Prisons in Turkey

Turkish prosecutors on May 8 said that 44 inmates in an Istanbul prison have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said two inmates and 42 others who came in contact with them tested positive at Silivri Prison.

The capacity of prisons in Turkey is planned to be increased from 218,000 to more than 330,000 in a couple of years, a directorate of the Justice Ministry has revealed.

Some 197 children were in prison on terror charges and a total of 2,767 children between the ages of 12 and 18 were in prison in Turkey as of Aug. 1, the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses has stated.

The number of women held in jails in Turkey has increased by 113 percent in the last six years, according to the Justice Ministry's General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses. 

The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee has stated that the Turkish authorities have not given permission for a report on Turkey to be published.

There were 498 arrested and convicted Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) members in Turkish prisons as of February, the Justice Ministry has stated.

Prominent journalist Ahmet Şık has been kept in isolation in prison, according to his lawyer who recently visited him. 

Şık, who was arrested on Dec. 30, 2016, over several tweets and his articles for daily Cumhuriyet, was denied drinking water for three days and has not had access to the news, daily Cumhuriyet reported Jan. 6. 

Air defense systems with anti-aircraft weapons have been set up in three prisons in Turkey as a part of the precautions in jails after the failed July 15 coup attempt. The weapons were placed in Sincan Prison in Ankara, Şakran Prison in the western province of İzmir and Silivri Prison in Istanbul, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Turkey guilty for violating the right to life in a notorious police operation at an Istanbul prison in 2000. 

Twelve people, relatives of the victims of the December 2000 police operation known as "Hayata Dönüş" (Return to Life) in Bayrampaşa Prison, had applied to the court.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined to Turkey 133,000 euros over severe rights violations during an intervention by security forces in a prison in 2000.