‘Right to Life of 41 Thousand 694 People Violated in 17 Years’

"Human / Rights"

Click to read the article in Turkish

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights, has prepared a report on violations of rights.

According to the report covering the period from 2002 to 2019 and entitled "The Wreckage of Human Rights in AKP Rule", the right to life of at least 41,694 people has been violated in 17 years.

Click here to read the report (in Turkish)

The report has the following chapters on right violations: Extrajudicial execution, stop warnings, arbitrary firing of shots, unidentified murders, land mines, attack of illegal organizations, civilian conflicts, people killed by village security guards, deaths on migratory road - refugees, death in detention, hate crimes, feminicides (violation of women's right to life by male violence), violations of right to life in prisons, occupational homicides, violations of children's right to life.

'At least 6,432 women killed'

The report of Sezgin Tanrıkulu has shown that from 2002 to 2019, the right to life of at least 6,432 women has been violated.

The report has underlined that "violence against women and feminicides reaching the point of gendercide in Turkey increasingly continue because women are not regarded as 'equal citizens' and are not treated equally."

'Right to life of at least 4,104 children violated in 8 years'

According to the report of the MP, between the years of 2011 and 2019, the right to life of at least 4,104 children has been violated.

In explaining the reason for the seemingly low figures, Tanrıkulu has indicated that "it is not because the rights of children, especially their right to life, are respected or because they are protected more, but because Gündem Çocuk Association, the only organization collecting data about this issue, was closed by a Statutory Decree."

The report has also highlighted that from 2002 to 2019, at least 59 people lost their lives as a result of hate crimes.

While at least 23,980 workers have died "for preventable causes" between 2002 and 2019, at least 367 people have "suspiciously" died while doing their mandatory military service from 2008 to 2019.

It has been detected that since 2002, at least 23,959 people have been subjected to torture and ill treatment. From 2002 to 2019, at least 721 journalists have been arrested in Turkey.

'1 million 809 thousand people affected by curfews"

The report has shared the following information about curfews:

"381 curfews were declared in 51 districts and 11 provinces of Turkey between August 16, 2015, when the first curfew was declared in Turkey in recent history, and January 1, 2020.

By provinces, the number of curfews is as follows: 214 curfews in Diyarbakır, 60 curfews in Mardin, 23 curfews in Hakkari, 13 curfews in Şırnak, 29 curfews in Bitlis, 7 curfews in Muş, 7 curfews in Bingöl, 6 curfews in Dersim, 6 curfews in Batman, 2 curfews in Elazığ and 14 curfews in Siirt.

"Moreover, from August 11, 2017 to January 1, 2020, at least 23 round-the-clock curfews were declared in villages and hamlets of Şemdinli in Hakkari and the districts of Hizan, Güroymak, Mutki, Tatvan and center in Bitlis.

"According to the last population census conducted in Turkey in 2014, at least 1 million 809 thousand people were living in the related districts.

"It is estimated that fundamental rights of these people such as the right to liberty and security; right to privacy, family, home or correspondence; freedom of assembly and association; freedom of religion; freedom to receive and impart information; right to reserve of property; right to education and right to life; right to health and prohibition of torture were violated." (RT/SD)