COVID-19 Pandemic Threatening Prison Population

The prison population is one of the high-risk groups for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Apart from being in disadvantageous settings of "social distancing," people in prisons are frequently elderly and with multiple comorbidities as a reflection of discriminatory punitive policies worldwide. Although the universal human rights principles ensure that prisoners, like everyone else, live their lives in a healthy environment and access qualified healthcare when they are sick, without being discriminated, the prison conditions make it difficult to comply with these principles. In this review, the basic principles and recommendations on this subject have been reviewed in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, the situation in Turkey's prisons was reviewed immediately before the transition to a "controlled social life."