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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT

◊ cancelling unjust traffic tickets,

◊ negative behaviors of security officials etc.
Request of a prisoner to make a phone call with his convicted wife who was staying at
another prison

The applicant who was a convict at a closed penitentiary institution stated that the trial process
of him and of his wife were continuing at Yalova Criminal Court, that his wife was also in
prison with their son of 13 month-old, that they were communicating with each other only by
letter and therefore he hadn’t heard his wife’s voice for 9 months, that his wife had lost the joy
of life and he was worried that his wife might harm herself, and therefore requested making a
phone call with his wife.

Following examinations conducted by our Institution, it was detected that many families
which are convicted at the same time were not allowed to make a phone call as per the sub-
paragraph (o) of the paragraph 2 of Article 88 of the Regulation on Prison Management and
Execution of Penalties and Security Measures, which lays out that “prisoners are not allowed
to receive calls from outside the prison”. Although it is legal not to allow the applicant to
make a phone call with his wife, our Institution concluded that right to make a phone call for
these persons should be considered within the scope of the right to respect the family life, and
therefore the above-mentioned sub-paragraph should be amended and it would be appropriate
to regulate the enjoyment of the right to make a phone call for two convicts staying at different
prisons at the same time. In this regard, a Recommendation was issued for the Ministry of
Justice to make necessary legal arrangements.

Request of a prisoner to be transferred to another prison which is located near to where
his family lives

The applicant stated that he was a prisoner for 16 months in Tekirdağ province, but his family
lived in Aydın province and due to financial reasons and health problems, his family couldn’t
visit him and therefore he delivered his request to be transferred, but it was rejected. Thus, the
applicant sent his transfer request to our Institution and asked for a solution.

After carefully examining the complainant’s grievance, it was found that according to the Law
No. 5275, a convict may be transferred from the institution in which he is kept to another
institution at his own request on certain conditions. However, the Law doesn’t include any
provision on making up for disadvantageous situations of the convicts who are unable to enjoy
their right to be visited by their family as the family lives far away from the prison. When the
case laws of the European Court of Human Rights as well as the Recommendations of the UN
and the Council of Europe are examined, it is seen proper to place convicts in prisons which
are close to their family. Additionally, it is clear that improving relations of the convicts with
outside world is of utmost importance in terms of their rehabilitation and also reintegrating

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