RIGHTS - Bianet

RIGHTS

Page 268

Rights Activists Rise to Defend Keskin

Human rights activists stand up for IHD Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin after group of women organizations make her public target in newspaper ads. IHD chairman Alatas says Keskin is marked. IHDG: This is an unacceptable lynch campaign.

8 June 2006 Tolga Korkut

Author Elif Safak Under Investigation

Best-seller Turkish author Elif Safak asked to testify for new book Father and Bastard. Safak and Metis Publishing House may be tried for insulting Turkishness after prosecution concludes investigation.

8 June 2006 Erol Önderoğlu

IHD Calls For End to F-Type Prisons

Human Rights Association says 7 people are still on death strike in Turkey protesting prison conditions while 128 have already died on hunger strikes as conditions left hundreds crippled. Calls for all prisons to be open to monitoring by civilians.

Human Rights Reforms Slowed AI Says

Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported, with those detained for ordinary crimes particularly at risk. Law enforcement officers continued to use excessive force in the policing of demonstrations; four demonstrators were shot dead in November.

Forced Disappearance Conference Starts

International Conference on Enforced Disappearance Under custody is being held between May 16-20. 46 delegates from 17 countries attending conference. ICADs Selcuk says: We want the opening of mass graves, an end to disappearances and prosecutions.

16 May 2006 Emine Özcan

Erzincan Bomb Kills 4 Children

The number of children killed by an explosion while playing with a parcel reportedly containing a timed bomb reached 4 on Sunday with 6 year-old Umut Turkmen losing his life in intensive care.

Rector Parlak Clubs Down Criticism

Students beaten by police for protesting privatization of Istanbul University refectory charge Rector Parlak for encouraging truncheon and gas attack. Unions, academics filing criminal complaints:The answer to democratic requests is truncheons.

5 May 2006 Ayşe Gökçe Susam

Turkeys New ECHR Bill: 33,000 in a Week

DEP MPs Alinak, Sakik and Turk win claims. ECHR rules in favor of claimants in 3 cases - sentences Turkey to pay 33,052 in compensation for complaints under freedom of expression. It also criticizes journalist Ergins trial by a Turkish military tribunal.

5 May 2006 Erol Önderoğlu

Press Warns Government On Terror Bill

Journalist associations TGC, ÇGD and G9 warn government on new Anti Terror Law to be debated at Parliament Justice Commission on May 10. NGOs say law will restrict freedom of press, may revive anti-democratic regulations of post-coup era.

4 May 2006 Erol Önderoğlu

Military Court Defies Medical Science

Military Court of Appeals reference to homosexuality as an advanced psychological disorder in total objector Tarhan case draws scientific reaction. The physicians and psychiatries say definition is wrong, homosexuality is neither disease nor disorder.

4 May 2006 Tolga Korkut

Military Court Defies EHCR Rulings

Military Court of Appeals rules ECHR decisions on conscientious objection not abiding for Turkey. Homosexuality is an advanced psychological disorder the court says and orders objector Tarhan to serve the military.

3 May 2006 Tolga Korkut

Anti-Terror Schemes May Encourage Torture

Izmir Bar Association Lawyer Erkem says new Anti-Terror Law to prevent access to lawyers, opening the way for torture. Single attorney restriction and 24 hour ban on legal access topped with limitations on examining of files is to cover up for torture and

26 April 2006 Tolga Korkut

Publishers Troubled with Restrictive Laws

Prof. Oran, Government has retreated in face of Turkish nationalism; Finkel, its no use if journalists have no courage; Lawyer Ilkiz, Public Morality cannot be entrusted to the Obscenity Commission; Lawyer Inanici: 301 designed to reinforce...

18 April 2006 Erol Önderoğlu

HRW Turkeys Researcher Sugden Detained

HRW researcher, Jonathan Sugden, was detained by regular police in the town of Bingol, on April 12 during investigation on allegations by Turkish paramilitary police, gendarmes. The organization chair Holly Cartner protests against governmnents attitude.

AI: Recent Violations Must Be Investigated

Amnesty International calls on the Turkish government to investigate all allegations of human rights violations arising in the context of recent violent protests in the south-east of the country and spreading through sporadic incidents to Istanbul.

Murat Belge Still on Trial

Citing statue of limitation an Istanbul court dropped charges against four leading Turkish columnists tried for publicly criticizing court decision to halt an Istanbul conference on Armenian issue. But the case continues columnist Murat Belge.

12 April 2006 Erol Önderoğlu

Civil Disobedience Against Penal Code

A new civil disobedience action against the anti-democratic articles of the new Penal Code will start on March 28, 2006 Tuesday, at 10:00 AM. A press statement by the first signatories will be made in front of Besiktas Justice House in Istanbul.

Military Court Releases Objector

The Military Court of Cassation has overturned a 4-year prison sentence handed to conscientious objector Tarhan and decided to release him. We re a bit disappointed because Mehmet will be taken to the military recruiting office, said his lawyer.

10 March 2006 Tolga Korkut

The Zarakolu Price Goes to Info-Turk Editors

The Istanbul IHD has decided to attribute the Ayse Zarakolu Price for Freedom of Thought (2006) to Info-Turk editors Özgüden and Tugsavul along with Kisanak, Yilmaz and Karaca. The price award ceremony took place on the International Women Day.

Pamuk Case Dropped But

Comittee to Protect Journalists warns: Maybe the authorities hoped that by dismissing the case against an author like Orhan Pamuk Turkeys record on freedom of expression would drop below the worlds radar. It will not.

27 January 2006

Voices from the Front: Mehmets Speak Out

Maters groundbreaking work has transgressed many linguistic boundaries and is now available for the English-speaking world at another crucial juncture in the history of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, as well as of war and militarism globally.

26 December 2005 Ayşe Gül Altınay

Altinbas Hearing Postponed to Jan. 27

Defendant Suleyman Sinkil attended a hearing for the first time in the case about the murder of Birtan Altinbas in police custody in 1991. Sinkil told the court that only he and fellow police officer Bastan were present during the questioning of Altinbas.

26 December 2005 Tolga Korkut

Pamuks File at the Justice Ministrys Door

The court has sent Pamuks file to the Justice Ministry for its authorization to try the novelist. The judge argues that Pamuk should be tried under the former penal code, in effect when he made his controversial statement. The trial could be postponed.

14 December 2005 Erol Önderoğlu

Intelectuals Support for Writer Pabuc

Retired lieutenant Murat Pabuc, who is standing trial for openly insulting the military forces, by writing a book titled, Deserting the Colored Bench Guard Duty, wrote about the problems he witnessed suc as corruptionin the military.

28 November 2005 Erol Önderoğlu

Publisher Zarakolu Faces 6 Year In Prison

International PEN, the International Publishers Association (IPA), and other international NGOs, including ARTICLE 19 and Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounce prosecution against Zarakolu who faces prison for publishing Armenian authors books.

23 November 2005

EHCR fines Turkey for Rights Violations

The European Court of Human Rights has fined Turkey 31,000 in a case brought by several members of the pro-Kurdish DEP, who were found guilty of disseminating separatist propaganda in 1998. The Court unanimously agreed their rights had been violated.

21 October 2005 Erol Önderoğlu

Conscientious Objector on Hunger Strike

Imprisoned conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan has begun another hunger strike to protest the violence and injustice he has suffered. The Mehmet Tarhan Solidarity Initiative stated that the treatment of Tarhan is a crime against humanity.

14 October 2005 Kemal Özmen

CPJ Protests Against Sentencing of Dink

US based journalists rights organization Committtee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for belittling Turkishness inspite of a contrary report by a court appointed specialist.

13 October 2005

Court Rejects Attempt to Shut LGBT Group

The Public Prosecutors office has refused the Ankara Deputy Governors request to close the LGBT rights organization KAOS GL for being contrary to law and morality. Rights groups hailed the decision as a victory for gay and lesbian rights in Turkey.

13 October 2005

Rights Activists Confirm Gross Violations

The Human Rights Foundation and representatives of the European Parliament reported rights violations--especially the mutilation of corpses--are occuring during military operations in Southeastern Turkey due to a lack of oversight.

12 October 2005 Tolga Korkut

Journalist Guilty of Insulting Turkishness

Hrant Dink, the editor of the Istanbul based Armenian language weekly newspaper Agos, has been sentenced to suspended 6 months imprisonment for insulting Turkishness in a series of articles he wrote on Armenian identity.

7 October 2005 Erol Önderoğlu

EU, Rights Groups Oppose Closure of KAOS GL

Human Rights Watch, the European Commission, and the Womens Platform on the Turkish Penal Code have spoken out to criticize the Ankara Deputy Governors attempt to shut down the gay rights group KAOS GL, calling it a clear example of discrimination

28 September 2005