For years, they had been running the dormitories as indoctrination camps. Prison officials said they had been unable to enter some areas inside the jails for nearly a decade. Human rights will now be respected in all prisons. The necessary measures will be taken to ensure this is done. But pressure groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have expressed alarm at the situation, while lawyers, human rights activists and relatives of prisoners say they have been inundated with allegations of abuse.
Some reports say prisoners who refuse to sing the national anthem have been badly beaten.
Doctors say they have been denied access to the post-mortem examination reports of those who died. The government describes the prisons as a fresh start for a system which had degenerated into chaos. Most diplomats in Ankara believe the authorities are sincere in their efforts to stamp out torture and ill-treatment in jails. But critics say the F-type prisons are being used to implement a regime of isolation. Both in terms of their architecture and especially in terms of the way they are run, there are serious causes for concern.