HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Body of Kurdish guerrilla martyred in July not given to family 

  Bardakçı family raise their voice against authorities not giving them their son’s remains.
• IHD co-chair Türkdoğan: Imralı Prison must be closed 

  IHD co-chair Öztürk Türkdoğan stated that the isolation imposed on Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan is unlawful and "Imralı Prison must be closed”.
• Prisoners beaten in Malatya jail are on hunger strike 

  16 prisoners who were transferred to Malatya Akçadağ T Type Closed Prison announced that they have been on a hunger strike for 10 days to protest the beating and harassment during their transfer.
• Law organizations: We will continue to defend the Kurdish people 

  Law organizations criticized the detention of the lawyers from ÖHD in front of the Çağlayan Courthouse and expressed that; “No force can silence us. Our rank is on the side of the workers, the oppressed, the Kurdish people.”
• Constitutional Court: Fine for sit-in action is a right violation 

  Issuing a precedent decision, the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the administrative fines issued for sit-in actions by those dismissed from public service constitute a violation of right.
• Feleknas Uca tables question on Afrin to Turkish Foreign Minister 

  HDP Batman MP Feleknas Uca, tabled a question to Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the human rights violations in Afrin and women abducted by mercenary groups linked Turkey.
• Legal reform possible by ending isolation, says Öcalan's lawyer 

  Underlining that the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan has no legal explanation, lawyer Serdar Celebi said: "Legal reform can only be possible by ending isolation."
• Tuberculosis epidemic in Şakran Prison 

  The prisoners in Şakran T Type Closed Prison are reported to have caught the tuberculosis epidemic along with Covid-19. It is informed that the prison administration concealed the epidemic and did not take any measures.
• Martyr remains buried in hurry without waiting for DNA test 

  The remains of martyr Abdullah Kocak were buried without waiting for the DNA test.
• Finucane: Public judicial inquiry needed into murder of my father 

  John Finucane, Sinn Féin Member of Parliament for North Belfast, wrote a letter to all MPs in Westminster to ask a public judicial inquiry into the murder of his father, lawyer Pat Finucane.
• Trial on the death of 2-year-old Mawda opens today in Belgium 

  The trial against about the death of Mawda, a 2-year-old Kurdish girl who died in Belgium after police opened fire on a vehicle carrying refugees in 2018, opens today.
• Old enough to be jailed, too small to paint 

  Arin Hevi, one and a half years old, is in prison with her mother. Her father brought her a coloring book and pencils, but they were not handed over to her because she is supposedly too small for them.
• KCDK-E condemns Romania for deporting Kurdish citizens to Turkey 

  Almost forty Kurdish asylum seekers have been extradited from Romania to Turkey. The Kurdish umbrella organization KCDK-E condemned the deportations as contrary to international law and protested the organized structures of the Turkish state in Europe.
• UN urge Iraq to halt mass executions 

  UN human rights experts on Friday voiced alarm at reports that a further 50 terror convicts were facing execution in Iraq on Monday, as they urged Baghdad to halt all "mass executions".
• Translation fee imposed on prisoners writing letters in Kurdish 

  Translation fee is charged from detainees in Diyarbakır Women's Prison for letters in Kurdish. While correspondences in different languages are free of charge, it is noteworthy that a fee is charged only for Kurdish language.
• Human Rights Association condemns political genocide 

  IHD (Human Rights Association) branch in Amed (Diyarbakir) criticizes political genocide operations, saying; "The freedom and security of individuals are unfortunately violated with impunity.”
• IHD: 49 people have died in prison since the beginning of 2020 

  The Human Rights Association (IHD) said that 49 prisoners have lost their lives since the beginning of 2020. Allegedly, 15 have committed suicide. Since 15 April 4 seriously ill prisoners over 70 have lost their life due to Covid-19
• Iranian forces kill two more kolbars 

  Two kolbars lost their lives as a result of the fire opened by Iranian soldiers on the border.
• Cold water shower torture in Patnos L-Type Prison 

  Yakup Turgut who is jailed in Patnos L-Type Prison said they are forced to shower with cold and dirty water.
• FCK-BW-BAYERN condemns practices in Stammheim Prison 

  The FCK-BN-BAYERN Federation condemned the practices against Kurdish prisoners in Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart, refering to the practices during the "Nazi period".
• Celebrities call for justice for Kurdish girl Mawda 

  Famous names, including artist Roger Waters and award-winning director Ken Loach, called for justice for Mawda, a Kurdish girl who died in Belgium shot in the head by a police bullet. The trial starts on 23 November.
• At least 368 workers died from coronavirus in Turkey 

  İSİG announced that at least 368 workers died in the 8-month period of the epidemic in Turkey.
• "International institutions should step in against isolation" 

  Stating that the isolation imposed on Kurdish People's Leader Öcalan is not independent of the Kurdish problem, lawyer Mesut Beştaş emphasized that the EU and international institutions should step in as soon as possible to end the isolation.
• Ill prisoner Direkçi exposes outrageous violation of her rights 

  Ill prisoner Semire Direkçi has been forced to live with her bowels out of the body for 450 days.
• New Year gifts campaign for children in Maxmûr and Shengal 

  The Bielefeld Initiative for Peace and Hope in Kurdistan is once again organizing a collection of donations for the children of the Hêvî day center in Maxmûr Camp. This time the organisation will also send packages to Shengal.