HUMAN RIGHTS

Latest News

• IHD Diyarbakir Prison Commission says violations of rights increased in Diyarbakır Campus Prison  

  IHD Diyarbakir Prison Commission visited Diyarbakır Campus Prison and said violations of rights are increasing.
• Lawyer of Şenyaşar family calls on bar association to take action 

  Şenyaşar family continues their vigil for justice on the 143rd day. Serhan Kurt, lawyer of the family, called on bar associations to stand with the family.
• NGOs from Turkey turn to Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers for Öcalan 

  Several rights organizations from Turkey have turned to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe over the prison conditions of Abdullah Öcalan and three other political prisoners, demanding the implementation of ECtHR rulings.
• Muş Bar says cirmustances of death of little boy in Koran school must be clarified 

  Twelve-year-old Mehmet Halil Yavuz was found hanged on the door handle of the toilet of a Koran school in Muş. Confidentiality was imposed on the autopsy report and a ban on publication was imposed on the case.
• Prisoners in Silivri are left to die, says mother of Kadir Kaya 

  Songül Taştan’s mother spoke on the phone with Kadir Kaya, who was imprisoned in Silivri Prison No. 5, where the torture had reached unbearable levels. "Mom, we can't breathe anymore," said Kadir.
• Dutch Kurdish Women's Movement takes over "Freedom for Öcalan Vigil" in Strasbourg 

  Activists of the Dutch Kurdish Women's Movement took over the "Freedom for Öcalan Vigil" in Strasbourg on its 475th week.
• Öcalan lawyers demand CPT to act about isolation in Imrali 

  Lawyers of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan appealed to the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and called on the committee to uphold its responsibilities.
• GÖÇİZDER: Government and media responsible for the wave of racist attacks 

  The Migration Monitoring Association (GÖÇİZDER) pointed out the attacks against the Kurds and refugees and said, “Media and political circles are responsible for the current wave of attacks, deaths and lynch cases.”
• UN says record high number of civilian casualties 

  Record numbers of civilians have been killed and injured in Afghanistan in intense fighting since 1 May, when international forces began their final drawdown and the Taliban launched a major offensive.
• IHD Istanbul branch chair calls on authorities to comply with law as hunger strikes reach day 241 

  IHD Istanbul Branch chair, Gülseren Yoleri, drew attention to the hunger strike in prison, which has entered its 241st day, and called on the authorities to comply with the law.
• Eren Keskin: Racism is not punished in Turkey 

  Human rights lawyer Eren Keskin assesses the increasing lynchings of Kurdish people in Turkey as political violence. Racism does not appear in the Turkish penal code, the authorities deny a racist connection.
• Şenyaşar family demanding justice for 138 days 

  On the 138th day of their "vigil for justice", the Şenyaşar family said that the justice guardians will always exist to counter this order.
• Arrested when he was 17, sentenced to 22 years without a fair trial 

  Kadri Sancar, who was arrested during the self-government resistance in Dargeçit when he was 17, saw his sentence upheld by the Court of Cassation.
• Mother of fallen YPG fighter demands return of her son's remains 

  Aynur Taş demands that the Turkish state surrender the remains of her son Mazlum. The fallen YPG fighter and dozens of other bodies were exhumed and abducted from a cemetery in Afrin.
• At least 17 migrants drowned off Tunisian coast 

  At least 17 migrants have drowned in an accident off the Tunisian coast. The migrants had set off from Libya on their way to Italy.
• HDP condemns racist attacks on Kurds in Western Turkey 

  The incessant smear campaigns of the Turkish government, aimed at criminalizing the HDP, are resulting in violent and even fatal physical attacks against Kurds living in the western provinces of Turkey, said the HDP.
• City of Weimar awards Selahattin Demirtaş with human rights prize 

  HDP politician Selahattin Demirtaş, who is in Edirne prison, received the human rights award from the city of Weimar. The prize is awarded annually as a mark for all the nameless victims of dictatorships and other arbitrary rule in the world.
• Soldiers capture dozens of refugees on the shore of Lake Van 

  Dozens of refugees walking on the shore of Lake Van in Gevaş district were caught by soldiers.
• Şêx Eli: Turkish state has nothing to do with Islam 

  Shex Eli El-Hesen has condemned the destruction of martyrs' graves in Afrin by the Turkish state and its mercenaries emphasizing that the Turkish state has nothing to do with Islam.
• Human Rights Association condemns racist attacks targeting Kurds 

  The Human Rights Association (IHD) said in a statement about the racist attacks against Kurds in Konya, Adıyaman and Ankara that "these attacks are hate crimes targeting Kurdish identity."
• Hunger strike in prisons enters day 238 

  The hunger strike launched by prisoners against the isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues on its 238th day. The solidarity hunger strike in Maxmur has reached day 217 and day 200 in Greece.
• 15 regional bar associations issue statement condemning increasing racist attacks on Kurds 

  15 regional bar associations issued a joint statement condemning the increasing racist attacks against Kurdish citizens in various cities.
• Attack on Kurdish family in Ankara 

  Four people were injured, two of them seriously, as the result of a racist attack on a Kurdish family in Ankara. The police later attacked the family outside the hospital as well.
• Turkish forces detain 133 migrants from Afghanistan in Van 

  Within a few days, Turkish security forces have arrested 133 migrants from Afghanistan on the border between northern and eastern Kurdistan. They now face deportation back to the escalating Afghan civil war.
• Hundreds of migrants continue hunger strike for legal status in Belgium 

  The migrants demand a temporary residence permit for 6 months or one year so that their applications for residence permit can be examined in depth.