Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Documentation Center[1][2][3][4][5]
5 January 2024 Daily Human Rights Report
(01/037) Labor Killings…
Worker Health and Worker Safety Assembly (ISIG) announced on January 4, 2024, that at least 154 workers, including 5 children, 4 women and 6 refugees, lost their lives while working in December 2023. Accordingly, the number of people who lost their lives in labor killings in 2023 became at least 1929.
(01/038) Racist, Discriminatory and Phobic Attack in a University…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 4, 2024, that F.B., a Kurdish and Alevi student at Koç University, was subjected to racist, discriminatory and phobic remarks of two other students, H.E.K. and A.D., with whom he had been sharing a room for a while, and was attacked by them with a sharp instrument on November 15, 2023. F.B., who was attacked, stated the following: “H.E.K. wanted to throw me out of the room because I am Alevi and he was discriminating against me. I was going to file a complaint against him, but I did not file a complaint because I did not want it to appear on his criminal record as he is a student. He still continues to discriminate against me”. A.D., who gave a statement to the prosecutor’s office, claimed that F.B., who was attacked, had harassed him and that is why he committed the attack. Alper Sarıca, F.B.’s lawyer, shared the following statements about the incident: “This student told us that he was staying with 2 roommates in the dormitory, that one of them was constantly tormenting and humiliating him just because he was Kurdish and Alevi, and that half an hour after he called the university security, he tried to get his other roommate to kill him. He said that he was seriously stabbed in the face and abdomen, that he escaped by pressing the fire alarm and hiding in the toilet, that he was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and explained the reason for the bandages on his face and the stitches on his body. The most surprising part was that he said that the person who attempted to kill him was released and he accused F.B. with sexual assault in order to get rid of the crime, that no sanctions were imposed on the instigator by the prosecutor’s office and the school, and that F.B. was given a signature obligation every week and got suspended from school.”
(01/039) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 4, 2024, that a letter written in Kurdish to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan by a prisoner in Urfa T Type Prison No 1 was first seized by Prison Letter Reading Commission, and after the prisoner’s appeal to Urfa Execution Judgeship, it was decided to cross out the objectionable parts and send the letter.
(01/040) Meeting Request with Abdullah Öcalan Not Responded to…
It is learned that the appeal made on January 4, 2024, to the chief public prosecutor’s office in Bursa by the lawyers of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş in Imralı Prison, to visit them was not responded to.
(01/041) People Detained in Kocaeli and Antakya…
On January 5, 2024, 5 people, reportedly Kaldıraç readers, were detained in house raids in Kocaeli and Antakya. The names of the detainees are Gülfem Kavak, Yarem Şahin, Ferdi Çiftçi, Sinan Çekiç and Nilya Çekiç. The reason for detention could not be learned.
(01/042) People Detained in Osmaniye…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 4, 2024, that two people named Y.B. and M.B. who were detained in Osmaniye on the grounds of insulting Atatürk on social media accounts, were arrested.
(01/043) People Detained in Diyarbakır…
On January 5, 2024, 3 people were detained in house raids in Tekel neighbourhood of Silvan district of Diyarbakır. The names of detainees are Murat Aslan, Selman Aktaş and Cihan Almaz. The reason of detention is unknown.
(01/044) Village Guards and Others on Trial…
The retrial of the case against 5 people, including 2 village guards, for the sexual abuse of a child named S.A. (17, k) from the age of 7 and keeping her in sexual captivity, started on January 3, 2024, after Diyarbakır Regional Court of Appeals overturned the 94 years and 15 days imprisonment sentence given by Şırnak Heavy Penal Court No 3. The indictment demands a sentence for the defendants on the charges of ‘child molestation’, ‘threatening’, ‘deprivation of liberty’, ‘prostitution’ and ‘sexual harassment’. The court adjourned the trial to March 4, 2024.
(01/045) People on Trial for Attending a 10th of October Commemoration…
The first trial of the case against 17 people, who were detained and handcuffed behind their backs during the commemoration of Ankara Train Station Massacre on October 10, 2022, started on January 4, 2024, at Ankara Penal Court of First Instance No 33 on the charge of “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No 2911”. The court adjourned the trial to April 25, 2024.
(01/046) Journalists on Trial in Istanbul…
The trial of the case against Ramazan Yurttapan, managing editor of Demokratik Modernite magazine, Haydar Ergül, editor, Cihan Doğan, Nazan Üstündağ and Musa Şanak continued January 4, 2024, at Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2. The indictment demands a sentence for the journalists on the charge of ‘degrading Turkish nation, state of Turkish republic, the organs and institutions of the state’. The court adjourned the hearing to June 27, 2024.
(01/047) The Case of Özgür Gündem…
The trial of the case against editors-in-chief Hüseyin Aykol and Zana Kaya, managing editor İnan Kızılkaya and politician Hatip Dicle of Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was closed down by a state of emergency decree, continued on January 4, 2024, at Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2. The indictment demands a sentence for the journalists on the charge of ‘degrading Turkish nation, state of Turkish Republic, the organs and institutions of the state’. The court adjourned the hearing to June 27, 2024.
(01/048) People on Trial…
It is learned from the news coverage of January 5, 2024, that a lawsuit was filed against 41 people at Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 3, on the grounds of the chants of “Football’s killer, Cimbom’s dog” against the President of Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Mehmet Büyükekşi during the UEFA Conference League game at Beşiktaş Tüpraş Stadium. The indictment demands a sentence for people on the charges of ‘insulting chanting’ and ‘insult against a public officer due to the performance of his public duty’.
[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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[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.