
Death threat to prisoner: ‘Responsible is prison administration’ 

2021-07-17 10:34:06


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	VAN - Drawing attention to the hunger strike resistance against the Imralı isolation and violations of rights in prisons, the relative of the prisoner, Semra Gümüşlü said that her husband Yaşar Gümüşlü in Erzurum H Type Closed Prison was threatened with death and said: ‘’If anything happens to my spouse, the only responsible is the prison administration.’’

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	The indefinite-alternating hunger strikes that started on November 27, 2020 in Turkey and regional prisons in order to end the isolation on PKK lader Abdullah Öcalan and to end the violations of rights in prison continue. The hunger strikes, which were carried out alternately for five days in the first stage, were increased to 15 days as of July 14. Government officials remain silent about the indefinite-alternating hunger strike, which is on its 233rd day. Violations of rights in prisons are increasing day by day.

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	Prisoner threatened with death

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	Semra Gümüşlü, who is the relative of the prisoner, said that she made a phone call with her husband Yaşar Gümüşlü, who is imprisoned in Erzurum H Type Closed Prison, two days ago and that the prison administration threatened him with death. Stating that her husband, who has been in prison for 15 years, has been battered repeatedly by the officials, Semra said: ‘’Thousands of Kurds are imprisoned in prison just because they defend their rights. My spouse is often tortured by the order of the prison administration. He is threatened with the words, ‘We will execute you’, and sometimes he is placed in solitary confinement and sometimes in the same ward with people he does not know. My husband is also threatened with death for objecting to this. If something happens to my spouse, the only responsibility is the prison administration.’’

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	‘We are being victimized both in inside and outside’

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	Reminding that the hunger strikes have been going on for eight months in prisons, Semra noted that the prisoners were not taken to the hospital and that even their vital needs for newspapers and magazines were not met. Stating that the prisoners inside and they are victimized both financially and morally outside, Semra said: ‘’I cannot go to the prison for two years because my financial means have not allowed it. I have two kids. I live in a rental. I take care of my husband's financial needs in prison. I'm not demanding anything. My only request is to improve the prison conditions, which is the right of the prisoners.’’

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	‘Let’s lay claim to demands of the prisoners’

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	Reminding that the prisoners took their actions to 15 days, Semra reacted to the government's failure to take a step against the demands. Semra made the following call to the public and relatives of the prisoners: ‘’Why are you silent? Are you waiting for the funerals to come out? After the prisoners die, there will be no point in breaking the silence. Let's lay claim to our prisoners and their demands while there is still hope.’’

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