Prison conditions
11+ years of detention
A significant portion of the defendant officers have been held for more than 11 years. This duration exceeds the maximum detention periods set by the Turkish Code of Criminal Procedure and the reasonable-time guarantee under the right to a fair trial.
"Indefinite solitary confinement"
Some of the defendants are held under indefinite solitary confinement. The regime includes:
- Severely restricted exposure to daylight,
- Prevention of social contact,
- Restricted exercise and reading material,
- Restricted family visits.
International standards
The UN Nelson Mandela Rules (2015) define solitary confinement exceeding 15 days as the threshold of "torture." European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) standards treat indefinite solitary confinement as contrary to human dignity. The current practice's incompatibility with these standards is open and documented.
ECtHR views
ECtHR case law (arts. 3 and 5) treats excessively long pre-trial detention and the solitary confinement regime as direct violations of the Convention. The officers' ECtHR applications focus on this axis.