HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• HDP deputies: We will be the voice of sick prisoners 

  Deputies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Musa Piroğlu and Dilşat Canbaz Kaya joined a demonstration in Istanbul to protest the violent detention of prisoners’ mothers. The lawmakers said that they would continue to be the voice of sick prisoners.
• Kurtulan: Prisoners are tortured  

  HDP MP and human rights expert Fatma Kurtulan warns that practices in Turkish prisons have reached the level of torture and lead to death.
• Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week events banned 

  Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week events were supposed to start on Monday, but all events were banned.
• Prisoner Ekrem Batmaz released after 30 years  

  Prisoner Ekrem Batmaz was released after 30 years of detention.
• Amnesty names Osman Kavala and Gezi Park defendants as prisoners of conscience 

  “The injustice that these seven have been subjected to is emblematic of that suffered by so many in Turkey’s draconian crackdown on human rights,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
• Disabled political prisoner dies after release 

  Bekir Güven, who was imprisoned for allegedly spreading "terror propaganda", 98 per cent disabled and seriously ill with Huntingdon, has died after his release.
• Prisoners in Afyon on hunger strike for 22 days 

  Political prisoners in Afyon T-Type prison have been on hunger strike for 22 days against abuses and arbitrary treatment.
• Lawyer Sarıca: We can’t receive news from Öcalan in any way 

  Rezan Sarıca, one of the lawyers of the Asrın Law Office representing Abdullah Öcalan, raised concern over the isolation of the Kurdish leader and said that they couldn’t receive news from him in any way.
• Memorial for Hacı Esvet and his sons Adil and Celal Şenyaşar 

  Hacı Esvet and his sons Adil and Celal Şenyaşar, who were murdered by the bodyguard and relatives of AKP Urfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız, were commemorated by people and institutions.
• Havahan Ataman looking for her daughter for 5 years 

  Havahan Ataman has not received the remains of her daughter who lost her life in Besta for 5 years.
• Prisoner Arslan held in solitary cell in Buca Kırıklar No. 2 F Type jail 

  Abdurrahman Aziz Arslan, who is being held in Buca Kırıklar No. 2 F Type Prison, is arbitrarily held in a solitary cell. The petitions he submitted to move to the 3-person ward were not processed.
• Memorial for Şenyaşar family members 4 years after their murder 

  Hacı Esvet and his son, Adil and Celal Şenyaşar, who were murdered in 2018 in Urfa, were commemorated in front of their shop for the first time in 4 years. Suruç shopkeepers kept the shutters closed.
• UK government prepares to fly the first planeload of refugees to Rwanda on Tuesday 

  The UK government intends to fly the first planeload of refugees to Rwanda on Tuesday 14 June.
• Şenyaşar family reaches day 461 of their Justice Vigil  

  The Şenyaşar family continues their struggle for justice and draws attention to the independence of the judiciary, saying that "fighting against unlawfulness is the duty of every citizen with a conscience."
• Prisoners in Düzce denounce violations of rights 

  Vedat Gültekin, who is being held in Düzce T Type Prison, said in a phone call with his family that prisoners in his ward were attacked during a so-called search.
• Police attack Pride march at ODTÜ with tear gas and rubber bullets 

  Turkish authorities prevented a Pride parade from taking place at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. The students were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets, and numerous people were detained.
• 775 lawyers against isolation take action to meet with Öcalan 

  775 lawyers from 29 bar associations have taken action to meet with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan between June 10-17.
• More prisoners join indefinite hunger strike in Afyon 

  In Afyon, western Anatolia, ten political prisoners are on hunger strike demanding adequate health care and the abolition of military roll call and arbitrary "solitary confinement punishment."
• Trans woman abused and harassed at police station in Istanbul 

  A trans woman was mistreated and harassed at Istanbul's Taksim police station. Her lawyer filed a criminal complaint against the officers.
• Turkish soldiers beat prisoner in hospital  

  Turkish soldiers used violence in the hospital where Mehmet Ali Aykal, who was imprisoned in Diyarbakir No. 2 High Security Prison, went for treatment.
• 1,374 rights advocates faced judicial harassment in Turkey in four months 

  According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 23 human rights defenders were sentenced to 1 aggravated life sentence and 211 years 4 months, and 10 days in prison in the first four months of 2022.
• Jail administration doesn't give personal belongings to prisoners on hunger strike in Afyon 

  In Afyon No. 1 T Type Prison, the personal belongings and samovar of the detainees, are not given to them on the grounds that they went on a hunger strike against rights violations.
• Kurdish activist facing extradition to Turkey on indefinite hunger strike in Serbia 

  The Serbian government seems determined to extradite Kurdish revolutionary Ecevit Piroğlu to the Turkish state. Piroğlu has started an indefinite hunger strike against extradition.
• Family of Saniye Toprak buries her remains after a wait of 284 days  

  The family of Saniye Toprak, who fell as a martyr in August 2021, was able to take the remains of their daughter 284 days after the first request. Toprak was finally buried in the village where she was born.
• Police attack rally for prisoners in Istanbul 

  Police attacked a vigil by relatives of political prisoners in Istanbul and detained six people. The relatives, mostly mothers, are fighting for the lives of their imprisoned children.