HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Lawyers of Abdullah Öcalan apply to visit their client 

  Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to meet with their client.
• Call for Council of Europe action against Turkey over Kavala case 

  Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Commission of Jurists and Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project have demanded the release of businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala.
• Forensic Architecture says police fired shot that killed Tahir Elçi 

  The second hearing of the Tahir Elçi case will be held on 3 March.
• Statement at the Human Rights Council addresses issue of Turkish 'weaponizing' water 

  Written statement to the forty-six session of the Human Rights Council addressed the issue of ‘weaponizing’ water by Turkey in North and East Syria.
• Maat for Peace submits statements on Afrin and Shengal to UN Human Rights Council  

  Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association, has submitted a written statement to the 46th session of the Human Rights Council about Afrin.
• Hunger strikes in Turkish prisons reach day 93 

  The hunger strike launched in prisons against the Imrali isolation continues on its 93rd day. The solidarity hunger strike launched in Maxmur continues on its 72nd day and in Greece on its 55th.
• Activists in Oslo protest rights violation in South Kurdistan 

  Activists in Oslo protested violations of human rights and freedom of expression in South Kurdistan.
• Turkey, the country of suicides 

  In Turkey 5, 806 people have committed suicide due to financial troubles between 2002 and 2019.
• Prisoner with disability remains behind bars! 

  Prisoner Serdal Yıldırım has not been released despite a disability of 98 percent.
• Former HDP co-mayor Hatipoğlu sentenced to 2 years in prison 

  Former co-mayor of Hakkari, Dilek Hatipoğlu, who was subjected to violence while being transferred from Sincan to Van and was not heard from for a while, was sentenced to more than 2 years in prison.
• KDP hands over Kurdish politician to Turkey 

  The KDP has handed over a politician named Ömer Bartan, who spent 12 years in Turkish prisons and took refuge in Hewlêr to Turkey.
• Prisoner alleged to have attempted to commit suicide dies in Van 

  Ramazan Akbaşlı, a prisoner alleged to have attempted to commit suicide in Van F Type Closed Prison, has died. It was learned that Akbaşlı's remanins will be buried in his hometown, in the province of Saray.
• No news about former HDP co-mayor Hatipoğlu 

  Former co-mayor of Hakkari province, Dilek Hatipoğlu, was subjected to strip-search and violence while being transferred to another prison. Her family had no news about  her since. Her father applied to the Human Rights Association (IHD).
• Sit-in in Amed to protest isolation 

  DIK members were prevented from making a statement to Amed to draw attention to the hunger strikes carried out in prison demanding the end of the isolation imposed on Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan and his release.
• Isolation punishment for lawyer Aytaç Ünsal 

  Political prisoner and lawyer Aytaç Ünsal is still in very serious health condition after his hunger strike. Instead of being released given the incompatibility with prison, he was punished with isolation.
• PJAK protests rights violations and arrests in Iran 

  Over a hundred Kurdish activists have been arrested in Rojhilat since the beginning of the year. PJAK protested against the mass arrest in The Hague and called on the international community to act.
• Prison guards raid wards with dogs in Urfa 

  Rights violations in Turkey’s prisons continue increasingly as no action is taken to stop the inhumane and unlawful conditions of detention.
• Hunger strikes in prison reach day 86 

  The hunger strike launched in prisons against the Imrali isolation continues on its 86th day. The solidarity hunger strike launched in Maxmur continues on its 65th day and in Greece on its 48th.
• 124 lawsuits and almost 27 years prison sentences against Eren Keskin  

  A total of 124 lawsuits were filed against IHD co-chair Eren Keskin. The total prison sentences against Keskin amount to 26 years 9 months and 20 days.
• Rights and legal organizations denounce abduction of civilians by state forces 

  Rights and law organizations filed a criminal complaint, drawing attention to the abduction and torture of Kurds and dissidents by state forces.
• HRW denounces massive police violence against students in Turkey 

  Human Rights Watch has expressed sharp criticism of the Turkish authorities' handling of the Boğaziçi protests and called for the release of the arrested students.
• KON-MED calls on people to join Hanau's victims commemoration 

  KON-MED called on people to join memorials to pay tribute to the victims of the 19 February 2020 right-wing terrorism attack in Hanau.
• Germany pays tribute to victims of 2020 right-wing terrorism attack in Hanau 

  On 19 February 2020, Ferhat Unvar, Said Nesar Hashemi, Vili Viorel Păun, Mercedes Kierpacz, Sedat Gürbüz, Kaloyan Velkov, Fatih Saraçoğlu, Gökhan Gültekin and Hamza Kurtović were murdered by a right-wing terrorist in Hanau. Today Germany remembers them.
• Lawyer Acun: Isolation is a consequence of the deadlock policies regarding the Kurdish issue 

  Lawyer Berdan Acun from the Association of Lawyers for Freedom said, "The reason for the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan is the deadlock policies regarding the Kurdish issue."
• HDP: Co-mayor of Hakkari was tortured 

  HDP Co-Chairperson Ümit Dede said, "Our Hakkari Municipality Co-mayor was tortured through strip-search. The problems in prisons stem from the isolation in İmralı."