“No disciplinary punishment, yet everyone is in solitary confinement”

published by BIANET: Read full article

Onur Yoldaş Mete (SGDF) and Vedat Doğan (Grup Yorum) shared their experiences in what lawyers call ‘well-type’ prisons during a press conference by the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD). They described conditions as: “23 hours in a cell, one hour of ventilation – no communication, zero contact.”

The Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) organized a press conference at the Istanbul Bar Association Cultural Center to protest Y-type, S-type, and High Security Prisons – facilities categorized by lawyers as “well-type” prisons.

“The isolation policy has entered a new phase”

Lawyer Güçlü Sevimli stated that the isolation policy, which began with F-type prisons in the 2000s, intensified significantly starting in 2021:

“Y-type and S-type prisons, along with High Security Prisons, have become institutions where aggravated isolation is systematically implemented. The Ministry of Justice operates these prisons with complete opacity, providing no transparency to the public.”

Sevimli reported that there are approximately 40 so-called well-type prisons across Turkey, including facilities still under construction. He emphasized that the physical conditions and practices in these prisons constitute clear violations of Article 25 of the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures:

“Even detainees not sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment are permanently held in single cells. This amounts to an indefinite solitary confinement sentence – a practice that is fundamentally unlawful.”