CİSST is aware of the risk of prisons which are confined spaces in terms of human rights
violations, since the prisons are isolated from the society in every sense. These violations sometimes continue successively until they reach the level of violation of the right to life, and cannot be communicated to the “outside world”. In this context, CİSST aims to form public opinion by raising public awareness and sensitivity by means of effective advocacy activities. In addition, as an organisation that communicates with all the political and judicial prisoners in Turkey, CİSST aims to increase the engagement and capacity of all the civil actors in this field (including itself).
The prisoners represent a vulnerable group with regard to access to and demand for rights, also due to
the prejudices against them in the society. Nevertheless, it is rather important that numerous stakeholders (public institutions, political parties, MPs, press outlets, non-governmental organisations, etc.) carry out simultaneous and harmonious efforts in order to make the conditions of Turkish prisons compatible with universal values and standards in the context of human rights. Therefore, CİSST aims to positively change the approaches and attitudes of other actors in the field with respect to prisoners’ rights, and to ensure their sensitivity to rights violations.
Consequently, CİSST builds all its activities around ensuring these fundamental changes. CİSST believes that the conditions of Turkish prisons will improve and the prisoners’ access to their rights will increase through the implementation of these medium- and long-term changes.