Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği

What Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği does

Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği (CİSST) is an independent Turkish civil society association (dernek) founded in 2006 and headquartered in Kadıköy, İstanbul. It operates as the primary non-governmental organization in Turkey dedicated to monitoring prison conditions, advocating for prisoner rights, and supporting prisoners and their families. The organization works across nine thematic areas — aggravated life imprisonment, children, persons with disabilities, workers, women, LGBTI+, right to education, health, and foreign nationals — and serves all 427,525 prisoners across Turkey's 402 prisons (as of July 2026).

CİSST's core outputs consist of: (i) a monthly-updated prison statistics database tracking capacity, occupancy, and prisoner demographics across the Turkish penitentiary system; (ii) a weekday telephone counseling hotline (Mahpus Danışma Hattı) for prisoners and families; (iii) a volunteer lawyer network that conducts prison visits and provides legal assistance; (iv) an online Application Guide and Prison Glossary; (v) annual and thematic reports, including English-language annual reports and translated Council of Europe SPACE statistics; and (vi) policy advocacy targeting the Ministry of Justice, parliament, and other government bodies. The organization has no proprietary technology and operates its services through a WordPress-based website (cisst.org.tr), social media channels, and direct service delivery — not through a commercial product portfolio.

CİSST is funded through membership fees, grants, and donations; all services are provided free of charge to prisoners, families, and the public. There is no commercial pricing model and no revenue is disclosed. The organization operates within a coalition ecosystem of at least 14 co-signatory Turkish human rights NGOs, bar associations, trade unions, and identity-specific organizations, and is governed as a membership-based association by its members and board of directors rather than by external investors.

Name

Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği

Legal name

Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği

Website

https://cisst.org.tr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CİSST is a Turkish non-profit association founded in 2006 that monitors prison conditions, advocates for prisoner rights, and provides legal guidance and a hotline for prisoners and families across Turkey's 402 prisons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prisoner Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Correctional Institutions (92214), Correctional Institutions (922140), Health Care and Social Assistance (62)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAIAFAD

Adult Corrections (Prisons & Jails)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Justice System (Courts, Prosecution & Corrections)

Keywords

• Prisoner rights advocacy
• Prison monitoring services
• Civil society organization
• Human rights advocacy
• Prison reform advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Kadikoy

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği (CİSST) is a Turkish civil society association that monitors prison conditions and advocates for prisoner rights. Founded in 2006, it operates a prisoner consultation hotline, an application guide for prisoners and families, a volunteer lawyer network, and a monthly prison statistics database covering all 402 Turkish prisons, while publishing annual reports and thematic publications across nine focus areas (aggravated life sentences, children, persons with disabilities, workers, women, LGBTI+, right to education, health, and foreigners).

Product overview

CİSST is a civil society organization focused on prison monitoring and prisoner rights advocacy, not a product or technology company. Its services consist of advocacy programs organized by thematic work areas (Aggravated Life Imprisonment, Children, Disabled, Workers, Women, LGBTİ+, Right to Education, Health, Foreign Nationals), supported by a Prison Statistics database, a prisoner hotline, an application guide, publications, a prison glossary, and a volunteer lawyer network. These services collectively form an advocacy and monitoring ecosystem rather than a technology product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mahpus Danışma Hattı (Prisoner Hotline)
• Başvuru Rehberi (Application Guide)
• Hapishane İstatistikleri (Prison Statistics)
• Gönüllü Avukat Ağı (Volunteer Lawyer Network)
• Yayınlar (Publications)
• CİSST Hapishaneler Sözlüğü (CİSST Prison Glossary)
• Tematik Çalışma Alanları (Thematic Work Areas)

Quantifiable outcome

• CİSST publishes monthly prison statistics covering all 402 Turkish prisons and 427,525+ prisoners
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Hapiste Kadın Ağı (Prison Women's Network)minorOthersCİSST participates in the Prison Women's Network (Hapiste Kadın Ağı), a coalition of organizations advocating for the rights of women prisoners. CİSST has been involved in joint campaigns such as the 'Free Pads in Prison' campaign, which successfully advocated for the Ministry of Justice to provide free sanitary products to women prisoners.
• Türk İnsan Hakları Vakfı (TİHV)minorOthersTİHV is a co-signatory on joint statements and campaigns alongside CİSST, including the campaign for free educational materials for prisoners and joint press releases on prison conditions.
• İnsan Hakları Derneği (İHD)minorOthersİHD co-signs joint statements and campaigns with CİSST, including on prison conditions, prisoner deaths, and the right to education in prisons.
• Özgürlük için Hukukçular Derneği (ÖHD)minorOthersÖHD co-signs joint statements and advocacy campaigns with CİSST, including on prison conditions, the treatment of prisoners' lawyers, and prisoner rights.
• Türk Tabipleri Birliği (TTB)minorOthersTTB co-signs joint statements on prison health rights, hunger strike monitoring, and the right to health of prisoners alongside CİSST.
• Eğitim ve Bilim Emekçileri Sendikası (Eğitim-Sen)minorOthersEğitim-Sen co-signs joint campaigns with CİSST on the right to education for prisoners.
• Çağdaş Hukukçular DerneğiminorOthersCo-signatory on the Hunger Strike Monitoring Report and joint press releases on prison conditions alongside CİSST.
• Sağlık ve Sosyal Hizmet Emekçileri Sendikası (SES)minorOthersSES co-signs joint statements with CİSST on prison health rights and the right to health for prisoners.
• Med-Tutuklu ve Hükümlü Aileleri ile Hukuki ve Dayanışma Dernekleri FederasyonuminorOthersCo-signatory on the Hunger Strike Monitoring Report alongside CİSST, representing families of prisoners and detainees.
• Türkiye İnsan Hakları Vakfı (THİV)minorOthersTHİV co-signs the Hunger Strike Monitoring Report and joint statements on prison conditions alongside CİSST.
• Toplum ve Hukuk Araştırmaları Vakfı (TOHAV)minorOthersTOHAV co-signs joint statements and campaigns with CİSST on prison conditions, the right to education, and food access for prisoners.
• Kaos GLminorOthersKaos GL co-signs joint campaigns with CİSST advocating for LGBTİ+ prisoners' rights.
• Pembe Hayat LGBTİ+ Dayanışma DerneğiminorOthersPembe Hayat co-signs joint campaigns with CİSST advocating for LGBTİ+ prisoners' rights.
• Romani Godi – Roman Hafıza Çalışmaları DerneğiminorOthersRomani Godi co-signed the joint statement on the death of prisoner Sinan Üstev and monitors the investigation, working alongside CİSST on Roman prisoner rights.
• Lambdaistanbul LGBTİ+ Dayanışma DerneğiminorOthersLambdaistanbul co-signs joint campaigns with CİSST on LGBTİ+ prisoner rights.
• ÜniKuir DerneğiminorOthersÜniKuir co-signs joint campaigns with CİSST on LGBTİ+ prisoner rights.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Penal Reform International: International non-profit headquartered in London that works globally on criminal-justice reform, prison monitoring, and the promotion of humane, rights-based penal systems. Directly comparable to CİSST in mission (independent prison-condition monitoring, advocacy, and policy reform) and operating model (NGO, NGO-led research, coalition advocacy).
• Howard League for Penal Reform: UK's oldest prison-reform charity, working on prison conditions, sentencing, and the rights of people in detention. Closely parallel to CİSST in mandate (independent civil-society prison advocacy, thematic prisoner subpopulations, legal-reform campaigns) and structure (NGO, thematic working areas, policy publications).
• Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT): Geneva-based NGO that monitors places of detention globally and develops standards (the 'Nelson Mandela Rules', OPCAT) to prevent torture and ill-treatment. A direct peer in the niche of independent prison-monitoring and standards-setting, working with public authorities rather than in direct competition.
• Prison Reform Trust: UK charity focused on reducing imprisonment, improving prison conditions, and promoting human rights in the justice system. Directly comparable to CİSST in role as an independent national-level NGO that conducts prison-condition research and advocates for prisoner rights.

Emerging players

• Fair Trials International: International NGO working on the right to fair trial and pre-trial justice across Europe and beyond. Overlaps with CİSST on access-to-lawyer issues, pre-trial detention, and criminal-procedure rights within detention facilities.
• REDRESS: International NGO pursuing legal remedies and strategic litigation for victims of torture and ill-treatment in detention. Comparable to CİSST at the intersection of survivor accompaniment, detention-monitoring reporting, and international-mechanism advocacy.
• Hapiste Kadın Ağı (Prison Women's Network) — Turkey: Coalition of Turkish NGOs advocating for women-prisoner rights — organizer of the Free Pads in Prison campaign in which CİSST participated. A thematic-area peer and direct partner on women's-prisoner issues.

Regional players

• Türk İnsan Hakları Vakfı (TİHV) — Human Rights Foundation of Turkey: Turkish human-rights foundation providing documentation, treatment, and rehabilitation services to torture survivors, frequently intersecting with prison-rights work. A domestic peer sharing both advocacy and documentation functions with CİSST; current co-signatory partner.
• Özgürlük İçin Hukukçular Derneği (ÖHD): Turkish Lawyers' Association for Freedom, focused on defending lawyers and rights defenders, including in politically sensitive criminal trials and detention cases. A peer in advocacy-coalition work on prisoner rights and treatment of lawyers in detention; current co-signatory partner.
• İnsan Hakları Derneği (İHD) — Human Rights Association (Turkey): Turkey's primary national human-rights NGO, which documents and litigates rights violations including in detention. A domestic peer with overlapping scope on prisoner rights, freedom-of-expression cases, and coalition advocacy (CİSST itself is a co-signatory partner of İHD).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cisstdernegi
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCXjLUSuwClALdvRgYqTgzdA
• Facebookfacebook.com/cisstdernegi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cisstdernegi
• Instagraminstagram.com/cisstdernegi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ceza İnfaz Sisteminde Sivil Toplum Derneği