Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakýr branch has opened a Human Rights Academy in Diyarbakýr. The project aims to ensure a better defence of human rights on the basis of knowledge. The first Academy by the Association was opened in Ankara two years ago.

The Academy in Diyarbakýr has been opened on 15 December in the scope of Human Rights Week (10-17 December) events. Human rights defenders who take an active part in works in the Kurdish region will be the first students of the Academy which will start a three-weeks academic program soon after the opening.

"Working on human rights and freedoms" is the sole purpose of the Human Rights Association, said Human Rights Academy Chairman Hüsnü Öndül who, referring to the Academy in Ankara, said that the establishment has been providing free education for IHD central executives, workers of human rights organizations and trainees working for these organizations. Öndül called attention to the importance of the Academy in terms of enabling effective protection and practice of human rights, and remarked that the education at the Academy aimed to help to train people working for the protection of human rights.

Öndül noted that the Association, IHD, is planning to open new branches of the Academy in Istanbul, the Aegean and Mediterranean regions following the opening in Diyarbakýr where, he said, the Academy will play a remarkable role in the improvement of defence of human rights that are greatly violated here.