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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

Apart from the right to liberty, any restriction or limitation of other human rights
of the convicts recognized in the Constitution and laws should not be caused during
both their detention within the trial period and the execution of their sentences. The
basic approach of our Institution regarding the applications of convicts is based on
the principle that convicts cannot be deprived of their rights other than their liberty.
Considering that the effective protection of the rights of convicts will contribute to the
successful rehabilitation of the convict, our Institution has a decisive role in respecting
the rights of convicts, especially considering the sensitive nature of penal institutions.

At the point of resolving the complaints received from persons accommodated in penal
institutions, a thorough and meticulous examination and research are carried out by
the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 6328. Especially
in applications involving allegations of torture and ill-treatment, the relevant doctor’s
reports, camera footage, reports prepared by penal institutions, if any, and the decisions
made by the relevant Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices and execution judges, if any, are
carefully examined and the case is tried to be clarified.

Case Summary

About the Request for Immediate Examination of Alleged Torture and Ill-
Treatment Occurred in Penal Institution

A large number of applications for violations of rights were filed by the Diyarbakır Bar
Association regarding the prisons in the Elazığ Prison Campus addressed to the Bar
Associations, and it was stated that finally, after some relatives of prisoners requested
help stating that their relatives in prison were subjected to torture and ill-treatment, on
th
8 August 2019, a group of lawyers visited some of the prisoners accommodated in
High Security Prisons No.1 and No.2 in Elazığ Prison Campus and Women’s Prison,
and that during the interview, some prisoners told that they were subjected to torture
and ill-treatment by the execution and protection officers who entered their rooms on
th
4 August 2019; for this reason, it was requested that the allegations of torture and ill-
treatment in Elazığ High Security Prison No.2 be urgently examined.
Within the scope of the examination and research of our Institution, the representatives
of the applicant Diyarbakır Bar Association were interviewed, and then the High
Security Closed Penal Institutions No.1 and 2 in Elazığ Penal Institutions Campus were
visited; the directors and officers of the Institution, Campus paramedics, the relevant
Public Prosecutor and the Chief Public Prosecutor were interviewed and additionally,
the statements of the convicts subject to the application were taken.

In the light of the information, documents and evaluations reached within the scope of
the examination and research, regarding the issues of:

84 2020 ANNUAL REPORT