Thousands of prisoners are on hunger strike protesting the violations of rights and the isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, since November 27. While the hunger strike action enters day 40, the prisoners demand the isolation to be lifted and violations of rights to be eliminated.

 

Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Urfa Branch President Av. Ali Aslan spoke about the rights violations the prisoners faces in prisons and the ongoing hunger strike.

 

Stating that the Urfa Type T and Siverek Type T Prison uses the pandemic as an excuse for the violations of rights, Attorney Aslan said the needs of the prisoners are not met due to the pandemic in these prisons.

 

Attorney Aslan said: "They can not recieve books and newspapers. Their petitions are not processed. Their applications to be referred to a hospital are denied. All of these used to happen before the pandemic too, but it increased after the pandemic. So the fact that their demands are not met means that the prisoners are deprived of humane living conditions."

 

Recalling the previous hunger strikes, Aslan underlined that what prisoners demand is the existing law to be upheld, and said: "These are not radical demands. They are legal and justified. They do not demand a personal favour or a regulation. They just want the existing law to be upheld."

 

Pointing out that the prisoners only have their bodies as a means of protest in prisons, Aslan said: "There is a limited course of action in prisons. They chose hunger striking as a last resort. No one wants to end their lives or starve themselves. As a matter of fact, the Constitutional Court ruled that hunger striking is in the scope of freedom of expression. Therefore, hunger striking is not a crime but a claim for one's rights."