HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• KDC-F condemns expulsion of Kurdish activist Kopal 

  The Kurdish Democratic Council in France expressed dismay and strongly condemned the expulsion on 9 April of Mehmet Kopal, a Kurdish activist.
• Report: Police used violence, gas and rubber bullets during intervention in protests in Van 

  A report prepared by the Human Rights Centre of Van Bar Association, Human Rights Association (IHD) and Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) denounced the rights violations during the protests after the local elections.
• Swedish lawyers: Säpo's criminalisation of Kurds in Sweden must end 

  "Instead of suspecting and criminalising the Kurds, Sweden should support a new peace process between the Kurds and Turkey. Criminalising the Kurds and their institutions does not solve the problem, but becomes the problem."
• DEM Party visits Emine Şenyaşar 

  The Justice Vigil carried by Emine Şenyaşar in front of the Turkish Ministry of Justice continued on its 73rd day.
• IHD exposes rights violations in Samsun Kavak S Type Prison 

  The Human Rights Association Ankara Branch Prisons Commission published a report exposing the rights violations in Samsun Kavak S Type Prison.
• Health of 75-year-old prisoner Yıldız deteriorating 

  Alper Yıldız, son of 75-year-old prisoner Hatice Yıldız, said that his mother often fainted in prison and had difficulty breathing.
• Iran executes 853 people in eight-year high amid relentless repression 

  The number of executions in Iran in 2023 is the highest recorded since 2015 and marks a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021.
• Emine Şenyaşar: I want the people of Van to join me 

  On 14 June 2018, the bodyguards and relatives of AKP Urfa MP Ibrahim Halil Yıldız attacked the Şenyaşar family's shop in Suruç during the election campaign.
• Seriously ill prisoner Çakal released from prison after 30 years 

  Seriously ill prisoner Ahmet Çakal, who was released after 30 years from Kırıklar jail said: "I want our people to live a free and honorable life."
• Grup Yorum members in Buca prison on a hunger strike for 38 days to protest violation of rights 

  Grup Yorum members Cem Dursun and Oktay Kelebek, who are in Buca prison, have been on a hunger strike for 38 days to protest the violations of their rights, especially the right to treatment.
• Mutlak Tozun, a prisoner of 30 years, dies 

  Mutlak Tozun, a prisoner of 30 years, who was hospitalised due to health problems and conditionally released on his deathbed, died.
• Saçaklıdır: Prisoners on hunger strike want their demands accepted 

  Political prisoners in Turkey are on hunger strike demanding a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Esra Saçaklıdır from the IHD in Amed spoke about the determination of the prisoners and the punishments they get from the prison administration.
• Iranian state forces take Kurdish artist Zade into custody in Ilam 

  Iranian state forces took Kurdish artist Muhammed Abbas Zade into custody in Ilam, East Kurdistan, on the grounds that he chanted the slogan "Jin jiyan azadi".
• Guards attack political prisoners who refused to take off their shoes in Bakırköy Women's jail 

  Guards attacked political prisoners who refused to take off their shoes in Bakırköy Women's Closed Prison.
• Öcalan's lawyers file new application to visit Imrali 

  Lawyers of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan filed a new application to meet with their clients, who have been incommunicado for 37 months.
• EMEP was prevented from supporting Emine Şenyaşar 

  Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit have been demanding justice for 64 days.
• KHRAG calls on Amnesty International to investigate appalling conditions of Öcalan’s incarceration 

  KHRAG called on Amnesty International to investigate the appalling conditions of Öcalan’s incarceration.
• Bar Associations and NGOs call on the CPT to “take immediate steps for İmralı” 

  Bar associations and NGOs sent a letter to the CPT against the isolation regime in İmralı Island Prison and said, "Urgent action is needed."
• Kurdish political prisoners Moradi and Azizi, 8 months in Evin prison without trial 

  Kurdish political prisoners Warisha Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi have been detained in Evin prison for 8 months, without a trial.
• 15-year-old kolbar child dies of cold in Saqqez 

  On 24 March, Hastyar Abdul Karimi, a 15-year-old kolbar child, died of cold in Saqqez, near the Iraqi Kurdistan border.
• Öcalan's lawyers file new applications to meet with their client in Imrali 

  Lawyers of Asrın Law Office made new applications to meet with their client, Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is under absolute isolation in Imrali.
• 75-year-old woman falls ill in prison three days after being arrested 

  75-year-old Hatice Yıldız, who was taken into custody on a stretcher, fell ill in the prison where she was kept in isolation.
• Asrın Law Office: İmralı Island is kept behind a veil of secrecy 

  Drawing attention to the isolation in İmralı, Asrin Law Office said: "We cannot hear from Abdullah Öcalan, there is a veil of secrecy in İmralı". The office emphasized that a heavy torture model is applied in İmralı.
• 81 bar associations expose increase in sexual crimes against children  

  The bar associations of 81 cities said that sexual crimes against children have tripled in nine years, and added: "Let's say stop to sexual abuse of children together."
• 75-year-old ill woman jailed for sending money to her prisoner daughter  

  75-year-old Hatice Yıldız, who was sentenced to prison for sending money to her daughter and her friend in jail, was arrested. The ill woman was taken out of the house on a stretcher.