The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and living conditions of patients/residents in psychiatric hospitals and social welfare institutions. In addition, the CPT’s delegation looked into the legal safeguards related to involuntary placement procedures and their implementation in practice.
On the occasion of the visit, the delegation also raised with the relevant authorities certain issues related to the current situation of Abdullah Öcalan and the other prisoners being held at Imralı F-type High-Security Prison, in particular as regards the prisoners’ contact with the outside world.
In the course of the visit, the delegation met with Ahmet Demircan, Minister of Health, Mehmet Karabay, Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policies, Bilal Uçar, Deputy Minister of Justice, and Eyüp Gümüş, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, as well as with senior officials from the Ministries of Health, Family and Social Policies, Justice and Foreign Affairs. In addition, the delegation met representatives of civil society organisations active in areas of concern to the CPT.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Turkish authorities.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Mykola Gnatovskyy, President of the CPT (Head of delegation)
- Dagmar Breznoščáková
- Julia Kozma
- Vytautas Raškauskas.
They were supported by Michael Neurauter (Head of Division) and Elvin Aliyev of the CPT’s Secretariat and assisted by an expert, Timothy Harding, psychiatrist and former Director of the University Institute of Forensic Medicine in Geneva (Switzerland).
The delegation visited the following places:
- Adana Mental Health Hospital
- Elazığ Mental Health Hospital
- Manisa Mental Health Hospital
- Adana City Hospital (High-Security Forensic Ward)
- Ankara Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt University Hospital (Psychiatric Ward)
Social welfare institutions
- Ata Köşkü Canev Private Care Centre, Adana
- Şereflikoçhisar Care and Rehabilitation Centre, Ankara
- İnci Yaşam Private Care Centre for Persons with Disabilities, Mersin.