As the coronavirus crisis hits countries around the world, nations are weighing their options to release thousands of prisoners from crowded jails in an effort to slow the spread.
Turkey on Tuesday unveiled legislation that, if approved, would temporarily free about 45,000 of its 300,000 prisoners from packed jails with the hopes to mitigate the threat that COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, poses in such an environment.
Another 45,000 inmates in Turkey could be permanently released if a separate measure is included in the legislation passes.
Turkey is just one of a host of countries that are temporarily or permanently releasing prisoners in an effort to prevent the contagion within its jails, including the U.S.
State and local governments across the U.S. have sped up inmate release dates in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, which could quickly infect hundreds of prisoners if it were to enter the prisons.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday announced the release of 1,420 prisoners, while Indonesia has ordered the early release of approximately 30,000 inmates who meet specific criteria.
Iran has temporarily released at least 85,000 prisoners as reports of large numbers of coronavirus deaths in prisons surge.
Human rights organizations have called on Iran and Syria to release pretrial inmates or prisoners who have a higher risk of contracting the virus.
Amnesty International issued a new warning Tuesday that prisoners in Syria are at heightened risk of contracting the virus “as they are held in unhygienic conditions in locations across the country operated by the country’s security forces.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has demanded that Syria release detainees who are being held “arbitrarily in overcrowded and inhumane conditions in regime detention centers,” including U.S. citizens, women, children and the elderly.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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