Three inmates die in Turkish jails because of negligence

At least three Turkish inmates have died from Coronavirus in quarantine cells in the Turkish regime’s jails, which witness medical negligence.

According to agencies, the three inmates died because of negligence and maltreatment of the authorities in Turkey which is under the rule of Justice and Development Party (AKP) government led by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Major violations of prisoners’ rights have been occurring in large quarantine cells, where up to 30 inmates are forced to live together for months, Vedat Ece from Independent Lawyers’ Association (ÖHD) said .

Speaking to the Evrensel news website, Ece said two regular cells in İstanbul’s Silivri Prison were turned into quarantine cells. “One of the cells is for quarantining new arrivals, and the other is for quarantining inmates who were taken to court or the hospital,” he said. According to Ece, the cells had enough room for 30 people, and the prison administration did not start official quarantine periods until the cells were full.

“Normally inmates are required to quarantine for two weeks,” he said, “but the prison administration does not start the process unless there are 30 prisoners in the cell. This causes some inmates to spend months in these cells waiting for the quarantine to officially start.”

Basma Qaddour