HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Dutch Kurdish Women's Movement takes over "Freedom for Öcalan Vigil" in Strasbourg 

  Activists of the Dutch Kurdish Women's Movement took over the "Freedom for Öcalan Vigil" in Strasbourg on its 475th week.
• Öcalan lawyers demand CPT to act about isolation in Imrali 

  Lawyers of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan appealed to the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and called on the committee to uphold its responsibilities.
• GÖÇİZDER: Government and media responsible for the wave of racist attacks 

  The Migration Monitoring Association (GÖÇİZDER) pointed out the attacks against the Kurds and refugees and said, “Media and political circles are responsible for the current wave of attacks, deaths and lynch cases.”
• UN says record high number of civilian casualties 

  Record numbers of civilians have been killed and injured in Afghanistan in intense fighting since 1 May, when international forces began their final drawdown and the Taliban launched a major offensive.
• IHD Istanbul branch chair calls on authorities to comply with law as hunger strikes reach day 241 

  IHD Istanbul Branch chair, Gülseren Yoleri, drew attention to the hunger strike in prison, which has entered its 241st day, and called on the authorities to comply with the law.
• Eren Keskin: Racism is not punished in Turkey 

  Human rights lawyer Eren Keskin assesses the increasing lynchings of Kurdish people in Turkey as political violence. Racism does not appear in the Turkish penal code, the authorities deny a racist connection.
• Şenyaşar family demanding justice for 138 days 

  On the 138th day of their "vigil for justice", the Şenyaşar family said that the justice guardians will always exist to counter this order.
• Arrested when he was 17, sentenced to 22 years without a fair trial 

  Kadri Sancar, who was arrested during the self-government resistance in Dargeçit when he was 17, saw his sentence upheld by the Court of Cassation.
• Mother of fallen YPG fighter demands return of her son's remains 

  Aynur Taş demands that the Turkish state surrender the remains of her son Mazlum. The fallen YPG fighter and dozens of other bodies were exhumed and abducted from a cemetery in Afrin.
• At least 17 migrants drowned off Tunisian coast 

  At least 17 migrants have drowned in an accident off the Tunisian coast. The migrants had set off from Libya on their way to Italy.
• HDP condemns racist attacks on Kurds in Western Turkey 

  The incessant smear campaigns of the Turkish government, aimed at criminalizing the HDP, are resulting in violent and even fatal physical attacks against Kurds living in the western provinces of Turkey, said the HDP.
• City of Weimar awards Selahattin Demirtaş with human rights prize 

  HDP politician Selahattin Demirtaş, who is in Edirne prison, received the human rights award from the city of Weimar. The prize is awarded annually as a mark for all the nameless victims of dictatorships and other arbitrary rule in the world.
• Soldiers capture dozens of refugees on the shore of Lake Van 

  Dozens of refugees walking on the shore of Lake Van in Gevaş district were caught by soldiers.
• Şêx Eli: Turkish state has nothing to do with Islam 

  Shex Eli El-Hesen has condemned the destruction of martyrs' graves in Afrin by the Turkish state and its mercenaries emphasizing that the Turkish state has nothing to do with Islam.
• Human Rights Association condemns racist attacks targeting Kurds 

  The Human Rights Association (IHD) said in a statement about the racist attacks against Kurds in Konya, Adıyaman and Ankara that "these attacks are hate crimes targeting Kurdish identity."
• Hunger strike in prisons enters day 238 

  The hunger strike launched by prisoners against the isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues on its 238th day. The solidarity hunger strike in Maxmur has reached day 217 and day 200 in Greece.
• 15 regional bar associations issue statement condemning increasing racist attacks on Kurds 

  15 regional bar associations issued a joint statement condemning the increasing racist attacks against Kurdish citizens in various cities.
• Attack on Kurdish family in Ankara 

  Four people were injured, two of them seriously, as the result of a racist attack on a Kurdish family in Ankara. The police later attacked the family outside the hospital as well.
• Turkish forces detain 133 migrants from Afghanistan in Van 

  Within a few days, Turkish security forces have arrested 133 migrants from Afghanistan on the border between northern and eastern Kurdistan. They now face deportation back to the escalating Afghan civil war.
• Hundreds of migrants continue hunger strike for legal status in Belgium 

  The migrants demand a temporary residence permit for 6 months or one year so that their applications for residence permit can be examined in depth.
• Call for international investigation on Turkey’s destruction of martyrs' graves in Afrin 

  Lawyer Ferhad Baqir said that an international committee should investigate Turkish state's destruction of martyrs' graves in Afrin. Documents deny Turkey’s claims that the victims were killed by Kurdish forces.
• Group from Bremen takes over Freedom for Öcalan Vigil on its 474th week 

  The Freedom for Öcalan Vigil was taken over by a new group from Bremen on its 474th week.
• Families of Roboski massacre victims meet at graveyard on Feast of Sacrifice 

  The families of the victims of the Roboski massacre spent the Feast of Sacrifice at the graveyard.
• The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey reports increase in women who suffered torture 

  According to the TIHV Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers Report, the number of tortured women increased by 10 percent.
• Police attack rally for Suruç victims, detain 19 young people 

  Police attacked the commemoration held in Inönü Park in Adana for those who lost their lives in the Suruç Massacre. 19 young people were harassed and detained.