HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Human Rights Week ends with human chain in Istanbul 

  IHD and TIHV members ended the Human Rights Week with a human chain in Beşiktaş and vowed to continue struggling.
• IHD Van chair Melet: The State of Emergency has never been lifted 

  IHD Van Branch President Murat Melet said that the State of Emergency never ended.
• AI: At least 304 killed, thousands injured in Iran 

  Thousands arbitrarily detained and at risk of torture in chilling post-protest crackdown in Iran, said the Amnesty International.
• Kurdish organisations mobilize to protest Erdoğan in Geneva 

  The Swiss Kurdish Women's Union (YJK-S) and the Swiss Kurdish Democratic Society (CDK-S) said it was unacceptable for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to come to Switzerland to attend the Refugee Forum in Geneva.
• Actions for sick prisoners in Ankara and Istanbul 

  Two actions were organized in Ankara and Istanbul to draw attention to the condition of ill prisoners. It was emphasized that the state are leaving the prisoners to die.
• Remains of 10 people from Garzan delivered to their families 

  Of the 267 bodies that were excavated in Garzan Graveyard in Bitlis, only 10 were delivered to their families and with two years delay.
• Governor bans Lawyers Association for Freedom press conference 

  Diyarbakır Governor's Office banned the ÖHD which wanted to hold a press conference on rights violations.
• Relatives of forcibly disappeared call for justice 

  The children of the disappeared and of those who lost their lives during the massacres reiterated the demand for "justice" in Ankara.
• Women prisoners in Gebze complain about harassment 

  The prisoners in the Gebze Closed Women's Prison said that they had been harassed and subjected to raids on the wards.
• “Turkey must be brought to justice" 

  Call for the establishment of an international committee to investigate the Turkish state’s war crimes and trial of perpetrators at international courts.
• ECtHR calls for the release of Osman Kavala 

  The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has given a verdict of right violation for businessperson Osman Kavala, who was detained on October 18, 2017 and has been arrested since November 1, 2017.
• UN’s Colville denounces attacks by Turkey's mercenaries in Syria 

  Spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that states that support parties to the conflict, even when they are not directly engaged in hostilities, are obliged to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
• Aegean region: 384 violations ights of women and children  

  According to the Human Rights Association there have been 384 violations of children and women rights in the Aegean Region in the last 10 months.
• UN: At least 7,000 people arrested in Iran in mass protests 

  UN’s Bachelet called on Iran to address multiple human rights violations in context of recent protests.
• Hunger strike successfully ended in Osmaniye prison 

  In the prisons of Osmaniye and Maraş, dozens of prisoners went on hunger strike due to inhumane prison conditions.
• "Good conduct" sentence reduction for child abuser 

  Seyfettin Tekin, teacher at a religious school, was given a "good conduct" time reduction in his sentence for sexual abuse of a child.
• Report on rights violations in Marmara prisons published 

  Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) Istanbul Branch published the October and November violation of rights report in Marmara prisons. According to the report, rights violations in prisons continue to increase.
• Ill prisoner Emine Aydoğan died 

  Emine Aslan Aydoğan, a 64-year-old prisoner in Urfa, died in the hospital she was taken to.
• UNICEF: Those who kill children will be held accountable 

  UNICEF stated that at least 34 children have been killed in the north of Syria in the past four weeks alone.
• ECtHR rules Turkey violated ECHR in the case of lawyers 

  In 2011 the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office instigated an investigation to detect and reveal the alleged "secret communication channels operating between Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK-KCK".
• 'Those carrying out torture feel they are protected by the state' 

  Despite the promise of 'zero tolerance' for torture made by the AKP government, the cases of torture in custody and prisons are increasing day by day.
• Access to health denied to sick prisoner Türkmen 

  The Human Rights Association exposed the fact that prisoner Sinan Türkmen has been denied access to health.
• Women's prison stormed, prisoner taken away by special task force 

  In the Bakirköy women's prison in Istanbul, a ward was stormed and a prisoner taken away and handed over to the police.
• Jailed co-mayors of the HDP held in isolation 

  Hakkari Municipality co-mayor Cihan Karaman and Gever co-mayor Irfan Sarı, who were referred to Elazığ High Security Prison No. 2 on 5 November, have been kept in solitary cells since then.
• HRW: Movements of Maxmur Camp residents restricted 

  “It is shocking that authorities have not put an end to restricting the movement rights of some of Makhmour’s refugees", said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.