Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Documentation Center[1][2][3][4][5]
26 January 2024 Daily Human Rights Report
(01/213) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 25, 2024, that letters of prisoners in Erzurum Dumlu High Security Prison No 1, which they wanted to send to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Prison and European Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT), containing expressions about prison conditions and hunger strikes, were seized by the prison administration on the grounds of the word ‘strike’. It is learned that prisoners participating in the hunger strike in prisons across Turkey demanding an end to isolation of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan were not provided with necessary liquid food and the document “Summary Algorithm for Nutrition and Treatment after Hunger Strike” prepared by Turkish Medical Association (TTB) was not given to prisoners on the grounds that it was a photocopy.
It is learned from the news coverage of January 25, 2024, that prisoners in Istanbul Marmara (Silivri) Prison were not able to exercise their right to conversation in accordance with the law, and that their right to conversation, which was 3 hours before the COVID-19 pandemic, was reduced to 2 hours after the pandemic.
(01/214) Meeting Request with Abdullah Öcalan not Responded to…
It is learned that the appeal made on January 26, 2024, to the chief public prosecutor’s office in Bursa by families and tutelary of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş in Imralı Prison, to visit them was not responded to.
(01/215) Discriminatory and Phobic Political Party Video…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 26, 2024, that Yeniden Refah Partisi (YRP) used discriminatory and LGBTI+phobic expressions such as “If there is no morality, there is LGBT!” and “We will drive perverted organizations out of our city” in the videos they published on social media for local elections on March 31, 2024.
(01/216) People Detained due to Social Media Posts…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 25, 2024, that 3 school principals in Halfeti district of Urfa, who were detained on December 29, 2023, on the grounds of their social media posts about the bombardment of Turkish Air Force warplanes on Roboski (Ortasu) village of Uludere district of Şırnak in 2011, killing 34 people, were dismissed from their duties and 2 of them were transferred to different districts of Urfa against their will.
(01/217) Political Party Executive on Trial in Diyarbakır…
The first trial of the case against Zekiye İlbasan, former Deputy Co-Chair of Democratic Regions Party (DBP), started on January 25, 2024 at Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No 4. The indictment demands a sentence for Zekiye İlbasan on the charges of ‘participating in unlawful meetings and demonstrations without arms and not dispersing despite the warning’, ‘resisting to prevent duty’, ‘being a member of an illegal organization’. The court released Zekiye İlbasan on judicial control condition and adjourned the trial to March 7, 2024.
Zekiye İlbasan was detained on October 9, 2023 and was arrested by the court on October 10, 2023.
(01/218) Journalist Arrested in Istanbul…
Journalist Ahmet Ayva, who was investigated in 2018 on charges of “insulting the President” and tried on charges of “making propaganda for an illegal organization”, was arrested and taken to Istanbul Marmara (Silivri) Prison after the Court of Cassation upheld his 3-year and 6-month prison sentence.
(01/219) Journalist Subjected to an Attack in Bitlis…
The final trial of the case against police officer E. K. and bodyguard Y. B., on the charge of ‘intentional injury’ in relation to the attack of Sinan Aygül, chair of Bitlis Journalists’ Association, by a police officer and an employee of Tatvan Municipality on June 17, 2023, on the grounds of his news reports on corruption and irregularities in Tatvan Municipality, was held at Tatvan Penal Court of First Instance No 2 on January 25, 2024. The court sentenced the defendants to 1 year 5 months and 15 days each. The court also sentenced the defendants to 1 year and 8 months each and deferred the announcement of the verdict on the charges of physical violence and armed threats against 2 people during the intervention to the incidents.
(01/220) Journalist on Trial in Istanbul…
The trial of the case against Sezgin Kartal, reporter of Karşı Mahalle news portal, continued on January 25, 2024, at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No 22. The indictment demands a sentence for Sezgin Kartal on the charge of ‘being a member of an illegal organization’. The court decided to continue the ban on leaving the country and adjourned the trial to April 25, 2024.
Sezgin Kartal was detained on January 10, 2023, arrested on January 13, 2023 and released on June 22, 2023.
(01/221) Journalist on Trial in Istanbul…
On January 26, 2024, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 5 accepted the indictment prepared against journalist Can Ataklı, against whom an investigation was initiated by Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on December 25, 2023, due to his posts on various social media platforms about the deaths of soldiers in the operations of Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) within the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (IKBY). The indictment demands Can Ataklı to be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years on the charge of ‘inciting or insulting the public to hatred and hostility’. The first hearing of the case will be held on March 19, 2024.
(01/222) Journalist on Trial in Istanbul…
On January 25, 2024, the retrial of the case against journalist Nurcan Baysal, whose individual application to the Constitutional Court (AYM) resulted in a violation of her rights, started at Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 55. The court acquitted the journalist.
[1]The reports on the human rights violations of the Documentation Center are claims unless they are certified. The claim of violation either is certified through thoroughly investigations of HRFT Documentation Center, including by judicial verdicts, and becomes a definite data or it is not included to the annual report.
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[4] https://twitter.com/insanhaklari
[5] Daily Human Rights Reports are prepared on the information gathered by the Documentation Center from its own network and the following dailies and internet portals: Vatan, Milliyet, Hürriyet, Habertürk, Evrensel, Birgün, Cumhuriyet, Fırat Haber Ajansı, Jinnews, ETHA, Mezopotamya Ajansı, Yurt, Yeni Yaşam, NTV, Yeni Asya, Bianet, Halkinsesi.tv, Cnnturk, Tr724, İleri Haber, Siyasi Haber, Alınteri, Kızılbayrak, Sendika.org, Yüksekova Haber, T24, Diken, Gazete Karınca, Gazete Duvar. Haber Sol, El Cezire, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, AFP.