Pregnant minors held in solitary in prison near İzmir

12:12

JINHA

IZMIR – Three pregnant minors are being held in solitary confinement in Şakran prison near the city of Izmir as a punishment for being pregnant, it has emerged. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Izmir representative Ertuğrul Kürkçü to has headed to the prison today along with a delegation of NGO activists to investigate conditions in the prison.

The Şakran Prison, near the Aegean city of İzmir, is notorious for human rights violations. In a letter sent by women inmates to their lawyer, women prisoners reported that the situation in the prison has escalated with the confinement of the three girls. The letter said the three girls were being denied medical treatment, despite suffering labor pains.


The women inmates said a senior woman prison officer named Gönül was in charge of a squad of officers guards called “the A Team” who carried out psychological torture of inmates. They said no action had been taken regarding the A Team, despite all the complaints made by the inmates. They reported that guards are waking up prisoners every four hours for searches, causing an adverse affect on their psychology.

In the letter, women inmates also reported that a mentally unstable prisoner called Hanım Dudu who had a history of self-harm was being held in a cell without windows, as she had broken windows and used the shards to cut herself. Prisoners said that guards had attempted to scald Hanım by pouring boiling water over her and were now keeping her in the coldest cell in the prison.


HDP Izmir representative Ertuğrul Kürkçü’s delegation is expected to make a statement about their observations in the coming hours.


(nt/ck/fk/cm)