HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Political prisoners in Sincan No. 2 High Security Prison go on hunger strike today 

  Political prisoners in Sincan No. 2 High Security Prison will go on an indefinite alternating hunger strike as of today.
• Istanbul Pride: "The state has opened war on LGBTIQ+" 

  In Istanbul, more than 370 people have had to spend a night in police custody after taking part in a banned Pride parade. About ten of those affected are refugees who are said to have been taken to deportation centres.
• Children in Kurdish provinces work as shepherds to support their families 

  Children between the ages of 7 and 13 in Kurdish provinces are forced to work as shepherds to provide financial support to their families.
• New 3-month ban on visits imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners in Imrali  

  A new 3-month ban on visits has been imposed on Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan.
• TIHV and IHD call for an apology to Saturday Mothers 

  “This intervention and the detentions are nothing more than putting pressure on human rights defenders to make violations invisible, to obscure the truth, to prevent the quest for justice, in short, to deny the existence of human rights.”
• Police detain human rights defenders on Saturday Mothers’ 900th vigil 

  Co-chairs of the Human Rights Association (IHD) are among the many people detained by the police on the 900th vigil of the Saturday Mothers demanding justice for their relatives disappeared in state custody.
• 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.