Topic: 2025 – Treatment of Prisoners
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Grace Johnson
Country: Türkiye
Delegate Name: Grace Johnson
A major concern for the United Nations today is the treatment of prisoners. The United Nations has created Minimal Rules of Treatment of Prisoners which solidify prisoners’ rights in prisons. These rules encourage nations’ detainment centers to consider inherent dignity, vulnerable groups, medical and health services, restrictions and discipline services, investigation of death and torture in custody, access to legal representation, complaints and inspections, terminology, and staff training (Latest). Some nations struggle to keep these rules due to their prisons being overcapacity (Latest). Specifically, 60% of prisons are over 100% capacity as of 2023 and 1 in 4 countries’ prisons are over 150% capacity (Latest). Being overcapacity leads to prisons having a lack of staffing and resources to uphold the UN’s Basic Principles of Treatment of Prisoners. One factor that leads to prisons being over capacity is because 3.7 million prisoners are there for pre-trial detainment, making up 30% of prisons (Latest). Due to the harsh living conditions in prisons, the homicidal rate is 33.2% in prisoners globally (Latest). The United Nations in response is working to encourage nations to put an end to solitary confinement, improve health services, and work with prisoners to help them with reintegration outside of detention.
Türkiye struggles in upholding the Basic Principles of Treatment due to their detention centers being over-capacity (Turker). Specifically, Turkish prisons are at 132.9% occupancy level and each year prison populations are showing exponential growth (prisonstudies.org). Türkiye’s incarceration rate has grown by 89.3% from 2011 to 2021 (Türkiye). This overcapacity issue is leading to a lack of resources inside the detention centers as they are fitting everyone by putting beds side by side, leading to conflicts between prisoners and health concerns (Turker). They also have hygiene problems due to rodent infestations, only one toilet per 25 people, one bath per 50 people, no laundry facility, and no structured health system (Turker). There is also an extreme shortage of security, socio-educational staff, and medical staff (prison insider). National laws that were created by the Turkish government to uphold UN’s regulations are also not being followed on state levels for prison treatment (Prisons). To combat the overcapacity and health issues, a part of Türkiye’s 10th Judicial Reform Package is growing the eligibility for house arrest for those with health issues (Prisons). Their pre-trial detainees also take up 14.9 percent of their facilities, adding to the overcrowding (Türkiye). Currently, Türkiye is working to build new detention centers and getting rid of old ones that had hygiene concerns (Prisons).
The Delegation of Türkiye believes that increased funding in prison reforms is necessary to bring prisons more resources to improve their prisons. To do this, the Delegation of Türkiye believes a committee should be created that it is optional for nations to join, where you put a 0.2% of your GDP towards a global fund that nations can use to buy new resources, upgrade living headquarters, and hire more staff for their prisons. This committee would also encourage nations to have inspections of their own prisons monthly to not only decide where funding is necessary, but to make sure that they are following the national laws concerning prisoner treatment and to check the equity of charges. The Delegation of Türkiye would also propose that the UN encourages house-arrest for pre-detainment and for those with poor health conditions. This would go alongside the encouragement for health professionals and social workers (to help lower the homicidal rate in nations) that would have bi-weekly check-ups in detention centers. The Delegation of Türkiye also wants to encourage other nations to give assistance to families and livelihoods of those in jail, and one way of achieving this is by utilizing NGO Penal Reform International.
The Delegation of Türkiye is excited to collaborate with other nations on creating a multilateral solution, while respecting the sovereignty of each nation. Specifically, the Delegation of Türkiye is looking forward to creating a solution that is optional to each country and does not discriminate against nations’ values.
Bibliography:
“Latest Prison Data Released: Five Key Findings.” United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime, www.unodc.org/unodc/en/news/2025/July/latest-prison-data-released_-five-key-findings.html. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025
Turker. “NCJRS Virtual Library.” Turkish Prisons and Conditions of Confinement | Office of Justice Programs, www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/turkish-prisons-and-conditions-confinement. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025.
“Türkiye: The Situation in Prisons Is Reaching Crisis Levels.” OMCT, 1 Jan. 1970, www.omct.org/en/resources/reports/Türkiye-the-situation-in-prisons-is-reaching-crisis-levels.
“Türkiye.” Türkiye | World Prison Brief, 1 Jan. 1970, www.prisonstudies.org/country/Türkiye.
