HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Prison administration demands translation fee for Kurdish letters 

  The administration of Bolu Type F Prison demanded a translation fee from political prisoner İhsan Balkaş for a letter he wrote in Kurdish.
• Şimel Çam: We are deeply worried about my father being sent back to prison 

  Severely ill prisoner Mehmet Emin Çam was taken back to prison after being hospitalized for treatment. His daughter said they are deeply concerned for his health.
• Body of Kurdish political prisoner not returned after secret execution, family threatened 

  Iranian authorities have refused to hand over the body of Kurdish political prisoner Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou following his secret execution, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has reported.
• Hamid Hossein Nejad Heyderanlu executed in Iran 

  Hamid Hossein Nejad Heydaranlu was executed in Iran.
• ESP and SGDF prisoners go on hunger strike against isolation in High Security Prisons 

  ESP and SGDF prisoners have gone on hunger strike against the isolation in High Security Prisons.
• Family protests death sentence imposed on Hamid Hossein Nejad 

  The family of Kurdish political prisoner Hamid Hossein Nejad has been protesting for three days in front of the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, calling for his death sentence to be overturned.
• Urgent call for the release of critically ill inmate Ismail Tamboga 

  Civil society organizations stressed that İsmail Tamboga must receive treatment outside prison and that being tried without detention is of vital importance.
• Kurdish political prisoner transferred to solitary confinement ahead of execution in Urmia 

  A Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death was transferred to solitary confinement in Urmia Central Prison on 16 April in preparation for his execution.
• Ill prisoners and the state’s ideological stubbornness 

  The state's approach to political prisoners is shaped as part of a kind of "hostage politics." This situation goes beyond classical criminal law.
• Florence grants honorary citizenship to Pakhshan Azizi 

  Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish journalist sentenced to death in Iran, has been granted honorary citizenship by the Florence municipality.
• Eğitim-Sen: Mother tongue workshop emphasizes constitutional guarantees 

  Eğitim-Sen’s mother tongue workshop report calls for a new constitutional process to ensure equal rights to mother tongue education for all citizens.
• Seven Kurdish detainees from Mahabad released on bail, six others remain in custody 

  After their arrest, the detainees were transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Orumiyeh, where they were subjected to weeks of harsh physical and psychological torture in order to extract confessions.
• Lawyer Erdoğan: The issue of ill prisoners must be solved 

  Lawyer Yusuf Erdoğan called for an urgent solution to the unlawful detention of ill prisoners.
• IHD :87% disabled prisoner Aladağ must be released immediately 

  The Human Rights Association Iğdır branch has called for the immediate release of severely ill prisoner Emin Aladağ, held in Elazığ No. 1 High-Security Prison, citing his worsening health condition.
• Prisoner Toprak sees his release postponed after spending 30 years in jail 

  Metin Toprak has been in prison for 30 years. His release was postponed for 9 months on the grounds that he did not show “remorse”. He remains in Kırıklar Prison.
• Iran sentences two filmmakers to prison  

  Iran has sentenced Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, directors of the film ‘My Favourite Cake,’ to prison.
• Kütük: Police brutally tortured my innocent son 

  Candan Kütük said that police brutally beat her son, who attempted to save a woman from police violence in Saraçhane.
• Iran executes five prisoners 

  The Iranian judiciary has executed five people accused of belonging to banned Sunni Muslim groups. At least 245 people have been executed since the beginning of the year.
• 14,478 people jailed in the past three months 

  Turkey’s prison population grew by 14,478 over the past three months, surpassing capacity by nearly 100,000.
• Lawyer Alpsoy: Judicial control measure is a restriction of people's rights and freedoms 

  Lawyer Şükrü Alpsoy said that the recent frequent use of judicial control decisions has become a restriction of people's fundamental rights and freedoms, and pointed out that this practice also leads to many rights violations.
• IHD holds action for prisoner Hatice Onaran 

  The IHD petitioned for the release of Hatice Onaran and an end to judicial repression against human rights defenders.
• Sedat Avşar released from prison after 30 years  

  Sedat Avşar was released from Antep H Type Closed Prison after 30 years of imprisonment.
• At least 59 people hanged in March in Iran; 230 executions recorded in 2025 

  In March 2025, at least 59 people including five women, were executed in Iranian prisons. Three Afghan nationals, seven Baluch and one Kurdish minority were amongst those executed.
• AI: Massacres of Alawite civilians in Syria must be investigated as war crimes 

  The latest massacres targeting the Alawite minority create new scars in a country already burdened by too many unhealed wounds. Without justice, Syria risks falling back into a cycle of further atrocities and bloodshed”.
• Kara: This is the time to raise the struggle 

  Bank worker Dilara Kara, who was unjustly arrested during the recent protests in Turkey, stated that the crackdown has only made them stronger.