Turkish high-security prisons are designed to maintain prisoners in absolute isolation, creating severe health and psychological impacts on inmates, according to a detailed account from Kurdish political prisoner Aziz Aktaş at Sincan High Security Prison.
In a letter sent through his lawyers on 2 November, Aktaş, who has been detained since 2016, described how high-security, S-type and Y-type prisons are “spreading like bacteria” across Turkey, and that inmates are subjected to extreme isolation conditions in these prisons.
“Almost all rooms are single-cell units where each prisoner spends their entire life. Most of these cells receive no sunlight for 8-9 months of the year, with some never seeing sunlight at all,” Aktaş wrote. “The windows have both iron bars and fine mesh, making the rooms resemble cages.”
Prisoners spend 22.5 hours daily in these confined cells, with only 90 minutes allowed for outdoor exercise. Social activities are severely restricted, with inmates permitted to interact with only five other prisoners from their module. “We haven’t been able to do any language, personal development or handicraft courses for three years,” Aktaş stated.
The 2020 amendment to prison regulations has given administrators unprecedented powers, Aktaş explained. “Prison administrations view their institutions as countries and themselves as presidents, using the Administration and Observation Board as a judicial cudgel, with an approach that is entirely arbitrary and ideological.”
Health issues are widespread, with 80-90 weekly hospital referrals from the 350-400 person facility. “Even basic health and hygiene items like washing-up gloves and vacuum flasks are denied, despite medical documentation confirming they are a necessity,” Aktaş revealed.
“We demand the closure of these architectural structures and an end to arbitrary ideological approaches in prisons in general,” Aktaş concluded, calling for intervention from the Ministry of Justice and other state institutions.
