ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 69 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.
This week, the number included 40 people whose detention was ordered by Ankara prosecutors for helping the families of people jailed over alleged Gülen links.
July 12: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) faulted Turkey over the detention of 144 judges and prosecutors after a failed coup in July 2016, ordering Ankara to pay each applicant 5,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages. The ECtHR has in recent years delivered a number of judgments condemning Turkey over the post-coup mass detention of judges and prosecutors. With the latest ruling, the number of judges and prosecutors whose applications have been upheld has risen to 1,073.
July 14: The Constitutional Court rejected an application requesting the release of opposition MP Can Atalay from prison. A human rights lawyer, Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison by an İstanbul court in April 2022 in a trial concerning the anti-government Gezi Park protests of 2013 and was not released despite being elected to parliament in the legislative elections of May 14 and gaining parliamentary immunity.
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.
July 14: A man named Mazlum Çelik announced that he was briefly abducted in Şanlıurfa by three people who took him to a remote location where he was interrogated under torture and coerced into becoming an informant for the authorities.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
July 10: The police in Ankara intervened in a leftist party’s protest against the government’s economic policies, briefly detaining 15 people.
July 11: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit 15 people who stood trial over their participation in protests in 2019.
July 12: An Ankara court ruled to acquit 14 people, including members of the HDP, who stood trial over their participation in political events.
July 12: The Siirt Governor’s Office issued a ban on all outdoor gatherings for a period of 15 days.
July 14: The police in Mersin detained 11 people as part of an investigation into Newroz celebrations held in the province.
July 15: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration about those who disappeared in police custody in the 1990s, briefly detaining 15 people.
July 15: Gendarmes in Şanlıurfa intervened in a demonstration about power outages, detaining 20 people.
July 15: A district governorate in Hatay banned a concert to be given by the leftist music band Grup Yorum without providing a justification.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
July 11: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered Turkey to pay damages to imprisoned journalist Mehmet Baransu for violation of his right to trial within a reasonable period of time.
July 11: A new report released by the Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) found that Turkey has the highest rate of legal harassment of women journalists in the world and ranks second in the number of women journalists imprisoned.
July 11: A quarterly media freedom report released by Bianet found that at least 24 journalists were detained in the second quarter of the year. The report also said that at least 196 journalists stood trial in the same period.
July 12: Unidentified assailants physically assaulted journalist Ayşe Sönmez who was covering news in Muğla.
July 12: An İstanbul court handed down a suspended prison sentence of five months to a 14-year-old minor on charges of insulting the president in a WhatsApp group conversation.
July 12: A Diyarbakır court ruled to release pending trial 15 Kurdish journalists who were arrested in June 2022 on terrorism-related charges.
July 13: An Elazığ court ruled to block access to 225 tweets, 165 news articles, 24 Facebook posts, three Reddit posts, two YouTube videos, two Instagram posts and one forum page on allegations that Gıyas Güven, a senior official of a government agency, deceived women with promises of job opportunities to engage in sexual relations with them.
July 14: İstanbul prosecutors indicted mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on charges of insulting a ruling party member in a speech he gave at an inauguration ceremony, demanding up to two years in prison as well as a ban from politics.
July 14: İstanbul prosecutors indicted journalist Merdan Yanardağ who was arrested on June 27 over televised remarks about the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), demanding up to 10 years, six months in prison.
July 14: The guards in a Diyarbakır prison confiscated the letters, diaries and notebooks of jailed journalists Abdurrahman Gök and Mehmet Şah Oruç.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
July 10: Media reports revealed that judge Ahmet Çakmak is facing expulsion from the judiciary for filing an appeal against the nomination of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a presidential candidate on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
July 11: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered Turkey to pay damages to imprisoned journalist Mehmet Baransu for violation of his right to trial within a reasonable period of time.
July 12: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) faulted Turkey over the detention of 144 judges and prosecutors after a failed coup in July 2016, ordering Ankara to pay each applicant 5,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages. The ECtHR has in recent years delivered a number of judgments condemning Turkey over the post-coup mass detention of judges and prosecutors. With the latest ruling, the number of judges and prosecutors whose applications have been upheld has risen to 1,073.
July 12: The Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) released a report expressing concern over prosecutorial practices in terrorism-related cases in Turkey, particularly in the aftermath of an attempted coup in July 2016. The report sheds light on the misuse of anti-terrorism and security tools by reviewing 118 indictments against people with alleged links to the Gülen movement and by identifying the 18 most commonly used criteria for terrorism-related charges leveled against defendants.
July 13: The Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) removed from the judiciary judge Ahmet Çakmak for filing an appeal against the nomination of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a presidential candidate on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
KURDISH MINORITY
July 11: The police in Balıkesir detained four members and executives of the HDP. Two of the detainees were arrested by a court on July 13 while the other two were released under judicial control.
July 12: A Diyarbakır court ruled to release pending trial 15 Kurdish journalists who were arrested in June 2022 on terrorism-related charges.
July 13: Video footage circulating on a social media platform showed a group of soldiers engaged in violent behavior toward four shepherds in Diyarbakır.
July 14: The police in Mersin detained 11 people as part of an investigation into Newroz celebrations held in the province.
PRISON CONDITIONS
July 10: A prison administration in Antalya obstructed inmates’ hospital referrals.
July 10: A Diyarbakır prison denied medical care to inmate Halise Aksoy for refusing to go to the hospital in handcuffs.
July 11: An İzmir prison obstructed the treatment of sick inmate Muhlise Karagüzel and denied her the meals that she needs due to her condition.
July 11: Özge Özbek, a sick inmate incarcerated in Ankara who was hospitalized after her health deteriorated, was taken back to prison even though doctors said she urgently needs to undergo a surgery.
July 13: Inmates who became sick in a women’s prison in İzmir were reportedly not taken to the infirmary.
July 14: A prison administration in Kocaeli denied medical care and exercise equipment to Gönül Erdoğan, an inmate suffering from osteoporosis.
July 15: A women’s prison in İstanbul denied medical care to sick inmate Şivekar Ataş.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
July 10: Rangers in Diyarbakır physically assaulted three shepherds.
July 10: A prison administration in Antalya restricted inmates’ social privileges.
July 12: The police in Kars physically assaulted local journalist Serkan Çağlar over a parking dispute.
July 13: Video footage circulating on a social media platform showed a group of soldiers engaged in violent behavior toward four shepherds in Diyarbakır.
July 13: A prison administration in İzmir refused to deliver clothes sent to inmates on the grounds that they did not comply with regulations. Reports also indicated that the guards in the same women’s prison damaged inmates’ personal items during ward searches and that political prisoners’ video call privileges were arbitrarily restricted.
July 13: A prison administration in Kırıkkale restricted inmates’ sportive and social privileges. Reports also indicated that the guards destroyed inmates’ personal items during ward searches.
July 14: The guards in a Diyarbakır prison confiscated the letters, diaries and notebooks of jailed journalists Abdurrahman Gök and Mehmet Şah Oruç.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
July 13: Sweden’s Supreme Court blocked the extradition of two people wanted by Turkey for involvement in the Gülen movement. The court said the two individuals’ actions are not considered a crime in Sweden. The Scandinavian country has been under significant political pressure from the Turkish government which put forward the extradition of a number of allegedly Gülen-affiliated individuals as a precondition for greenlighting Stockholm’s NATO membership.
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