Journalist Dilan Oyunaş, who was sent to Sincan Women’s Closed Prison in Turkey, stated in her phone call with her family that there are violations of rights taking place in the prison.

Oyunaş stated that prisoners’ blankets were confiscated by prison officers on the grounds that they had ”received instructions from their superior”. Her father, Abdülvahap Oyunaş, stated that he was informed that on 9 October, the blankets of detainees were confiscated on the grounds of health measures relating to the pandemic and the prisoners’ possessions in the wards were also destroyed.

Dilan’s father detailed what his daughter said: ”There is pressure on the prison administration and they are disturbing and disrupting the lives of prisoners using pandemic precautionary measure based reasons. The prison administration confiscated prisoners’ blankets and their supplies of bread on the stated grounds that they were following instructions from their ‘superior’.

“Although the wards are so overcrowded, social distance warnings were given. Despite the cold winter temperatures, they have taken our blankets away without replacing them. They probably took it to get the prisoners sick. We do not accept such practices. There is a pandemic and an increasing number of Covid-19 cases are taking place in prisons every day”.

Dilan Oynaş’s father asked the authorities to end such human rights violations and requested that replacement blankets should be given to the prisoners. He said: “The state is responsible for what will happen to our children due to the pandemic”.