HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• Victim of helicopter torture files complaint 

  Kurdish villager Osman Şiban has filed a complaint against soldiers of the Turkish army. The 51-year-old is a victim of the so-called helicopter torture in Van, which ended fatally for Servet Turgut.
• Constitutional Court rejects application on Cizre's 3rd basement massacre  

  The Official Gazette explained why the Constitutional Court rejected the application regarding the massacre carried out by the Turkish state in the 3rd basement during the self-government resistance in Cizre: Missing Documents.
• Hunger strikes in prison reach day 195 

  The hunger strike launched in Turkish prisons against the Imrali isolation has entered its 195th day. The hunger strike launched in Maxmur has been continuing for 174 days and in Greece for 157 days.
• Jailed son cares for 83-year-old father in prison in Amed 

  Mehmet Emin Özkan has been in Turkish custody for 25 years and is not released despite being seriously ill. Now his son, who is also imprisoned, has been transferred to D-type prison in Amed to care for his father.
• Lawyers of Abdullah Öcalan file new request to visit their client 

  Lawyers of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan file a new application to meet with their client in Imrali.
• Remains found in Norway are of Kurdish child who drowned in English Channel 

  The body of a 15-month-old child recovered in Norway has been identified. It is the body of Kurdish little boy Artin, who drowned when a refugee boat sank in the English Channel.
• Şenyaşar family: Let's stop this repression 

  The Şenyaşar family continues its vigil for justice in front of the court in Urfa on day 91.
• Lawyer Uysal: In Imrali there is no law 

  Nevroz Uysal, one of the lawyers of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan, called for struggle saying that “there is no law in Imrali, the isolation is multidimensional."
• "The state will continue to feed murderers like Mehmet Ağar" 

  Saturday Mothers demand consequences from the revelations of the Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker. The subject of their action today against "disappearances" were the murders of Kurdish businessmen in the nineties.
• TUHAY-DER says prisoners on hunger strike given disciplinary punishments 

  Van TUHAY-DER Prisons Monitoring Commission member, Kenan Kara, said that the number of solitary and disciplinary punishments for prisoners on hunger strike has increased.
• Prisoner Kurbani Özcan denounces torture by guards 

  Prisoner Kurbani Özcan, whose fingers were broken by guards in the prison, was once again tortured.
• Hunger strikes in prison reach day 189 

  The hunger strike launched in Turkish prisons against the Imrali isolation has entered its 189th day. The hunger strike launched in Maxmur has been continuing for 168 days and in Greece for 151 days.
• Three kolbars killed and 13 injured in May 

  Four kolbars died and 13 were injured on the border line of Federate Kurdistan Region in May.
• HDP: 30 million people in Turkey live below poverty and hunger line  

  The HDP said that the hunger rate in Turkey has risen to one of the highest levels in history and that 30 million people live below the poverty line.
• Şenyaşar family, 84 days seeking justice 

  The Şenyaşar family continues to seek justice in front of the Urfa Courthouse for the 84th day.
• Mother of a prisoner banned from visitation for speaking Kurdish 

  The mother of a prisoner held in Amed has been banned from visiting for six months because she asked a fellow inmate how he was doing in Kurdish. The officially lifted language ban continues to exist in practice.
• The Şenyaşar family's vigil for justice reaches day 83 

  The Şenyaşar family continue their vigil for justice in Urfa and said that they won’t give up their search for justice.
• Report on Turkey’s crimes in NE Syria sent to international institutions 

  A report containing many documents and images regarding crimes of the Turkish state, which was prepared by Euphrates Region Human Rights Organisation, was sent to international institutions.
• Lawyer Çelebi: Turkish state does not abide by its own law 

  Lawyer Serdar Çelebi represents numerous clients participating in the hunger strike against the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan in Turkish prisons, which has been continuing since the end of November. The state does not abide by its own legislation, he said.
• Prisoner Ateş: They put us in isolation cells for joining the hunger strike 

  Prisoner Ibrahim Ateş stated that they were put in a solitary cell because they went on hunger strike and their basic needs were not met.
• 83-year-old seriously ill prisoner brought to hospital in handcuffs again 

  83-year-old Mehmet Emin Özkan, jailed in Diyarbakır D Type Closed Prison, was brought to the hospital in handcuffs.
• UN rights chief urges Libya, EU, to protect migrants crossing the central Mediterranean 

  Act to protect migrants in central Mediterranean Sea, Bachelet urges Libya and EU.
• Dede denies minister Soylu’s claim that there is no torture 

  Ümit Dede of the HDP said that Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu’s claim that there had been no torture during his office was a deliberate misrepresentation.
• Hunger strikes in prison reach day 181 

  The hunger strike launched in Turkish prisons against the Imrali isolation has entered its 181st day. The hunger strike launched in Maxmur has been continuing for 160 days and in Greece for 143 days.
• 768 jurists say Öcalan should be allowed to see his lawyers 

  On the initiative of the ÖHD, 768 lawyers have signed a declaration to support the fulfilment of Abdullah Öcalan's demand for a contact with his lawyers "as the most fundamental civil right".