The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
Description of the situation:
Dicle Müftüoğlu, the Co-Chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) and editor at Mezopotamya Agency (MA) has started a hunger strike in prison. Müftüoğlu was not released during the second hearing on January 18 of the trial taking place at the 5th Heavy Penal Court in Diyarbakır after her nearly 9 months of detention.
Justice Minister of Turkey, Yılmaz Tunç, on Jan. 19 said that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) acted with “political concerns” in its judgments demanding the immediate release of businessman Osman Kavala and prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş.
Five courageous human rights defenders from around the world have shared their hard-hitting stories on Amnesty International’s new podcast: ‘On the Side of Humanity. How human rights defenders fight for our present and future’.
In the aftermath of their arrest on November 28, 2023, in İzmir, Nilay Güleser, Co-Chair of the Ege Imprisoned and Convicted Families and Mutual Aid Association (EGE-TUHAYDER), and Ali Yalçınkaya, Co-Chair of the Avesta Language and Cultural Studies Association (Avesta), were officially indicted on December 1.
Ali Kişmir, president of the Cyprus Turkish Journalists’ Union (Basin-Sen) will face on 28 December a trial for an opinion article he published on social media back in 2020 in which he criticised the politics of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The 2023 Human Rights Tulip has been awarded to Hülya Gülbahar, a feminist attorney from Türkiye and founder of the Equality Watch Women’s Group (EŞİTİZ) and the Women’s Platform for Equality Türkiye (EŞİK). Minister of Foreign Affairs Hanke Bruins Slot presented the prize on 14 December at a ceremony in the Peace Palace.
The CIVICUS Monitor, which tracks freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression in 198 countries and territories, announced in a new report Wednesday that almost one third of humanity now lives in countries with ‘closed’ civic space.