IHD meets Press Council
IHD meets Press Council
Members of the Press Council who have been in Diyarbakýr to hold official talks about the right violations in the Kurdish region paid a visit to Human Rights Association (IHD) office after visiting the jailed journalists in Diyarbakýr D Type Prison on Friday.
Informing the council members of the situation in the region, IHD Diyarbakýr branch chair Raci Bilici expressed concerns over the current state of affairs in Turkey and evaluated the imprisonment of journalists as a shame of the Turkish state.
Calling attention to the remarkable increase in right violations in the region since 2006, Bilici commented this trouble was a consequence of the fact that the Turkish government considers all opponent circles as a danger and threat against itself. Bilici underlined that all dynamics of the society have been put in prison under the cover of Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) operations and said; “Lawyers, journalists, youngsters, students, women and academicians are taken into custody and arrested within the framework of this operation which has most recently targeted Confederation of Public Workers Union (KESK) and ended up with the arrest of many executives. This tendency aims to make an end of the organized power of the society, which is unacceptable.”
Bilici also reminded that this operation has even reached up to IHD which wasn’t subjected to any kind of raids and operations even in 90’s. “The immunity of human rights defenders has been disregarded since 2009 as most of IHD branch chairs in the region have been subjected to investigations and lawsuits, besides our general vice president Muharrem Erbey and our executive who have been held in prison for some time. We are exposed to these pressures for reporting the truths and sharing them with the public opinion”, said Bilici and added that the recent years in Turkey have witnessed a large number of violations of the freedom of thought and expression, torture and ill treatment as well as abuses of prisoners’ rights in particular.
Informing the council members of the situation in the region, IHD Diyarbakýr branch chair Raci Bilici expressed concerns over the current state of affairs in Turkey and evaluated the imprisonment of journalists as a shame of the Turkish state.
Calling attention to the remarkable increase in right violations in the region since 2006, Bilici commented this trouble was a consequence of the fact that the Turkish government considers all opponent circles as a danger and threat against itself. Bilici underlined that all dynamics of the society have been put in prison under the cover of Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) operations and said; “Lawyers, journalists, youngsters, students, women and academicians are taken into custody and arrested within the framework of this operation which has most recently targeted Confederation of Public Workers Union (KESK) and ended up with the arrest of many executives. This tendency aims to make an end of the organized power of the society, which is unacceptable.”
Bilici also reminded that this operation has even reached up to IHD which wasn’t subjected to any kind of raids and operations even in 90’s. “The immunity of human rights defenders has been disregarded since 2009 as most of IHD branch chairs in the region have been subjected to investigations and lawsuits, besides our general vice president Muharrem Erbey and our executive who have been held in prison for some time. We are exposed to these pressures for reporting the truths and sharing them with the public opinion”, said Bilici and added that the recent years in Turkey have witnessed a large number of violations of the freedom of thought and expression, torture and ill treatment as well as abuses of prisoners’ rights in particular.
