusive physical examination amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Homosexuality is not the grounds on which he stated his objection to military service. Instead, his objection is on grounds of conscience; he stated at his trial in August 2004, "Because I find it important to lead a humane life and as an indispensable precondition of this I feel that all humans should lead a humane life, I declare once again that I will never take orders and I will never give orders. I believe that discrimination and violence are crimes of humanity and in the name of avoiding committing this crime, I am determined not to be a part of the military which is an apparatus of violence based on hierarchy that imposes such hierarchical constructions over society, I am determined to disobey, and refuse to be transformed into a murder machine by taking a course in dying and killing." 
Amnesty International is concerned that the Turkish authorities are focusing on Mehmet Tarhan's sexual orientation as a means of avoiding the wider issue of conscientious objection to military service which is not recognized in Turkey. In effect, if Mehmet Tarhan were to "prove" his homosexuality either by providing the Turkish authorities with photographic evidence of himself engaged in sexual activity or by undergoing an anal examination, he would be confirmed as "unfit for military service" and his case dropped. However he remains in prison and Amnesty International continues to regard him as a prisoner of conscience.
Following the decision of the Military Court of Appeal, the case has been returned to the Military Court of Sivas, which will decide what action to take. Should it choose to follow the suggestion of the Military Court of Appeal, Mehmet Tarhan may be taken to military hospital for a physical examination. This hearing is scheduled to take place on 15 December 2005. Given the injuries that Mehmet Tarhan reportedly received whilst being forcibly shaved of his hair and beard, Amnesty International is extremely concerned for his physical and mental integrity should he undergo a forced anal examination. The Turkish military uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders dating from 1968 (DSM II), which defines homosexuality as a psychosexual disorder, and considers that those who have this "condition" are "unfit to serve". In contrast, the medical community uses DSM IV, which dates from 2000 and does not list homosexuality. Amnesty International considers that sexual orientation cannot be determined by physical examination or by viewing photographic evidence of sexual activity. The organization further considers it unethical for a doctor to give an internal examination without the consent of the patient without a compelling reason (e.g. grave danger to the patient or others). Amnesty International would consider any such examination to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In addition, the organization considers that such an examination would constitute a violation of Mehmet Tarhan's right to privacy as guaranteed by Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a state party. 
Mehmet Tarhan reportedly ended his 34-day hunger strike on 2 November 2005 after the meeting of his demands for legal action to be taken against those who forcibly held him down and shaved him, and for equal treatment to that of other prisoners. Following an investigation into the events reported by Mehmet Tarhan at Sivas military prison between 11 May and 10 June 2005, two prison officers have been indicted on charges of misconduct, and two of Mehmet Tarhan's fellow inmates have been indicted on charges of robbery linked to extortion. The case will be heard on 29 December 2005 at Sivas Military Court.
Additional remark: On 15 December Sivas Military Court insisted on its original verdict. Mehmet Tarhan was temporarily released from prison on 9 March 2006 when the Military Court of Cassation dealt again with his case.

(Cumhuriyet-19 October) Oral Çalışlar/Column "Point Zero" /Prisons and humans 
This time I present a letter from Bolu F-type Prison, written by Cemal Ağırman. 
"Earlier I told you that our letters of complaint were destroyed. We managed to overcome this obstacle in getting a decision of the judge on execution of sentences. On 30 July we were forcibly transferred and since then we are held in single cells.
I told you about the marks on our bodies. We assume that they were noted in the infirmary. The prosecutor is still investigating and in an interim decision "marks of holding and bumps" were mentioned. However, many of us had marks such as heavy bruises, open wounds, abrasions and clots. The names of the injured prisoners are (no translation of the detailed injuries):
Ali Koca, Kaan Kurtuluş, Serdar Karaçelik, İnan Gök, Ali Ercan Gökoğlu, Celal Yayla, Kenan Günyel, Cemal Ağırman, Bülent Kemal Yıldırım, Ercan Kutlu, Mustafa Tosun, Baysal Demirhan, Osman Nuri Ocaklı.