Violations of students’ rights in Turkey: ‘23 students killed in 4 years’

* Photo: Gizay Çelik

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The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Academia has shared the findings of its report "Violations of Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association Targeting Students (2015-2019)".

The report of the organization has shown that 3,102 students were subjected to violations of rights while exercising their freedom of expression, assembly and association in this four-year period.

While 2,077 students were taken into custody due to the events that they attended in this period, 203 of these students were arrested.

152 students were sentenced to 506 years, 1 month in prison in total. While 720 students were wounded as a result of police violence and civilian attacks, 23 students were killed during the meetings and demonstrations that they attended in the 2015-2019 period.

The report has also shown that 658 students were prosecuted over their civilian and political activities. Of the 720 wounded students, 252 students were subjected to the attack inside their campuses.

When the number of violations targeting students are considered by provinces, the top 10 provinces are Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Antalya, Eskişehir, Adana, Diyarbakır, Mersin, Van and Kocaeli.

When considered by campuses, the top five campuses are those of Ankara University, İstanbul University, Ege University, Middle East Technical University (METU) and Akdeniz University, respectively.

While 81 of the 342 incidents took place inside campuses, 252 students were injured as a result of violence inside the campus. Almost half (49 percent) of the violations of rights that occurred at universities were violations of freedom of assembly and demonstration. 37 percent of these violations targeted students' freedom of association and 14 percent freedom of expression.

Court cases were filed against 658 students in four years. 152 students were sentenced to 506 years, 1 month in prison in total.

The most frequently pressed charges were as follows:

• Violation of the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations
• Resisting to prevent fulfilment of duty
• Propagandizing for an illegal organization
• Membership of an illegal organization
• Insulting the President

In the same period, there were 84 incidents where 720 students were wounded; while the perpetrators of 62 percent of the incidents were police officers, those of 30 percent were civilian groups. While 5 percent of the incidents were caused by private security units, students were attacked by both police officers and private security personnel in 3 percent of the cases.

(RT/SD)