HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• 978 prisoners have died in twenty years of AKP government 

  Almost 1,000 prisoners have died in twenty years of the AKP government in Turkey. Fatin Kanat from the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Ankara speaks of a "balance sheet of shame".
• Erkan Yıldırım: My brother Gökhan is on death fast demanding a fair trial 

  Erkan Yıldırım visited his brother Gökhan who is on death fast demanding a fair trial and said that he feared his brother didn't have much time left.
• HDP MP Şevin Coşkun brings deaths and violations of rights in prisons to Parliament's Agenda 

  HDP Muş MP Şevin Coşkun brought the deaths and violations of rights in prisons to the Parliament's Agenda.
• MEBYA-DER protest attacks on guerrilla funerals 

  MEBYA-DER protested the attacks on guerrilla funerals.
• Iran hangs 32 people in one week 

  Amnesty International lambasted the country for having engaged in a “horrific execution spree,” with 251 people put to death in the first six months of 2022 alone.
• Demonstrations in Germany to mark 8th anniversary of Yazidi genocide  

  3 August marks the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the Islamic State genocide and femicide against the Yazidi population of Shengal. On this occasion, women's organizations are calling for actions in many European cities.
• 1000 women for Aysel Tuğluk Platform call to join action on social media today and tomorrow 

  The 1000 women for Aysel Tuğluk Platform will carry out an action on social media today and tomorrow with the hashtag "#AyselTuğlukaişkenceyeson".
• 7 workers killed in their workplace in the last month in Urfa 

  Urfa Medical Chamber said that 7 workers lost their lives in the last month in the city.
• 33-Bullet Massacre: No confrontation, no shame 

  79 years have passed since the 33-Bullet Massacre (Muğlalı incident), but the state still considers Army Commander General Mustafa Muğlalı as a hero. Lawyer Jiyan Özkaplan said that there is no confrontation and shame on the part of the state authorities.
• Constitutional Court upholds mother tongue ban 

  The Constitutional Court justified a disciplinary punishment given to teachers who supported the call of the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim Sen) for one-hour mother tongue education at public schools.
• Journalists stay in prison as Kurdistan Federal Region stops their release 

  The conditional release of many prisoners in the Kurdistan Federal Region was stopped by the local government.
• ‘Justice will not come to Turkey unless justice is served in Roboski’ 

  The Justice for Roboski Initiative said that “Justice will not come to Turkey unless justice is served in the Roboski massacre case.”
• Deaths in Turkish prisons are covered up 

  Lawyer Çiğdem Kozan draws attention to the increasing violations of rights in Turkish prisons, saying that the release of political prisoners from prison is not decided by a court, but by the prison staff.
• 80-year-old Kazım Kalbişen had his release delayed and died in prison 

  80-year-old Kazım Kalbişen was not given his medication and had his release delayed despite having a 100 percent disability report. He died in prison.
• One year in prison for a fake tip-off 

  A trial has been going on in Van since 2017 revealing once again how the law is arbitrarily applied against Kurds in the region. Two villagers were imprisoned for a year because of a fake tip-off. They were eventually acquitted.
• Prison administration forces Aysel Tuğluk to write petition 

  HDP former co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ said at the hearing of the Kobanê trial that prison execution officers forced Aysel Tuğluk, who suffers from dementia, to write a petition.
• Prisoner dies under suspicious circumstances in Urfa 

  A few days after the death of a political prisoner in Amed prison, prisoner Mehmet Yılmaz has now died in Urfa under suspicious circumstances.
• Leyla Güven’s letter to 84-year-old prisoner confiscated 

  A letter from Kurdish politician Leyla Güven to Mehmet Emin Özkan has been confiscated. The 84-year-old has been innocently in prison since 1996.
• Hunger strike of political prisoners in Adana continues 

  Political prisoners in Adana’s Kürkçüler Prison have been on hunger strike since mid-July. They are demanding an end to Abdullah Öcalan's isolation and inhumane prison conditions.
• Makbule and Hadi Özer must be released, says IHD 

  Human rights defenders pointed out that ill prisoners Makbule and Hadi Özer were having difficulty breathing in jail and demanded that the couple be released.
• 25-year-old political prisoner "found dead" in Diyarbakır Prison 

  In solitary confinement for a year, political prisoner Kadri Ekici lost his life under suspicious circumstances.
• Prisoner in Patnos L Type Closed on hunger strike for 12 days against violations 

  Mahmut Turhallı, a prisoner in Patnos L Type Closed jail, has been on a hunger strike for 12 days against the arbitrary mistreatment carried out by the prison administration.
• Prison guards threaten to kill the inmate they tortured in Erzurum 

  Emrah Yakut jailed in Erzurum Dumlu Prison No. 1 said that he was subjected to violence and forced to have an injection.
• Daughter of 80-year-old couple in prison says her parents' conditions are worsening 

  Naime Özer, the daughter of 80-year-old Makbule Özer and 79-year-old Hadi Özer, who were arrested in Van on 9 May, said that both of them are getting worse and call for their release.
• Prisoners in Beşikdüzü T Type Prison in Trabzon are on a 5-day hunger strike against torture 

  Prisoners in Beşikdüzü T Type Prison in Trabzon went on a 5-day alternating hunger strike against the torture practices.