Women of Human Rights Association: We stand with Rojbin
* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Women members of Human Rights Association (İHD) have released a written statement and protested the torture of Sevil Rojbin Çetin, a member of the Democratic Local Administrations Board. Standing in solidarity with Çetin, women have briefly stated the following:
'We stand with her with our struggle'
"We see that the policy of oppression and intimidation targeting women politicians and activists has become permanent.
"There is an intention to intimidate and deal a blow to the women's struggle, as a reflection of the pressure on women's struggle, democracy and human rights. There is an intention to turn the act of torture into a routine in both official and unofficial detentions.
"In fact, torture is an irreparable crime against humanity. Sevil Rojbin Çetin is not alone, we stand with her with our struggle."
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'Human Rights Committee should take action'
Concluding their statement, the İHD has listed a series of recommendations and requests within this context:
"Acts of torture need to be ended immediately, a legal action must be taken against the perpetrators and they must be penalized.
"Turkey has to abide by the conventions that it is a party to and recognizes torture as a crime and the country has to take preventive measures in the face of these incidents of torture.
"The medical examination of the ones subjected to torture needs to be done in accordance with the İstanbul protocol, which Turkey is a party to.
"Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey, which has been authorized to enact the National Prevention Mechanism as an effective and important tool in preventing torture, has to abandon acting in accordance with the government's policies and immediately fulfil its duty in the face of these allegations of torture. If it fails to do so, it needs to be abolished.
"In struggling against torture, we are calling on the Parliamentary Human Rights Inquiry Committee and all other relevant institutions and organizations to wage a struggle and to raise their voices on a common ground against the crimes committed against humanity."
What happened?
An investigation was launched by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office based on the information and documents seized during house raids targeting the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) on October 9, 2018.
As part of this investigation, warrants for detention were issued against 64 people and 45 of them were taken into custody in house raids in İzmir, İstanbul, Adana, Şırnak, Batman and Van provinces on June 26.
While 23 of the detained have been arrested for "membership of an organization," 22 have been released with an international travel ban.
Among the detained was also Rojbin Çetin. He was allegedly tortured with dogs at her home and her attorney who photographed the signs of trauma on her body was also summoned to depose. (EMK/SD)