MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – Eight women held in the B-11 ward of Diyarbakır Closed Women’s Prison have reportedly been infected with Covid-19; the names of inmates are unknown yet. The prison administration called the families of inmates to inform them that their relatives held in the prison have been infected with Covid-19 and they have been kept under quarantine. We spoke to the inmates’ lawyers to get more information about the infected inmates. The lawyers claim that the infected inmates haven’t received any medicines and that the inmates with symptoms haven’t been tested.

Inmates with symptoms haven’t been tested

Some inmates called their families and told them that the coronavirus was transmitted by the wardens during their daily ward raids. Members of the Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Libertarian Lawyers Association (ÖHD) went to the prison to learn more information about the inmates. The lawyers reported that eight women held in the B-11 ward have been infected with Covid-19 and that the female inmates held in the B-12 ward have symptoms of Covid-19. The lawyers noted that the infected inmates haven’t been taken to a hospital yet and that the inmates with symptoms haven’t been tested yet. The lawyers haven’t received any information about the names of the infected inmates.

Coronavirus was transmitted by wardens

The families of inmates cannot receive any information about their relatives in the prison. We spoke to Adile Işık, mother of imprisoned Filiz Işık, and she told us that she talked to her daughter on the phone and her daughter didn’t feel good. “My daughter was arrested last year. She has been held in prison for eight months. We have demanded her release many times due to coronavirus.  They are left to die. When my daughter called me the last time, she told me all of her friends in the ward were infected with Covid-19. They were taken under quarantine. Those who taken under quarantine cannot even call their families. My daughter Filiz told me the coronavirus was transmitted by wardens. She also told me the coronavirus may spread to other wards due to daily raids on the wards,” Adile Işık said.

“Let’s not leave our children to die”

Adile Işık called on everyone for her daughter and other inmates; “The lives of hundreds of inmates are in danger, including my daughter’s. They don’t receive any medicines or healthy food. They are sick but they will be misbehaved. They should be taken to a hospital for treatment and other inmates should be released from the prison. Families should do their best for their relatives in the prison. Let’s not leave our children to die.”