ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 129 people over alleged links to the Gülen movement. In October 2020, a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) opinion said that widespread or systematic imprisonment of individuals with alleged links to the group may amount to crimes against humanity. Solidarity with OTHERS has compiled a detailed database to monitor the Gülen-linked mass detentions since a failed coup in July 2016.
May 31: Suna Halis, a woman jailed for alleged links to the Gülen movement, requested her release from prison, saying that she has leukemia and that she needs proper medical care.
June 2: Şerife Sulukan, a paralyzed woman arrested for alleged links to the Gülen movement, suffered an epileptic seizure in prison.
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES
No news has emerged of Yusuf Bilge Tunç, a former public sector worker who was sacked from his job by a decree-law during the 2016-2018 state of emergency and who was reported missing as of August 6, 2019 in what appears to be one of the latest cases in a string of suspected enforced disappearance of government critics since 2016.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
May 30: The police in Hatay briefly detained two people staging a sit-in to support prisoners on hunger strike.
May 30: A district governor’s office in Bitlis canceled a Kurdish-language theater play, citing technical problems.
May 30: The Kocaeli Governor’s Office canceled a youth festival.
May 31: The police in Şırnak intervened in a protest organized by the HDP, detaining five party executives.
May 31: The police in İstanbul detained two people demonstrating for prisoners on hunger strike.
May 31: The police in İstanbul briefly detained 29 people protesting an energy supplier.
June 1: The police in İstanbul intervened in demonstrations held to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, detaining at least 170 people.
June 1: The police in Ankara detained 46 people holding a demonstration to mark to ninth anniversary of the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
June 2: The police detained 22 people as part of an investigation into the Migration Monitoring Association (GÖÇİZ-DER).
June 2: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration held by relatives of prisoners, detaining six people.
June 3: The police in İstanbul briefly detained five people who staged a protest against restrictions on women artists.
June 5: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration held by LGBT activists, briefly detaining 11 people.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
May 30: The police in İstanbul detained opposition politician Semih Tufan on charges of insulting the president. Tufan was later arrested by a court.
May 30: The police in İstanbul briefly detained reporter Engin Açar while he was following up on news.
May 30: İstanbul prosecutors launched an investigation into human rights activist and former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom on charges of insulting the president, over a social media post in which he was seen stepping on a photo of the Turkish President.
May 30: The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed monetary fines on Tele1, Halk TV, KRT TV and Flash TV channels for broadcasting a video released by an opposition leader.
May 30: An Ardahan court ruled to block access to five news websites and online magazines, citing national security and public order reasons.
May 30: An İstanbul court ruled to ban a religious book upon a complaint filed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).
May 31: A Van court handed down a suspended prison sentence of eight months, 22 days to reporter Zelal Tunç on charges of insulting a public official.
May 31: A court handed down a suspended prison sentence of one year to stage actor Orhan Aydın on charges of insulting a government official in an opinion piece.
May 31: Diyarbakır courts ruled to block access to three pro-Kurdish news websites.
May 31: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to a column criticizing a court decision.
May 31: Prosecutors launched an investigation into journalist Rabia Çetin over a social media post.
May 31: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit journalist Derya Okatan who stood trial for insult charges over a news report.
June 2: An İstanbul court sentenced journalist Uğur Dündar to 11 months, 20 days in prison for insulting a former cabinet member in a column that he wrote.
June 2: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit opposition politician Canan Kaftancıoğlu who stood trial for insulting the president on social media.
June 3: A Denizli court sentenced a person to 11 months, 20 days in prison on charges of insulting the president on social media.
June 3: The police in Diyarbakır detained journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu.
June 3: Ankara prosecutors summoned journalist Berivan Altan for a questioning over her coverage of an alleged racist attack targeting a Kurdish family.
June 3: An İstanbul court ruled to censor and confiscate the copies of three books and a report published by an NGO about internally displaced Kurds and curfews imposed in predominantly Kurdish provinces.
June 3: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to at least three news report about allegations of corruption implicating an executive of a national airline company.
June 3: A Manisa court ruled to block access to two news reports about a judge who was appointed as a deputy Minister of Justice and who in the past had refused to implement a Constitutional Court ruling.
June 3: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to at least three columns on a graft probe in 2013 that implicated high-level government officials.
June 3: An İstanbul court ordered the removal of at least three news reports about a government agency that was authorized to award construction contracts in coastal areas.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
June 2: The US State Department released its annual religious freedom report, in which it said that Turkey continued to limit the rights of non-Muslim religious minorities.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
May 31: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the pretrial detention of former Amnesty Turkey head Taner Kılıç violated his rights.
June 2: The police detained 22 people as part of an investigation into the Migration Monitoring Association (GÖÇİZ-DER).
KURDISH MINORITY
May 30: The police in Şırnak physically assaulted local HDP executive Ahmet Aktuğ.
May 31: The police in Batman detained 19 people, including local HDP executives.
May 31: The police in Şırnak intervened in a protest organized by the HDP, detaining five party executives.
May 31: Diyarbakır courts ruled to block access to three pro-Kurdish news websites.
June 3: Prosecutors issued detention warrants for more than 40 members of the HDP across 10 provinces.
June 3: The police in Van detained 13 people, including members and executives of the HDP.
June 3: The police in Bingöl detained local HDP executive Saadet Fırat.
June 3: The police in Diyarbakır detained journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu.
June 3: Ankara prosecutors summoned journalist Berivan Altan for a questioning over her coverage of an alleged racist attack targeting a Kurdish family.
June 3: An İstanbul court ruled to censor and confiscate the copies of three books and a report published by an NGO about internally displaced Kurds and curfews imposed in predominantly Kurdish provinces.
OTHER MINORITIES
June 5: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration held by LGBT activists, briefly detaining 11 people.
PRISON CONDITIONS
June 5: An Afyon prison placed in one-person cells eight inmates who are on a hunger strike in protest of the rights violations that they suffered.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
May 31: In a video that sparked outrage on social media, a 70-year-old mentally disabled Syrian refugee woman was seen physically attacked by a Turkish man.
June 1: Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced that more than 500,000 Syrian refugees had voluntarily returned to their country. In the past, rights groups reported on several occasions that the Turkish authorities were coercing migrants to sign voluntary return forms.
June 4: A man in Rize shot dead an Afghan migrant in what appears to be a racist attack.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
May 30: A law firm announced that two of its clients who were detained by the İstanbul police were physically mistreated in custody and suffered injuries.
May 30: Customs officers at the Turkish-Iraqi border physically assaulted a 23-year-old disabled person.
May 30: The police in Şırnak physically assaulted local HDP executive Ahmet Aktuğ.
May 30: The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) announced that it received 984 complaints about torture in 2021, the highest annual number since the foundation’s establishment in 1990.
May 31: The guards in a Van prison physically assaulted inmates Mehmet Kültür and Feyyaz Başak.
June 1: The police in İstanbul mistreated four people who were detained during a commemoration event.
June 1: The Civil Society in the Penal System (CISST) reported that it received a total of 1,572 appeals complaining of mistreatment, torture and neglect in Turkish prisons between 2021 and 2022.
June 2: Muhammed Savaş Bayındır, a former academic, announced in a public letter that he was brutally tortured at the Ankara Police Department after being detained in a post-coup purge in July 2016.
Comments