Turkey's opposition politicians kept in 'illegal' solitary confinement

Two senior members of Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) conducted prison interviews with politicians from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to survey their conditions and reported numerous causes for concern.

"It is unconstitutional for members of parliament to be imprisoned pending trial," the IHD said in a statement.

"Detention of MPs should be regarded as an interference in the legislative body and the Parliament shouldn't tolerate this."

The IHD reports that the most "fundamental" abuse of human rights was the use of solitary confinement.

All of the opposition politicians surveyed were allegedly being detained alone in cells that are designed to accommodate three people.

All of those asked said they never came into contact with another prisoner at any point in the day.

A 2011 report by the UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture found that extended periods of solitary confinement could lead to psychological problems, including anxiety, depression, paranoia, psychosis and self-harm.

HDP prisoners are reportedly not allowed to receive visits from outside, including from family members, or receive any correspondence.

The HDP politicians were arrested in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July, which led to the widespread crackdown on opposition members, lawyers, journalists and political activists.

Amnesty International have routinely expressed their concerns over the situation, with specific warnings over the rise of "arbitrary detentions under trumped-up terrorism charges."

The "detention of HDP deputies is the latest escalation in the government's evisceration of Kurdish opposition voices in public life," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Europe director.