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Experts drew attention to the systematic punishment of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey at an international ‘Health in Prisons’ workshop held in İstanbul on 6 October. Members of an international delegation, including Dr Lorenzo D’Innocenzo, Dr Lucrezia Vagnoni and Dr Anna Rita Sallustio, pointed out that Kurdish people are imprisoned by reason of their ethnic identity and face deliberate, long-term rights violations.
The workshop, organised by the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) Health Council, based in Turkey, focused on human rights abuses in Turkish prisons, where political prisoners are often denied basic rights. The event was attended by international delegates, lawyers from the Asrın Law Office, prisoners’ families and human rights activists. Testimonies shared by family members detailed abuses their loved ones experienced, while conditions in Abdullah Öcalan’s high-security prison on İmralı Island were also a key topic.
Dr Lorenzo D’Innocenzo, who participated in the event, highlighted the deliberate nature of the mistreatment. “Prisoners are systematically denied access to clean food, water and essential resources. Even those with severe disabilities, such as full-body paralysis, are held in unacceptable conditions,” he said. He called it a “conscious policy of punishment” targeting not just individuals but also their fundamental rights.
Dr Anna Rita Sallustio, referring to detention conditions in Italy’s immigrant detention centres, noted similarities with Turkish prisons, saying, “Kurdish people are imprisoned because they are Kurdish. In Italy, migrants face a similar fate — detained merely for their lack of documentation.” She highlighted solitary confinement and the absence of medical care as common issues in the prison systems of both countries.
The workshop’s closing statement called for greater international solidarity and underscored the need to fight against the institutionalised oppression faced by Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey. Participants urged governments and human rights organisations to address these violations, emphasising the crucial role of global awareness and pressure.
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