Camera crisis in women's wards at Bakırköy Prison

It has emerged that there was an attempt to install cameras in the wards where political prisoners are held at Bakırköy Women's Closed Prison. Bringing the issue to Parliament, Labor Party Istanbul MP İskender Bayhan, in a parliamentary question submitted for Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç to answer, described the practice in question as an imposition that is “humiliating, contrary to human rights, and intended for intimidation.”

Bayhan recalled that many politicians, journalists, and intellectuals, including Labor Party Istanbul Provincial Chair Sema Barbaros, were unlawfully arrested as part of the investigation known in the public eye as the “HDK operation.” Stating that the detainees have been held in prison for over two months without an indictment, Bayhan pointed out that the pressure specifically targeting female prisoners is becoming increasingly severe.

“WOMEN'S PRIVATE LIVING SPACES UNDER SURVEILLANCE”

Stating that the attempt to install cameras in the wards began on April 29, Bayhan said, “Placing women's private living spaces under surveillance is a clear violation of rights.” Emphasizing that the practice is a systematic policy of intimidation against female political prisoners, Bayhan stated that prisons have effectively turned into “political prisoner camps.”

“HOW CAN THIS BE EXPLAINED WITH THE RHETORIC OF JUDICIAL REFORM?”

The questions Bayhan directed to Minister Tunç are as follows:

What is the purpose of wanting to monitor the private living spaces of women who are already kept under constant surveillance?

Did the instruction to install cameras originate from the Ministry? If not, will action be taken against those who initiated this arbitrary practice?

What is the justification for continuing this imposition despite the precedent-setting violation rulings of the Constitutional Court?

How can this practice be explained with the rhetoric of “judicial reform”?

Is the interference with women's privacy areas being done for security reasons, or does this situation point to systematic psychological torture?

Are international human rights conventions not being clearly violated?

News Source: 12punto