Sevda Çelik Özbingöl and Öztürk Türkdoğan, co-spokespersons of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Law and Human Rights Commission, explained the report they prepared for the December 10-17 World Human Rights Week in a press statement held at the DEM Party Headquarters.

The report drew attention to the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan.

Sevda Çelik Özbingöl drew attention to the fact that the physical attacks on party buildings and members, as well as the unjust judicial harassment against its members and the uninterrupted bans imposed in Kurdistan cities increased by at least 50 percent in 2024.

At least 948 political detentions 

Özbingöl said that at least 948 people were taken into custody and at least 632 people were arrested. Between December 2023 and December 2024, 256 employees and executives of the DEM Party were taken into custody, and 50 of them were sent to prison. "In the same period, 3,128 detentions were made against our party members, elected officials and workers who participated in actions and events organized by our party, and 409 people were sent to prison. A total of 564 detentions and 173 arrest warrants were issued for the events such as celebrations and commemorations on certain days and protests they participated in with our party to organize social opposition."

Appointment of trustees

Stating that after the 31 March local elections, trustees were appointed to 8 DEM Party municipalities, Sevda Çelik Özbingöl added that there were 9 physical attacks on the party throughout 2024, including its headquarters. The party's MPs were physically attacked twice in Parliament and their microphones were turned off many times for speaking Kurdish.

Bans in Van

Protests and events have been banned in Van since 2016 without interruption, said Sevda Çelik Özbingöl, adding that 94 bans on protests and events have been issued in 2024 alone.

Freedom March

On 13 October in Diyarbakır, a rally demanding the end of the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue was almost banned. The Great Freedom March, which started on 1 February 2024 and included representatives of civil society organisations, was intervened by law enforcement officers at different stages in Van, Kars and Urfa.

Sevda Çelik Özbingöl said that 8 protests were intervened on different dates and at least 81 people were detained, and added that hundreds of years of unlawful prison sentences were given in the Kobanê case.

Özbingöl said that "the intervention against democratic politics and the elected will of the people after the elections and afterwards took a different dimension on 3 June. On 3 June 2024, our Hakkari co-mayor Sıddık Akış was detained on the pretext of a trial that has been going on since 2012, and we faced an unjust trustee appointment by turning the ongoing trial against him into an arrest decision and a punishment. On 31 October we faced trustee appointments in Esenyurt, on 4 November in Mardin, on 22 November in Ovacık and Dersim. The ongoing processes of trustee appointments in Halfeti, Batman, Mardin and Van show the extent of these injustices."

Prison rights

Prisoners were subjected to various violations of rights, as the commission was able to prove after visiting more than a hundred prisons in 2024, said Özbingöl, adding: "We submitted 794 questions and research motions. We also applied to the Human Rights Investigation Institution of the Parliament. Nearly 300 prisoners have been visited, hundreds of face-to-face meetings have been held with prison administrations via telephone, and our commission has made at least 2 reports on prisons this year and still continues its work. Prisons continue to be an area of violation that needs to be closely monitored, from ill prisoners, arbitrary disciplinary penalties, execution burnings, naked searches to the prevention of the right to health."

Imrali Prison

Özbingöl said that "one of the reports we made on prisons was about the ongoing isolation process in Imrali Island prison. As the Human Rights Commission, we are following this process, especially with regard to rights violations and the elimination of isolation, which is one of the most important issues." 

Öztürk Türkdoğan said that "Turkey continues to apply a double law and discrimination. No matter what anyone says, the anti-terrorism law and the related legislation impose a dual law on the opponents of the regime, especially the Kurds, and this is a very clear discrimination. The way to end this is through democratisation."

Meetings with Öcalan should be granted 

Türkdoğan said: "Turkey has to solve the Kurdis issue. The current developments in the Middle East and the latest situation in Syria show the importance of reaching a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. The discussions that have been going on in Turkey since 1 October must evolve into a new peace process. These discussions should not be prolonged. Our party's request for a meeting with Mr. Öcalan on Imrali Island Prison must be accepted as soon as possible. Turkey must enter into a real solution process as soon as possible. And it must take steps to solve the Kurdish issue through truly democratic and peaceful means."

Türkdoğan added: "If we really want to return to democracy, we should start by implementing the judgments of the ECHR and the Constitutional Court. Our friends Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, Osman Kavala and his friends, and all politicians who are imprisoned, must be released. It is very important that Can Atalay is released. We invite Turkey to obey its own law. While Turkey should democratise, it should not deviate to worse practices. Isolation in Imrali Island must end as soon as possible."