ADIYAMAN - Head of İHD Adıyaman Branch Bülent Çınar, who criticised that the AKP refers to a prison as an 'investment', said that the city needs employment, not prisons.

 

According to the Council of Europe 2020 Penal Statistics Report, Turkey is the Council member country with the highest number of people in prisons after Russia. As of January 31, 2020, the construction of new prisons continues in Turkey, which ranks first in the number of detainees and convicts among the 47 member states of the Council. In the “2022 Investment Programme” published in the Official Gazette on January 16 with the signature of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it was stated that approximately 2 billion TL would be spent for the construction of 36 new prisons. This figure was 1 billion 500 million TL in the contracts signed for new prisons in 2021.

 

The 99 thousand square meter prison, the construction of which was started on April 31, 2021, on a 270-decare land within the borders of Hacıhalil Village of Adıyaman, is just one of them.

 

INVESTMENT IN ADIYAMAN: PRISON

 

The prison complex, which is planned to be completed in 2023, was boasted as "Turkey's largest closed prison" in the "Investment in Adıyaman" brochures distributed by AKP Adıyaman Provincial Directorate on January 10. 

 

COUNTRY WITH THE HIGHEST RATE OF PRISONERS

 

Making an assessment of the situation in question, Human Rights Association (İHD) Adıyaman Branch President Bülent Çınar said that prison is not an "investment". Expressing that projects should be developed to reduce crime rates, Çınar emphasized that Turkey has the highest number of prisoners compared to the population in Europe. Çınar said, “The high number of detainees and convicts creates serious problems regarding the violation of the right to life. They should be producing solutions to these problems, reducing the number of detainees and convicts, and reducing crime rates, the number of prisons is increasing.

 

CITY NEEDS EMPLOYMENT, NOT PRISON

 

Noting that one of the most important problems of Adıyaman is unemployment, Çınar said, “Adıyaman has very important problems beyond the prison. We expect these issues to be resolved. There is a financial problem in Adıyaman. It is a pity that they are building the biggest prison in Turkey instead of solving these problems. Projects should be developed for the development of production and education. Adıyaman needs employment, not prison. There is a need for education and projects to reduce the crime rate."

 

Expressing that one can understand how democratic a country is by the number of prisons in that country, Çınar said: "Lower numbers of prisoners and prisons indicates that that country is a democratic country. Reduced number of prisons indicates that that country is developing. The real investment is reduced number of prisoners and prisons." 

 

EXISTING PRISONS SHOULD BE IMPROVED

 

Stating that Adıyaman is a city that recieves migration, Çınar continued: “Tobacco, which is the only source of livelihood of people in Adıyaman, was taken from them with the legal regulation that came into force on 1 January. As people become poorer, crime rates will increase. Instead of a prison, there is a need for projects that will revive production in Adıyaman. Investments must be made to improve the living conditions of detainees held in prisons. Existing prisons are hellish for ill prisoners. When people who are not sick are sent to prison, they get sick because of the prison conditions. Prisoners whose execution should be postponed are held in prison. Instead of the new prison, projects should be carried out regarding hygiene conditions in prisons. We want the existing prisons to be improved and number of prisoners to be reduced. For this to happen, it is important that democratic labor and professional organizations, especially legal organizations, fight together for human rights.

 

MA / Emrullah Acar