HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• IHD president labels security forces violence as "systemic" 

  The expansion of the powers of the police and "neighbourhood guards" has led to an increasing number of attacks on the population in recent weeks, said the Human Rights Association (IHD).
• Health condition of prisoner with cancer worsening 

  Mehmet Salih Filiz, a seriously ill prisoner, said that his health condition has deteriorated: "They want to take revenge," he said and called on people to "be the voice of ill prisoners."
• Impunity makes children the target of security forces 

  In Kurdish provinces children are not just the target of state forces such as police or soldiers. In 2010, the state took a step which turned "children who were throwing stones" and who were under 15 into "children who were pushed into crime".
• IHD exposes violation of rights in Van prisons  

  The Human Rights Association Van Branch released a report after a visit to prisons in the city.
• Prisoner Geçgel says he has received threats 

  Halil Geçgel, a prisoner in Bolu F-Type Prison, denounced being threatened.
• HDP: Conditions are worsening in Turkey's prisons 

  HDP called on international institutions and authorities to closely monitor prisons in Turkey and mobilize the mechanisms and resources at their disposal to protect the rights and health of prisoners in Turkey and beyond.
• 25 years of Saturday Mothers: With carnations against the police 

  Twenty-five years ago, the Saturday Mothers first went to Galatasaray High School in Istanbul to demand clarification of the fate of their disappeared relatives. Today they threw carnations over the police bars in the closed square.
• Activists in Stuttgart hold action for the disappeared people  

  An action was organised in Stuttgart to remember the disappeared people of Turkey and pay tribute to the Saturday Mothers.
• 53% more killings of social leaders in Colombia in last 4 months 

  The number of social leaders murdered in Colombia has increased by 53 percent in recent times.
• 15 organisations call for the release of women detained on 22 May 

  Solidarity with the women politicians and activists imprisoned in Amed (Diyarbakır) last week is growing.
• Family of fasting lawyer calls on people to raise their voice 

  The demands of lawyers Aytaç Ünsal and Ebru Timtik, who have been on hunger strike since 5 February demanding a fair trial, have not been met yet.
• Refugees not protected against coronavirus 

  Due to the conditions of the border between Northern and Eastern Kurdistan, more and more people seeking protection are dying on the dangerous creeping routes through the high mountains.
• Police threaten citizens in Nusaybin 

  The Turkish police are trying to create a climate of fear in northern Kurdistan through repression, violence and arrests.
• IHD demands justice and truth for disappeared people 

  The Human Rights Association in Izmir and Amed demanded justice and the truth for the disappeared people.
• Heavy police presence at funeral of Sabri Kaya  

  Sabri Kaya, a seriously ill prisoner who was not released by the AKP-MHP government, was buried under heavy police presence.
• IHD calls for release of Cemil Erdem, suffering from cancer 

  The weekly F virtual sit-in organised by the Human Rights Association (IHD) was dedicated today to 70-year-old seriously ill prisoner Cemil Erdem, who is suffering from cancer.
• IHD Izmir says ill prisoner Sinan Gül must be released 

  The Human Rights Association (İHD) Izmir Branch Prison Commission carried out online the weekly action normally held in front of Sümerbank with the slogan of “Freedom to sick prisoners”.
• Freedom for Ill Prisoners calls for release of Mehmet Can Demir 

  The Freedom for Ill Prisoners Initiative held its 298th week of protest via social media because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
• IHD says the government is responsible for death of Kaya 

  The Human Rights Association (IHD) Central Prisons Commission issued a written statement about ill prisoner Sabri Kaya who died on the day of his release.
• ÖHD demands investigation on remains buried on sidewalk in Kilyos 

  In a report about the remains found under the pavement in Kilyos graveyard, the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), demanded them to be handed over to the families, and requested that an investigation be open about the illegal burying.
• Concerns grow for lawyer Timtik on death fast for 141 days 

  Lawyer Güçlü Sevimli have visited his colleague Ebru Timtik, who has been on death fast for 141 days demanding a fair trial. Sevimli said that Timtik is now 46 kilos, her hands have blackened, she has wounds in the mouth, and had difficulty talking.
• Autopsy for ill prisoner Kaya who died the day of his release 

  The body of Sabri Kaya, a seriously ill prisoner who died on the day of his release from jail, was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) in Adana for an autopsy.
• AKP-MHP government responsible for the death of Sabri Kaya 

  Ill prisoners Sabri Kaya died the very day he was eventually released from prison, after a real odyssey back and forward to hospital, thus confirming the fact that the AKP-MHP government does not care about prisoners and their lives.
• Signature campaign for lawyers Aytaç Ünsal and Ebru Timtik 

  Lawyers Aytaç Ünsal and Ebru Timtik went on hunger strike on 5 February 2020, demanding "the right to a fair trial”.
• Lawyers carry out investigation on 18 mass graves in Kilyos 

  Lawyers members of the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) carried out an investigation on 18 mass graves that the Turkish state created by digging the pavement in Kilyos graveyard.