HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Freedom House changes Turkey’s status to ‘not free’ 

  Turkey’s status declined from Partly Free to Not Free in Freedom House’s 2017 report on civil and political freedoms in the country.
• Sick prisoner in Şakran cuffed to the bed 

  Sick prisoner in the Şakran Prison Hasip Gün has been cuffed to the bed.
• Children of Nusaybin speak of torture by Turkish soldiers 

  Children who were arrested by Turkish soldiers during Democratic Autonomy resistance in Nusaybin spoke of torture at the hand of Turkish soldiers in custody. 
• Prisoner with schizophrenia in solitary confinement for 5 months 

  Asiye Özlük, sister of schizophrenia patient Uğur Özlük who has been held in a solitary confinement cell for some 5 months in the Eskişehir Type H Closed Prison, stated that her brother was attacked by the guards and attempted suicide twice.
• 624 children in prison with their mothers in Turkey 

  The Turkish Ministry of Justice has announced that as of November 14, 2017, there are 624 children who are in prisons along with their mothers.
• Arrestee with amputated foot awaits surgery in solitary 

  A women prisoner with an amputated limb is waiting for surgery in solitary in Menemen Prison in Turkey.
• Peace mother Oruc: I was left breathless once again 

  Lütfiye Oruç fought for 20 years and managed to get a hold of the bodies of 2 of her children and 2 other relatives, who she buried in the Garzan Cemetery. Oruç said, “I was left breathless once again,” and asked why the bodies had been unearthed.
• Three demonstrators killed in custody in Iran 

  Three protestors have been killed in custody in Iran amid violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
• Disciplinary punishment for prisoners resisting uniform 

  The Diyarbakır D-Type Prison administration issued disciplinary punishments to prisoners who refused go out on visit to protest the one-type uniform practice.
• Three teenagers sexually harassed in Turkish prison 

  Three teenagers in Hatay Children's Prison in Turkey were sexually harassed by law enforcement officers, soldiers, and other prisoners.
• “We will resist the indignity of the uniform” 

  DBP Co-chair Sebahat Tuncel: “The uniform practice is an attack on human dignity, rights and freedoms. We will never accept this indignity imposed upon us. We will increase the resistance against this mindset.”
• PKK and PAJK prisoners: “We will never give in to the uniform” 

  PKK and PAJK prisoners have issued a stern warning against the imposition of a uniform in prisons and said: “They can’t even imagine what we will do.”
• Prisoners will be forced to wear single-type uniform in Turkey 

  A new emergency decree by Turkish government will force all suspects and convicts under arrest for “crimes against the constitutional order” to wear single-type uniforms during their court appearances.
• Seriously injured prisoner tortured by Turkish police 

  A seriously injured PKK guerrilla was tortured by Turkish soldiers and police during his interrogation, a prominent Kurdish journalist said.
• Kurdish political prisoner threatened by intelligence in Rojhilat 

  A Kurdish political prisoner detained in the youth ward of the Orumiyeh Central Prison was interrogated and threatened by the Special Office of the Intelligence Ministry in Prison.
• Turkey rejects another appeal for a meeting with Öcalan 

  Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has rejected yet another appeal by the families of İmralı prisoners to meet with their relatives, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and three other inmates.
• Scores of children on prison hunger strike in Turkey 

  Scores of children in Hatay Juvenile Prison and Denizli Juvenile Prison started a hunger strike to protest the prison conditions.
• Prisoners in Tarsus: “We have been tortured with electricity” 

  One of the prisoners in Tarsus Hadi Elçiçek spoke with his son on the phone and told him about the torture they had been subjected to since December 7 and said, “We have also been subjected to torture with electricity.”
• Prisoner with cancer Seyran Demir faces death 

  Father Nadir Demir stated that his imprisoned cancer patient daughter Seyran Demir is facing imminent death and called for solidarity.
• UNAMI investigates human rights violations in Tuz Khurmatu 

  A team from the Human Rights office of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) conducted a mission to Tuz Khurmatu in Salah al-Din Governorate on 7 December 2017 to investigate reports of punitive destruction of property of residents.
• Prisoners in Osmaniye to go on hunger strike 

  Prisoners in the Osmaniye T2 Closed Prison will be going on an indefinite-alternate hunger strike because of the rights violations they have suffered.
• Kurdish political prisoner in Rojhilat on hunger strike 

  Political prisoner Ramin Hisen Penahi in Rojhilat’s Sine (Sanandaj) province is on hunger strike for a week in order for his legal demands to be met.
• Freemuse starts a campaign for Kurdish musician 

  Freemuse, an international organization that defends artistic freedoms, started a campaign for Kurdish musician Ferhat Tunç.
• Zeinab Jalalian still refuses to take medication 

  Kurdish political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian has been refusing to take medication since February 2017 in order to protest the inhumane practices in prison.
• Human Rights Week: “Torture has been legitimized in Turkey” 

  TİHV Diyarbakır Representative Barış Yavuz pointed out that torture has been legitimized by AKP’s blatant practices and said that inhumane torture practices continue in prisons they are not allowed to inspect.