OPEN LETTER: To Members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Standing Committee, the Council of Europe Secretary General, and

We are writing in advance of the upcoming Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Standing Committee
meeting in Istanbul to request your urgent attention to the on-going crisis in Turkey's prisons. We are alarmed
at the prospect of a prominent meeting of the Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights body, taking
place in Istanbul at a time when Turkey is experiencing one of the most grave human rights crises seen there in
recent years. We hope therefore that Council of Europe representatives can work proactively together with their
Turkish counterparts to resolve the crisis in advance of the meeting.