Human Rights

Latest News

• Politicians start hunger strikes in Amed and Van 

  Support is growing for jailed Kurdish politician Leyla Güven whose indefinite hunger strike against the isolation of Öcalan is continuing. Hunger strikes have been launched by HDP members in Amed and Van.
• HDP MP: We will spread the struggle against the isolation 

  Support grows for Leyla Guven on a hunger strike against the isolation in Imrali. HDP’s female MPs will be holding a statement in front of the Diyarbakir Prison on November 19.
• Families appeal to visit Imralı 

  Families of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and the three other prisoners have appealed to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to visit the Imrali Prison.
• Lawyers staged 79th Vigil for Justice 

  Lawyers demand freedom for their colleagues and an end to the attacks on lawyers.
• HDP MP: I am on a hunger strike until there is a visit to Öcalan 

  HDP MP Leyla Guven launched a hunger strike in the prison she is held in and said, “The actor for the solution of all societal issues Turkey’s population faces is Mr. Öcalan.”
• Cizre Case in the ECHR: Government gives elusive answers 

  In the ECHR hearing of the Cizre Case where two applicants’ appeals are handled, the Turkish state was seen having a difficult time justifying the massacres and accounting for them, resorting to elusive answers.
• HDP MP Güven: My protest will continue until isolation is lifted 

  Hakkari deputy Güven speaks from Amed prison where she has begun an hunger strike against the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan. She said in a message that the current situation is neither sustainable nor acceptable.
• 85 years old Kurdish woman in Turkish jail: Take me to my village 

  Severely sick prisoner Sisê Bingol said, “Take me out of here and to my village before I die.”
• Lawyers submit the 763rd appeal to visit Öcalan 

  Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyers appealed to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to visit their client.
• All eyes on the ECHR verdict for Cizre 

  All eyes are on the verdict the ECHR, which recently started to issue verdicts in Turkey’s favor, will issue on the atrocities during the self governance resistances in Cizre.
• 181 unidentified bodies in Malatya 

  10 bodies of persons who lost their lives in clashes are being kept in the Malatya Forensic Medicine Institution. 171 bodies have been buried in cemeteries in the city. There are a total of 181 bodies namelessly buried in the city’s cemeteries.
• Protests against the isolation of Öcalan grow in Rojava 

  Rojava citizens and representatives from institutions protested the isolation against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and called on international human rights organizations to fulfill their duties.
• Disciplinary investigation against jailed HDP MP on hunger strike 

  A disciplinary investigation was launched against DTK Co-Chair Leyla Güven, who is on an indefinite hunger strike in protest against the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Öcalan.
• Saturday Mothers met once again despite the repression 

  The Saturday Mothers met in front of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch building to stage week 711 of their action.
• 85 years old Kurdish woman sent back to prison after treatment 

  Sise Bingöl had been receiving treatment in hospital for eight days, and was sent back to prison.
• IHD: Guards tried to suffocate a child prisoner in Amed 

  The Human Rights Association in Amed has received a complaint by a child prisoner stating a guard had tried to suffocate him.
• France bans actions for Ocalan, KCDK-E calls for resistance 

  The KCDK-E said actions will be staged in front of US consulates three days a week.
• The International League for Human Rights awards Imret 

  The International League for Human Rights awarded the 2018 Carl von Ossietzky Medal to Cizre Co-mayor Leyla Imret and human rights defender Ottmar Miles Paul.
• Peace in Kurdistan Campaign writes to Theresa May for Öcalan 

  "The absolute isolation of Abdullah Ocalan is tied to the war that the Turkish state forces have been waging against the Kurdish people in Turkey and Syria", said the letter.
• Sick prisoner loses his life 

  Burhan Karatay (67) on remand in the Giresun Type E Closed Prison lost his life after a heart attack.
• Signature campaign demanding the release of Sisê Bingöl 

  One of the seriously ill prisoners is 85 years old Sisê Bingöl who has been denied freedom despite her condition.
• Lawyers appeal again to visit Öcalan 

  Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyers appealed to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for the 761st time to visit their client.
• Thousands gather in Strasbourg for Öcalan 

  Thousands of Kurds and their allies continue to flock to Strasbourg to attend a massive rally organized with the motto “Öcalan’s freedom is our freedom”.
• 85 years old Kurdish prisoner Sise Bingol hospitalized 

  Sise Bingol (85), held in the Tarsus Type T Closed Women’s Prison, was hospitalized after intense protests.
• Ongoing violations in Turkish prisons 

  Prisoners are subjected to many rights violations and arbitrary practices, such as torture, ill-treatment, refusal of referrals, censorship of letters, confiscation of books.