Human rights violations and torture against prisoners in Kurdistan and Turkey’s prisons continue. Most recently, prisoner Ihsan Oral was subjected to physical torture by multiple guards in a camera-free padded room at Kırıkkale F-Type High-Security Prison. While no assault report was issued when İhsan Oral was taken to the hospital, his brother Haşim Oral, whom we spoke to about the incident, said that after returning from the hospital his brother was again tortured, this time stripped naked and doused with cold water in his cell. Haşim Oral stated that during their last visit, Ihsan Oral had fallen ill due to the torture, and that after he protested the torture to the prison warden, his brother was taken to the hospital for treatment. Reacting to what happened, Haşim Oral said, “If they talk about peace, it should also reach the prisons.”
No assault report issued for torture
The incident occurred on December 31, 2025. Prisoner İhsan Oral objected to the frequent cell transfers in the prison and to being moved to another cell. In response, guards tortured him in front of prison administrators. They dragged him on the ground, strangled him, and took him to a padded room, where they continued the same abuse.
Two other prisoners, Ahmet Herdem and Hayrullah Turan, who protested the torture of İhsan Oral, were also subjected to physical violence by guards. After the torture, Ihsan Oral was taken to the hospital, but no assault report was issued. When he was brought back to the prison, the prison warden further threatened him, saying: “I will smash your head, I will gouge out your eyes—who do you think you are to dislike these conditions and protest?”
Incident brought to torture
After the incident was conveyed to lawyers and parliament, DEM Party Şirnex MP Newroz Uysal submitted a formal application to the Parliamentary Human Rights Inquiry Commission (IHIK) and filed a detailed written parliamentary question to the Ministry of Justice. Following the incident coming to light, it was learned that prisoners continued to face the same pressure and that the torture was ongoing in a systematic manner.
After the torture of his brother, Haşim Oral said that when he went to visit the prison, he observed that prisoners could not access healthcare and could not even find food to eat.
Tortured again after returning from the hospital
Stating that pressure and violations in prisons are increasing day by day, Haşim Oral said his brother, who has been imprisoned since 2016, was first transferred to Adana, then Maraş, and most recently to Kırıkkale prison, and that there is a risk of yet another transfer. He said that after being taken to the hospital following the torture, his brother was tortured again upon his return to the prison: “They first beat him in a camera-free room and then threatened him by choking him. No assault report was issued at the hospital. After returning to the prison, the warden threatened my brother in the same way. Because of these events, after returning from the hospital, he was taken not to his ward but to a solitary cell. There they stripped him and tortured him with cold water. After that torture, my brother fell ill again. When I last visited him, he was burning with a fever. I could not remain silent and met with the prison administration. I also filed a criminal complaint regarding this torture. My brother has been in prison since 2016 and has received a sentence of more than 30 years. Since the day he was transferred to Kırıkkale, there has been no violation he has not experienced.”
Neither hospital nor food requests have been met
Haşim Oral said that after he met with the prison administration, his brother received treatment, but added: “There are so many problems in the prison. These issues must be addressed. First of all, MPs should visit the prison. Since arriving there, my brother has lost 15 kilograms, he is skin and bones. They are not allowed any social activities or sports. On our last visit, my brother told me, ‘If not psychologically, then physically they are trying to kill people.’ Transfer requests are rejected. When they order food from the canteen with their own money, it arrives weeks later. They can never access clean food. There is also a paralyzed prisoner in my brother’s ward who cannot even go to the toilet on his own; setting aside release, they do not even take him to the hospital for treatment.”
No one should forget about prisoners
Calling for oversight and improvements in response to these violations in prisons, Haşim Oral concluded: “Today they speak of peace, but if there were peace, these things would not be happening in prisons. We want conditions to be improved. Politically detained people must not be forgotten in any sphere. All institutions must focus on them. These conditions must change, both MPs and the ministry must address this.”