Human rights defenders behind bars
Human rights defenders behind bars
Human rights defenders in Turkey are meeting the United Nations' (UN) International Human Rights Day December 10 behind bars. According to data gathered by TIHV (Human Rights Foundation of Turkey), 12 human rights defenders are currently held under arrest for performing their duties. Turkey’s records of human rights has deteriorated in the last year, reveals the TIHV report and in this respect points to the fact that 330 people lost their lives in clashes and over 450 torture applications were made in 2011.
According to 2010 data by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the number of ongoing cases from Turkey was 15,200 last year. Turkey was also on the first place in the list of countries with highest rate of human rights violations. More and more applications against Turkey are made to the ECHR year by year. The number of applications made from Turkey was 2,488 in 2005; 2,328 in 2006; 2,830 in 2007; 3,706 in 2008; 4,474 in 2009 and 5,821 in 2010.
The Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir branch 2011 mid-term report on the situation of human rights in the Kurdish region registered 16,482 cases of human rights violation in the first six months of 2011, against 13,219 cases over the same period of 2010. The report recorded 1010 cases of torture and ill-treatment in the first six months of the year in the Kurdish region alone, against 433 in 2010. The association denounced an increase of 200% in the cases of torture, arrests and violent police interventions against demonstrators.
The situation however got worse in 2011 when 330 people died in clashes. Six people were killed and 271 wounded by security forces while using their right to congregate and demonstrate. As to the situation in terms of freedom of expression, 71 journalists were put in prison and the number of banned websites exceeded 15 thousand within this process. 322 people were sentenced to a total of 673 years in prison in 2011 alone. On the other hand, it is actually not easy to follow the number of KCK detainees who have been arrested within the scope of so-called “KCK” operations for going after democratic politics. The number of arrested Kurdish politicians and human right defenders has reached 5,ooo towards the end of the year.
In an interview to ANF, Metin Bakkalcý, Secretary General of TIHV (Human Rights Foundation of Turkey) underlined that the anti-terror law itself was a serious problem. Journalists were arrested because of the restriction of freedom of expression, noted Bakkalcý and remarked out that KCK operations were carried out in a political environment. Bakkalcý pointed to the political power as the authority to be blame for the current situation.
According to 2010 data by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the number of ongoing cases from Turkey was 15,200 last year. Turkey was also on the first place in the list of countries with highest rate of human rights violations. More and more applications against Turkey are made to the ECHR year by year. The number of applications made from Turkey was 2,488 in 2005; 2,328 in 2006; 2,830 in 2007; 3,706 in 2008; 4,474 in 2009 and 5,821 in 2010.
The Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir branch 2011 mid-term report on the situation of human rights in the Kurdish region registered 16,482 cases of human rights violation in the first six months of 2011, against 13,219 cases over the same period of 2010. The report recorded 1010 cases of torture and ill-treatment in the first six months of the year in the Kurdish region alone, against 433 in 2010. The association denounced an increase of 200% in the cases of torture, arrests and violent police interventions against demonstrators.
The situation however got worse in 2011 when 330 people died in clashes. Six people were killed and 271 wounded by security forces while using their right to congregate and demonstrate. As to the situation in terms of freedom of expression, 71 journalists were put in prison and the number of banned websites exceeded 15 thousand within this process. 322 people were sentenced to a total of 673 years in prison in 2011 alone. On the other hand, it is actually not easy to follow the number of KCK detainees who have been arrested within the scope of so-called “KCK” operations for going after democratic politics. The number of arrested Kurdish politicians and human right defenders has reached 5,ooo towards the end of the year.
In an interview to ANF, Metin Bakkalcý, Secretary General of TIHV (Human Rights Foundation of Turkey) underlined that the anti-terror law itself was a serious problem. Journalists were arrested because of the restriction of freedom of expression, noted Bakkalcý and remarked out that KCK operations were carried out in a political environment. Bakkalcý pointed to the political power as the authority to be blame for the current situation.
