RIGHTS - Bianet

RIGHTS

Page 189

Gross Rights Violations Continue in F-Type Prisons

Gross Rights Violations Continue in F-Type Prisons

A 60-year-old inmate had been denied medical care because she didn't speak Turkish and even popular columnists' writings are banned in Sincan F-Type prison facilities, according to the latest report by ÇHD.

21 December 2011 Ayça Söylemez

Journalists in Police Custody - Crackdowns on Homes and Offices

Journalists in Police Custody - Crackdowns on Homes and Offices

More than 25 journalists were taken into police custody on 21 December during crackdowns on offices of news agencies and newspapers in several cities. The raids and custodies are part of the "KCK operation".

21 December 2011

UN Released First Report on LGBT Rights Violations

UN Released First Report on LGBT Rights Violations

The Un Human Rights Commission published its first global report on human rights violations of LGBT individuals. It urges for immediate investigations of all forms of violence and murder cases committed on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity in 193 countries.

20 December 2011

Conscientious Objector Delice on Hunger Strike

Conscientious Objector Delice on Hunger Strike

Four days ago, conscientious objector Delice started a hunger strike because he was allegedly beaten and forced to pay protection money. According to his lawyer Erkan, torture in prison is done systematically.

20 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

Military Operation in Diyarbakır

Military Operation in Diyarbakır

A military operation on the Görese Mountain in Diyarbakır started four days ago. According to the governor, "15 PKK members were killed". Access to the region was denied to members of the Peace and Democracy Party.

20 December 2011

Limited Media Freedom in Europe

Limited Media Freedom in Europe

Council of Europe Commissioner of Human Rights Hammarberg introduced the report "Human Rights and a Changing Media Landscape" in London last week. He drew attention to oppressive government attacks on the media due to its power.

19 December 2011 Işıl Cinmen

"Should We Hang the Police Officers?"

"Should We Hang the Police Officers?"

Minister of the Interior Şahin criticized the news about Cengiz who was beaten by the police. According to the minister, this was a single incident and the news was exaggerated. He questioned, "What do you want? Should I put up the gallows and hang my personnel?"

19 December 2011

"Our New-Born Babies did not Wear Uniforms"

"Our New-Born Babies did not Wear Uniforms"

The fourth hearing of the "Everybody is born as a baby" trial against Savda, Aydemir and Atak, supporters of conscientious objector Aydemir, was held on 14 December. The defendants' request to consult a gynaecologist on the topic was dismissed.

16 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

"Additional Information" Landed Journalist in Jail

"Additional Information" Landed Journalist in Jail

Birgün reporter Aşam was sentenced to one year in jail on the grounds of supportive information of a news item published in January this year. Her signature was not under the main news but under a box with additional information.

16 December 2011 Emel Gülcan

Crucial Problems: Detained Journalists and Censorship

Crucial Problems: Detained Journalists and Censorship

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Mijatovic paid her first official visit to Turkey to talk to government officials about media freedom. Prior to the talks she attended a panel of the Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences on freedom of expression.

15 December 2011 qwerty

"Revolting" Students Rely on Legal Rights

"Revolting" Students Rely on Legal Rights

117 students of the Middle East Technical University stand trial in the context of a protest action against the government and YÖK. The students put forward that they used their legal right to attend the related press release. The trial will be continued on 16 March.

15 December 2011 Serhat Korkmaz

One Artist, Seven Investigations, Two Trials

One Artist, Seven Investigations, Two Trials

Seven investigation and two trials were opened against Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç by reason of speeches made during the run-up to the general election in June. Tunç claims his speeches were peaceful messages and did not intend to encourage the people to rebellion.

15 December 2011 Nilay Vardar

Cyprus Controversy in Parliament

Cyprus Controversy in Parliament

BDP Deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü and CHP MP Şafak Pavey launched a discussion in Parliament upon their statements on the European Union and Cyprus. Kürkçü said that the Kurdish question and Cyprus were the fundamental problems of the country that needed to be discussed to find a solution.

14 December 2011

57 Percent of Population Do not Use Internet

57 Percent of Population Do not Use Internet

According to a study into the "Use of the Internet and Social Media" of the KONDA research company, 57 percent of the Turkish population do not use the internet at all. 41 percent deems it harmful and the section of society using it the least is the electorate of the AKP.

14 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

Intelligence Official's Threat against Dink Time-Barred?

Intelligence Official's Threat against Dink Time-Barred?

In 2004, two members of the National Intelligence Agency allegedly gave slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink a lesson on where his place was at a meeting at the Governor's Office. The related investigation was now time-barred.

14 December 2011 Ayça Söylemez

Turkish Government Convicted for Death at Military Post

Turkish Government Convicted for Death at Military Post

The ECHR ruled for a violation of the right to life in the case of the alleged suicide of Ekrem Kurt during his military service. His family will receive compensation from the Turkish government.

13 December 2011 Çiçek Tahaoğlu

Thousands of Arrests, Dozens of Deaths in Prisons

Thousands of Arrests, Dozens of Deaths in Prisons

In a joint statement issued during the human rights week, the human rights associations TİHV and İHD noted that custodies and arrests of the investigations into the KCK, the Hopa incidents and the Revolutionary Headquarter reached massive dimensions.

13 December 2011 Ayça Söylemez

Halil Savda Released

Conscientious objector Halil Savda was released after he gave his statement to the prosecutor. He had been taken into custody at the airport in Istanbul when he was about to follow an invitation of Amnesty International to Paris.

12 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

Conscientious Objector İnan Süver Free

Conscientious Objector İnan Süver Free

Conscientious objector İnan Süver was released after 16 months in prison. His sentence was postponed. Süver told bianet that he was extremely happy to be part of the social life again after his release.

12 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

22 Releases in Hopa Trial

22 Releases in Hopa Trial

All 22 detained defendants of the Hopa trial in Ankara were released pending trial at the hearing on 9 December. A total of 28 defendants are tried on the grounds of protests against massive police interventions against anti-government demonstrations in Hopa in May.

12 December 2011 M. Atakan Foça,Gökhan Keskin

"Free Agenda", Free Press

"Free Agenda", Free Press

About 50 journalists and intellectuals sold the Özgür Gündem newspaper on Human Rights day in Istanbul to speak up for press freedom and freedom of expression.

12 December 2011 Sercan Meriç

"Judicial Practice is Problematic"

"Judicial Practice is Problematic"

In her preliminary report based on a visit to Turkey in October, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers urged for the effective independence and impartiality of judges, prosecutors and lawyers and an accelerated implementation of these reforms.

9 December 2011

Kurdish Politician Alınak Back to Prison

Kurdish Politician Alınak Back to Prison

Mahmut Alınak was arrested again together with Mehmet Ayata, Yalçın Sarıtaş and Sebahat Zeynep Arat upon the prosecutor's appeal. They were taken to a prison in Istanbul. Alınak had initially been released pending trial after the KCK operation on 22 November.

9 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

General Staff Denied Use of Chemical Weapons

General Staff Denied Use of Chemical Weapons

The General Staff Presidency denied the alleged use of chemical weapons. Pursuant to the statement, the Turkish Armed Forces do not hold chemical weapons and ammunition in their inventory.

9 December 2011

Nedim Şener Acquitted of Charges on "Interesting Scheme"

Nedim Şener Acquitted of Charges on "Interesting Scheme"

Journalist Nedim Şener was acquitted in a trial related to the Ergenekon investigation. Charges of breaching the confidentiality of the Ergenekon investigation had been pressed against the detained journalist.

8 December 2011

Evidence in Kurdish, Court in Turkish

Evidence in Kurdish, Court in Turkish

At the 28th hearing of the Diyarbakır KCK trial, the court rejected the transfer of the case to another province and accepted the request to have the defendants appear at court altogether. The next hearing was set for 12 December.

8 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

"Opening and Backsliding at the same Time''

"Opening and Backsliding at the same Time''

KCK Diyarbakır trial observer Ann-Margarethe Livh from the Swedish Left Party said in interview on women rights that women in Turkey knew how to focus their struggle. "Even if most of these women are in jail because of the KCK trial, they will not give up".

8 December 2011 Çiçek Tahaoğlu

Conscientious Objector Savda in Custody

Conscientious Objector Savda in Custody

Conscientious Objector Savda was taken into custody at the airport in Istanbul when he was about to travel to Paris. His custody is allegedly based on Savda's conviction on charges of "alienating the public from the military".

7 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

Criminal Complaint due to Chemical Weapons

Criminal Complaint due to Chemical Weapons

The Human Rights Association, MEYA-DER, the Diyarbakır Medical Chamber and the relatives of the deceased PKK members filed a criminal complaint about the people in charge related to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Kazan Valley.

7 December 2011 Ekin Karaca

"Your Court will go down in History"

"Your Court will go down in History"

The plaintiff lawyers presented their final speech at the 22nd hearing of the trial on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Repeatedly requested records of the Telecommunication Communication Presidency were finally sent to court and will be investigated now.

6 December 2011 Işıl Cinmen

Country-Wide Protests of Workers, Architects, Engineers, Doctors...

Country-Wide Protests of Workers, Architects, Engineers, Doctors...

Upon the call of trade unions DİSK and KESK, the Medical Chamber and the chamber of architects and engineers, people in 40 provinces demonstrated against mass arrests. Only in Istanbul, about 2,000 protestors voiced their four main demands.

5 December 2011 Işıl Cinmen

Gendarmerie will Disclose "Forged Records"

Gendarmerie will Disclose "Forged Records"

At the 2 December hearing of the Bayrampaşa trial, the court insisted on an explanation of the gendarmerie regarding two contradicting records on the "Return to Life" operation. The gendarmerie officials face legal steps if they fail to send the videos and explanations.

5 December 2011 Ayça Söylemez