assessed.22 Despite this, activities carried out in penitentiary establishments in terms of rehabilitation and resocialisation are only fragmental and are not tailored to the individual needs of convicted persons. Unfulfilled Recommendations A Medical Professional’s Role in the Fight Against Torture The great part of the Public Defender’s opinions, which concern the role of medical professionals in the fight against torture, remains unfulfilled. The Public Defender positively assesses the elaboration of the training module for penitentiary establishments’ medical personnel on registering the injuries of accused/convicted persons as a result of alleged torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in penitentiary establishments and training of 145 medical professionals of the penitentiary system according to this module. However, without ensuring the independence of medical professionals and documenting alleged incidents of torture and other ill-treatment in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol, the activities of medical professionals are less likely to be effective. The Use of De-Escalation Rooms as an Informal Punishment and Amounting to Ill-Treatment The practice of use of de-escalation rooms has been assessed by the Public Defender as informal punishment and ill-treatment. This practice does not ensure the reduction of risks on the part of prisoners threatening their own and/or other persons’ life and limb.23 In accordance with the changes made to the statutes of penitentiary establishments in 2016, the maximum duration of placing a prisoner in a de-escalation room is set at 72 hours.24 However, the recommendation made in 2017 regarding reducing this term to 24 hours has been unfulfilled. The Public Defender’s recommendation made in 2017 regarding creating a safe environment in deescalation rooms (including lining the walls and floors with soft material) and providing multidisciplinary intervention for prisoners placed in de-escalation rooms has not been fulfilled either. Impact of Being in Open Air on Prisoners’ Physical and Mental Health 22 Three activities implemented in 2017 in closed-type prison facilities were implemented in special risk facilities in 2018. 23 The duration of the use of de-escalation rooms, absence of multidisciplinary work and existing environment and conditions in the rooms. 24 Maximum term was not determined until 2016. 16