HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Urfa Bar Association attends justice vigil of Şenyaşar family 

  Urfa Bar Association’s Head Mehmet Velat İzol and members of the association’s board of directors attended Şenyaşar family's justice vigil.
• Ten more prisoners join hunger strike in Urfa No. 1 T Type Closed Prison  

  Ten more prisoners joined the hunger strike launched in Urfa No. 1 T Type Closed Prison on 8 August against the violations of their rights.
• Mother stages sit-in for son on hunger strike in prison 

  Songül İlker has been staging a sit-in in front of the Denizli T Type Closed Prison for three days, demanding treatment for her son who is sick and on the 15th day of a hunger strike.
• Political prisoner dies ten days before release 

  Another seriously ill prisoner has died in Turkey. According to the prison management, Ibrahim Yildirim suffered a heart attack in the high-security prison Elazığ. He would have been released from prison in ten days.
• Writer Ayşe Düzkan: Aysel Tuğluk and other ill prisoners are actually sentenced to death  

  Writer Ayşe Düzkan said that Aysel Tuğluk and the ill prisoners are actually sentenced to death as they are punished outside the law.
• Mother of prisoner Polat holds sit-in in front of Denizli Prison demanding for her son to be treated 

  The mother of Ekim Polat, a seriously ill prisoner held in Denizli T Type Closed Prison, has been holding a sit-in in front of the prison for two days demanding for her son to be treated.
• Constitutional Court rejects request to release Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk 

  The Constitutional Court rejected the request to release Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk, who suffers from dementia, and to impose an injunction.
• ÖHD publishes report on the vigil of the Şenyaşar family 

  The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) in Urfa has presented a report on the 522-day vigil of the Şenyaşar family and called on the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission to do its job.
• 76 percent disabled and seriously ill prisoner to remain in jail 

  Hülya Ayık, mother of 76 percent disabled and seriously ill imprisoned journalist Devrim Ayık, said that her son, whose right to treatment was denied, sees his illness progressing, and added: "Are they waiting for Devrim's body to come out of prison?"
• Alaattin Tuğluk demands her sister to be released immediately 

  Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk's brother, Alaattin Tuğluk, demanded her sister to be released immediately and end the double standards.
• Dilan Taşdemir: Law is suspended in prison 

  HDP Ağrı Deputy Dirayet Dilan Taşdemir said that every prison has become an autonomous structure and added that "the law has been completely abolished and torture has become systematic."
• Ten prisoners on hunger strike in Urfa protest violations of their rights 

  Ten prisoners, who went on hunger strike 3 days ago against the increasing torture practices in Urfa No. 1 T Type Prison, said that they will continue their actions until their demands are met.
• Asrin Law Office calls for an end to the injustice and lawlessness on Imrali 

  Exactly three years ago, Abdullah Öcalan's legal team was able to visit his client for the last time on the Turkish prison island of Imrali. For 17 months there has been no sign of life from Öcalan and his three fellow prisoners.
• Family of HPG member Mercan Erkol is fighting for 5 years to get daughter's remains 

  The family of HPG member Mercan Erkol, who lost her life in clashes that broke out on 16 November 2017 in Şenyayla, in the province of Kulp, has been waiting to collect the body of their daughter for 5 years.
• Mothers of political prisoners protest in Istanbul despite police attempts to prevent demo 

  In Istanbul, mothers and relatives of political prisoners protested conditions in Turkish prisons despite the large police presence.
• Justice Vigil of Şenyaşar family continues 

  Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit have been holding a ‘Justice Vigil’ for 516 days demanding justice for three family members killed by AKP people in 2018.
• HDP-HDK: Torture at the borders must be stopped 

  Pointing to footage of brutal torture of Syrian men in the Turkish-Iranian border area, HDK and HDP said, "Turkey's borders have become the scene of persecution and death of refugees."
• Political prisoners in Van go on hunger strike against violations of rights 

  Political prisoners began an alternating hunger strike against the increasing torture practices in Van High Security Prison.
• Prisoner with cancer sent to solitary confinement  

  Prisoner Fatma Özbay suffers from cancer. Her request for treatment for a wound on her foot was rejected and instead she was sentenced to solitary confinement on the pretext that she had hidden a needle in the ward.
• Syrian refugees tortured at Iran-Turkey border 

  A group of Syrian refugees who sought to cross into Turkey was tortured by human smugglers at the Iran-Turkey border.
• Guards torture prisoner with epilepsy in Elazig No. 2 High Security Closed Prison 

  Fevzi Fidan, who was kept in a single cell in Elazig No. 2 High Security Closed Prison, despite suffering from epilepsy, was tortured by the guards.
• Prisoner in Van High Security Closed Prison has a stroke, family not informed 

  Seyfettin Demhat, an ill prisoner in Van High Security Closed Prison, suffered from a heart attack and his family was not informed.
• ÖHD and TUHAY-DER say rights are violated in Diyarbakır Women's Closed Prison 

  ÖHD and TUHAY-DER said that due to the attitude of the prison administration in Diyarbakır Women's Closed Prison, prisoners' right to health is prevented, and rights violations occurred every day, putting the life of prisoners at risk.
• 978 prisoners have died in twenty years of AKP government 

  Almost 1,000 prisoners have died in twenty years of the AKP government in Turkey. Fatin Kanat from the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Ankara speaks of a "balance sheet of shame".
• Erkan Yıldırım: My brother Gökhan is on death fast demanding a fair trial 

  Erkan Yıldırım visited his brother Gökhan who is on death fast demanding a fair trial and said that he feared his brother didn't have much time left.