MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU 

Amed -   Since the first coronavirus case announced in Turkey, visits of prisoners have been banned. Prisoners and their relatives haven’t had contact and non-contact visits since March 2020 in Turkey. After one and a half years, the non-contact visits have been allowed but the relatives of prisoners demand the contact visits also be allowed especially during the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday.

“Prisoners face isolation in prisons”

Güler Yüksekbağ’s husband Abdulrakip Yüksekbağ has been in prison for 28 years and she has seven other relatives in prison. “We didn’t have non-contact visits for one and a half years since the beginning of the pandemic. After one and a half years, we were allowed to have non-contact visits. The prison administration determines when and how many times per month we will have these visits. Our relatives inform us of the visit days and we go to prison to visit our relatives on these days. The situation of prisoners, who faced isolation in prisons before the pandemic, has become worse. In the one and a half year period, the isolation, insults, and pressures on the prisoners increased,” Güler Yüksekbağ said.

“Contact visits should be allowed during the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday”

Prisoners have had no social activities since the beginning of the pandemic, Güler Yüksekbağ said, “The prisoners have to stay in their wards. All activities have been banned for them. The prisoners cannot spread coronavirus because they cannot leave their wards and prisons, what is the purpose of so many measures? The prisoners have faced torture under the name of the pandemic. We have only a demand; contact visits should be allowed during the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday. Necessary measures should be taken for the prisoners and us to see each other. Thousands of people have suffered from this situation.”

“Prisoners are held in cells for months”

Stating that even the basic needs of the prisoners are not adequately met during the pandemic, Güler Yüksekbağ said, “Prison food is so bad. Going to a hospital is a problem for the prisoners. If they are taken to a hospital, they are kept in quarantine for 15 days. One of my cousins has been held in a single cell for four months because he has to regularly go to the hospital.”

“The demands of hunger strikers should be accepted”

Güler Yüksekbağ also mentioned the hunger strike launched by prisoners against the isolation, “The demands of hunger strikers should be accepted as soon as possible.”