Human Rights

Latest News

• Öcalan’s lawyers submit report on isolation to the CPT 

  Öcalan’s lawyers have prepared a report on the isolation and submitted it to the CPT. The report stresses that there has been absolutely no information coming out of the Imrali island for 417 days.
• 16 prisoners in solitary confinement on hunger strike for 13 days 

  16 prisoners held in solitary confinement in Denizli T Type Closed Prison for 156 days are on hunger strike for 13 days and they are denied salt and sugar.
• UN experts urge Turkey to drop charges against rights defenders 

  A group of United Nations experts has condemned the use of terrorism charges against human rights defenders and people legitimately expressing dissent in Turkey.
• Where have the 20 PKK prisoners been taken? 

  20 PKK prisoners in the Edirne Type F Closed Prison were exiled in a late night raid.
• Prisoners in Patnos denied access to free press 

  Prisoners in L Type Closed Prison in Ağrı’s Patnos district are not allowed to receive daily newspapers Özgürlükçü Demokrasi and Welat.
• Five-day hunger strike in Kürkçüler F Type Prison 

  Prisoners in Adana’s F Type Kürkçüler Prison have started a five-day hunger strike.
• Peace Mothers in Van start hunger strike for Öcalan 

  Members of Van Peace Mothers Assembly went on hunger strike demanding to know about Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s health condition and security.
• Over 15 thousand rights violations in Kurdish cities in 9 months 

  İHD Amed Branch announced that there have been 15.647 rights violations in Northern Kurdistan in the first 9 months of the year.
• Prisoner in solitary confinement on indefinite hunger strike 

  Hakan Tunç, on remand in Van Type T Closed Prison, has launched an indefinite hunger strike ten days ago against the isolation imposed upon Öcalan.
• 700th appeal to visit Öcalan rejected 

  For the 700th time, the Public Prosecutor of Bursa rejected the appeal of Öcalan’s lawyers to meet their client.
• Turkish armoured military vehicles killed 29 civilians since 2016 

  Armoured military vehicles killed 29 civilians, mostly in “traffic accidents” since 2016, Human Rights Association (IHD) said.
• Jailed teacher on hunger strike stops water and sugar supplements 

  *Article written by journalist Zeynep Kuray after her detention because of her social media posts. She was released after one day in police custody.
• CPT: We are in contact with Turkish authorities for Öcalan 

  Officials from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture say they are “in active contact with Turkish authorities” for the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan but argued that they won’t be announcing the information they have despite that.
• “Turkey is blatantly committing a crime” 

  Writers, intellectuals and lawyers from Eastern and Southern Kurdistan protested the isolation imposed upon the Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and stated that Turkey is committing a crime in the legal and humane sense.
• Late release kills sick prisoner in Amed 

  Sick prisoner Ahmet Bayar has lost his life because he was released from prison too late.
• Hunger strike at Ağrı Prison against the isolation of Öcalan 

  Political prisoners have initiated an alternating hunger strike at the prison of Ağrı in order to protest the isolation enforced upon Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
• Imrali delegation demands immediate access to Öcalan 

  Imralı delegation demanded permission to visit Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, after speculative reports about his health emerged on social media.
• Demirtas’s storybook banned by Diyarbakir prison administration 

  A storybook by Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas was banned by Diyarbakir prison administration for “including encrypted messages.”
• HRW denounces torture in custody and abductions in Turkey 

  People in Turkey accused of links with terrorism or with the 2016 military coup attempt have been tortured in police custody, while others have been abducted, amidst growing evidence of detention abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
• AI urges Turkey to release human rights defenders 

  One hundred days after their wrongful arrest, Amnesty International is leading a global demand for the immediate and unconditional release of 11 prominent human rights defenders in Turkey.
• Sick prisoner: We are subjected to inhumane practices 

  Sick prisoner in Diyarbakır Type D Prison Hasan Aşa stated that they are subjected to “inhumane” practices.
• Êzidî refugees in Midyat living in prison conditions 

  The Êzidî refugees in Midyat are living in prison like conditions in the state-run AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency) camp.
• Tortured inmates on hunger strike for 10 days 

  Three political prisoners in Kilis Type L Prison have been on a hunger strike for 10 days due to physical and psychological violence by the prison guards.
• Family: We want the body, we will take the execution to court 

  Footage had surfaced of HPG guerrilla Cuma Imen being captured alive in the Beytüşşebap district countryside in Şırnak and Imen was later executed by soldiers. Cuma Imen’s family demand their child’s body and say they will take the execution to court.
• Academic on hunger strike for 202 days taken into intensive care 

  Academic Nuriye Gülmen who is jailed since late May and is on the 202nd day of her hunger strike demanding to be reinstated, has been taken into intensive care last night.