HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• No verdict in 'Return to Life' operation case 

  No ruling was issued in the case concerning the 2000 Bayrampaşa Prison operation where 12 prisoners lost their lives.
• ‘Pit-type’ prisons are the new sites of torture 

  Thousands of prisoners are held in isolation in Y- and S-type ‘pit-type’ prisons, with no full data shared by the Ministry of Justice.
• Shirin Ebadi: Torture has increased in Evin Prison following Israel's attack 

  Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi has reported that Iranian security forces tortured and used violence against prisoners in Evin Prison following Israel's attack on the prison.
• Report: 631 seriously ill prisoners, 359 executions postponed arbitrarily, violations are systematic 

  The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) and the Federation of Solidarity with the Families of Prisoners and Convicts (MED TUHAD-FED) announced their six-month report based on 3,500 applications received from 115 prisons.
• Türkdoğan: Legal guarantees for the process are essential 

  Öztürk Türkdoğan stressed that the process, especially regarding ill prisoners, was proceeding extremely slowly.
• Altan: There is a long road toward an honorable peace 

  Bahadır Altan said that the road to an honorable peace is long and underlined that the state must also take concrete steps.
• Number of children with judicial record is increasing 

  According to TÜİK, there were 178,834 children with judicial records as of last year. The Ministry of Justice, however, reported the number as 211,946.
• According to Iran, 71 people died in Israeli attack on Evin Prison 

  According to a statement by Iran’s Judiciary, 71 people were killed in the Israeli attack on Evin Prison, located in northern Tehran, last Monday.
• Workers at Izmir Metropolitan Municipality fear dismissal over leave 

  Workers are avoiding even annual leave at the municipality due to fear of being dismissed following the recent strike.
• Kurdish activist detained in Iran denied treatment despite serious health concerns 

  60-year-old Kurdish civil rights activist Ghader Kharamanfar, who has been in custody since December 2024, is suffering from coronary artery disease, fatty liver, high blood pressure, and knee osteoarthritis.
• KHRN: Iran secretly executed three Kurdish prisoners 

  Three Kurdish prisoners in Orumiyeh Central Prison were executed in haste despite the fact that the Supreme Court had not yet formally communicated their death sentences to their lawyers.
• ÖHD report: Release of 93 prisoners blocked in Marmara prisons 

  The Istanbul branch of the ÖHD reported that 93 inmates in 17 prisons across the Marmara Region were denied release.
• Final declaration of 'Memory and Justice' conference in Amed announced 

  The 'Memory and Justice' conference held in Amed underlined that confronting the past is essential for achieving peace.
• Saturday Mother Emine Ocak in intensive care 

  Saturday Mother Emine Ocak was in intensive care after having a heart attack on 20 June.
• Report exposes serious human rights violations in Bolu Prison 

  A new report by DEM Party MP Newroz Uysal Aslan reveals serious human rights violations in Bolu’s high-security prison and urges the Turkish parliament to take immediate action.
• Celiac journalist Erkılınç denied medical treatment in prison 

  Eren Keskin visited journalist Perihan Sevda Erkılınç, who is imprisoned in Bakırköy Prison and suffers from celiac disease and asthma,and and said that her health is worsening.
• Hunger strike in Basel demands closure of isolation-type prison cells 

  A three-day hunger strike in Basel called for international solidarity against isolation in Turkish and Hungarian prisons and demanded freedom for SGDF prisoners.
• AI: Unlawful use of force by police against protestors in Turkey may amount to torture 

  Amnesty International documents police violence during and in the aftermath of largely peaceful nationwide protests that erupted following the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul, and 91 others on 19 March 2025.
• Imprisoned for 32 years, Nedim Yılmaz sees his release postponed for the eighth time 

  The release of Nedim Yılmaz, a prisoner behind bars for 32 years, has been postponed for the eighth time.
• Seriously ill prisoner not transferred to Forensic Medicine Institution despite official order  

  Although the public prosecutor's office ordered the immediate transfer of seriously ill 85-year-old prisoner Sıddık Güler to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, this has not yet been carried out. The DEM Party brought the case before parliament.
• Lawyer Çakaş: The right to hope is the path to peace 

  Lawyer Yusuf Çakaş said that Öcalan’s physical freedom must be secured for the process to move forward, and steps on the right to hope will pave the way for lasting peace.
• ‘The right to hope concerns the collective conscience of society’ 

  Lawyer Muhittin Muğuç said that the right to hope hope is not only a legal issue but also part of Turkey's confrontation with democracy.
• Imprisoned for 30 years, 70-year-old man dies shortly after release from jail 

  Şemsettin Ekinci, who was 39 years old when imprisoned, was released in January 2025 after 30 years of imprisonment. Having suffered various health issues during his imprisonment, he died at the age of 70 shortly after his release.
• Diyarbakır Bar Association: There are between 3 and 4 million child workers in Turkey 

  According to OECD data, 6.5 million children in Turkey live in “extreme poverty”; one in five children is malnourished, and one in four goes to school hungry.
• Families find destroyed graves after ten-year ban on cemetery visits 

  Families visiting cemeteries after a ten-year ban met with destroyed graves.