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Human rights violations in Turkey

Inconceivable torture as a grave human rights violation in Turkey at Şanlıurfa Counter-Terrorism Branch (TEM): “I put on a condom, now I will rape you”

Another grave human rights violation documented by Sevinç Özarslan with the victim of torture in Turkey. The history teacher, who worked as a teacher in the closed private teaching institution and had 3 children, who did not want his name to be disclosed for security reasons, told about the torture he faced in Şanlıurfa Counter-Terrorism Branch.

He was taken to Sanliurfa TEM with his 15-day-old baby, whose heart was born bigger than it should, and his puerperant wife. Moreover, he was subjected to such torture that he still could not take the trauma of what he had been through. The incident that happened was disgusting enough to identify it as subhuman. After they completely cut off contact with his wife and child, they put him in the cell. After being pressured to take advantage of effective regret, the victim, who did not even know the crime that he did, was tortured. In the winter, they imprisoned him in a room with open windows and no heating. They did not permit to sleep him until the morning with the control of police on duty, and then he was exposed to those horrible events he will never forget. First, they forced him to be naked, leaving only the underwear. They cursed and assaulted mothers, spouses, children, and whatever values came to mind with very severe insults. He was stripped and beaten after being blindfolded by people who were called “Interrogators“; and he heard that an interrogator said, “I put on condoms, now I will rape you.” Although this person could not do the action, he was tempted to do so. At the same time, they threatened the victim with open surgery, and the history teacher, who came to the end of his patience, shouted to be operated on without anesthesia. Even more painful, after all these tortures, they realized that they took the wrong person and then stopped the torture.

The reasons for a 44-year-old father with 3 children to live those situations are the fact that he was dismissed with the decree numbered 672, that he had just insurance registration in the closed institutions and his children were studying in Gulen-affiliated schools, that he had accounts at the Bank Asya, which was a bank approved by the state and its inaugurate was made by President Erdogan himself.

In a country where so-called democracy and justice are alleged, the main offense is to rape or allega batter, threaten with his family and feel entitled to this.

Source:

Interview by Sevinç Özarslan from Bold Medya with the victim of torture in Turkey on 2/9/2021. (The name of the victim is not disclosed because of security reasons)

https://boldmedya.com/2021/02/09/sanliurfa-temde-iskence-prezervatif-taktim-simdi-tecavuz-edecegim/

http://aktifhaber.com/m/gundem/sanliurfa-temde-iskence-prezervatif-taktim-simdi-tecavuz-edecegim-h156393.html

Reports on Torture in Turkey

https://silencedturkey.org/erdogans-torture-squads-and-torture-in-turkey-as-a-grave-human-rights-violation

https://silencedturkey.org/systematic-torture-and-ill-treatment-in-turkey

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/29/turkey-police-watchmen-involved-torture-ill-treatment

Stories of the victims fled from Turkey:

 

 

 

 

 

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Selahattin Demirtas

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Selahattin Demirtas worked as a Freelance lawyer after graduated. He then became a member, and thereafter Diyarbakir Chair of the Executive Committee of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD).
He is one of the founders of the Human Rights Foundation and Amnesty International’s Turkey branch.
Active politician and opposition leader arrested on November 5, 2016, accused of being an opponent to Erdogan.
He is still jailed pending trial.
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Murat Arslan

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“The German New Judge Association (NRV) has stated that ‘Turkey has abandoned its position as a constitutional state and the superiority of the law is completely disregarded’ in response to the decision for conviction”*

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We are the Advocates of Silenced Turkey

AST flyer ( PDF Link ) 

AST holds conventions to bring light to the ongoing conflict and its influences in Turkey. Also to develop strategies to champion human rights worldwide through panels, discussions, workshops, art and photo exhibitions, and legal training sessions. Some examples of these are The Freedom Forum, Immigrant Women Empowerment Panel, film festivals, and movie screenings. Also, AST members attend conferences held by other human rights organizations.
Don’t be Silent…

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278 People Died Because of Persecution of Turkey

Persecuted Lives ( PDF Link ) 

On Friday, September 27, 2019, the boat carrying desperate people fleeing the persecution in Turkey sank. Seven out of 19 people in the boat passed away. The Greek media published the news as” The angels escaping from Erdogan, lost their lives in the Aegean Sea” for the unfortunate event.
In Turkey, people died due to not being able to stand the persecution, from torture, having heart attacks and other serious medical conditions, not being allowed to receive treatment or not given their medicine, while fleeing from persecution or by the struggle for survival under difficult conditions.
Don’t be Silent…

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Esma Uludag a 35 year old women passed away just 6 months after she took refuge in Greece

Esma Uludag a 35-year-old woman passed away just 6 months after she took refuge in Greece

A 35-year-old woman who managed to escape from Turkey to Greece along with her three children. Uludag passed away of cerebral breeding amid financial difficulties just 6 months after they took refuge in Athens.

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Zabit Kisi was kidnapped, tortured and jailed by Erdogan Regime

Zabit Kisi was kidnapped, tortured and jailed by Erdogan Regime

He was kidnapped by MIT in Kazakistan and tortured for 108 days in an unknown facility in Turkey by Erdogan Regime.

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Re: Urge Turkish Authorities to stop torture and bring perpetrators to justice on INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE JUNE 26 th

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INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE, JUNE 26TH

     Gokhan Acikkollu, the 42-year-old history teacher with diabetes, was dismissed from his job, subsequently detained and tortured for 13 days under police custody in Turkey. He ultimately died from a heart attack. Two years later, after his death, authorities found him not guilty and reinstated him to his teaching post; however, no real justice has been given.

Since the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, democratic and fundamental human rights have been suspended in Turkey. The Turkish government has disregarded basic human rights, equality, and respect for human dignity. It has completely broken its ties with the western world, the European Union in particular. It is stated in Human Rights Watch October 2017 report that people accused of terrorism or of being linked to the July 2016 attempted coup are at risk of torture in police custody. There has been a spate of reported cases of men being abducted, some of whom were held in secret detention places, with evidence pointing to the
involvement of state authorities. 

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, High Commissioner for UN Human Rights, declared that during the state of emergency period about 160,000 people were detained in Turkey; 152,000 state officials, including teachers, judges, and lawyers were arbitrarily expelled or investigated; over 200 journalists were arrested, 201 media outlets and hundreds of websites were shut down. There were many cases of torture, rape, and kidnapping, which were only partially reflected in the reports.

According to a report released by the United States Department of State on human rights practices in Turkey in 2018 between July 2016 and July 2018, Turkish Ministry of Justice reported that “investigations” were opened into 612,347 persons, the majority of whom were affiliated with the Gulen movement. Authorities prosecuted 1,519 lawyers and dismissed 7,257 academics and more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors. After the coup, the government operated prisons became filled with people who were detained and awaiting trial and began to work over capacity. 28 individuals disappeared, some kidnapped in broad daylight in front of their families.

Reports of torture, mistreatment, and abuse skyrocketed from tens in 2017 to more than 2,500 in 2018. 51 people lost their lives under suspicious circumstances in official custody.

The most recent torture incidents took place at Police Headquarters in Ankara against detained six ex-diplomats of Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 26th which were documented by the Ankara Bar Association. HDP MP Omer F. Gergerlioglu; Erinc Sagkan, President of Ankara Bar Association, and CHP MP Sezgin Tanrikulu spoke out about the allegations immediately.

We urge all the international bodies and human rights organizations along with Turkish judiciary to take all necessary steps to STOP TORTURE in TURKEY and bring all the perpetrators to justice.

Advocates of Silenced Turkey
help@silencedturkey.org
www.silencedturkey.org
Twitter: @silencedturkey
Facebook: @silencedturkey

 


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PRESS RELEASE ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2019

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WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2019

It is acknowledged in UNHCR’s Global Trends 2018 Report that the number of forcibly displaced people increased by 2.3 million people in 2018. By the end of the year, almost 70.8 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, states:

“What we are seeing in these figures is further confirmation of a longer-term rising trend in the number of people needing safety from war, conflict, and persecution.”

Since the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government has targeted individuals and groups opposing the government. Through a mass witch-hunt, hundreds of thousands of people have been faced with arrest, imprisonment, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, denial of fair treatment, labeling, confiscation, and passport seizure. Turkish prisons became filled with people who were detained and awaiting trial and began to operate over capacity. 28 individuals disappeared, some kidnapped in broad daylight in front of their families. Reports of torture, mistreatment, and abuse skyrocketed from tens in 2017 to more than 2,500 in 2018. 51 people lost their lives under suspicious circumstances in official custody. Consequently, thousands of people were forced to leave the country for freedom and to live in humane conditions.

Migration is not easy for those who migrate as well as those countries who receive them. The activist poet Warshan Shire’s words about forced displacement summarize the refugee issue very concisely: “No one puts their children in a boat unless the boat is safer than the land.”

We, as AST (Advocates of Silenced Turkey), are dedicated to support refugees as well as to defend their rights and be a voice for them.

Hafza Y. GIRDAP
Spokesperson
directorhg@silencedturkey.org

 


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PRESS RELEASE Re:Call on the Government of Greece to investigate and end the push-backs of Turkish refugees

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PRESS RELEASE
Re: Call on the Government of Greece to investigate and end the push-backs of Turkish refugees

Following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and began to target any individual opposing the government, the Hizmet Movement (also known as Gulen Movement) in particular. According to a report released by the United States Department of State on human rights practices in Turkey in 2018 (2), between July 2016 and July 2018, Turkish Ministry of Justice reported that “investigations” were opened into 612,347 persons, the majority of whom were affiliated with the Hizmet Movement. After the coup, the government operated prisons became filled with people who were detained and awaiting trial and began to operate over capacity. 28 individuals disappeared, some kidnapped in broad daylight in front of their families. Reports of torture, mistreatment, and abuse skyrocketed from tens in 2017 to more than 2,500 in 2018. 51 people lost their lives under suspicious circumstances in official custody.

In addition to opening investigations into persons associated with the movement, the government has made many attempts to limit its citizen’s physical freedom and freedom of speech. 155,000 individuals whose family members were allegedly connected to the Hizmet Movement were banned from traveling, and the government has investigated over 45,000 social media accounts and blocked more than 50,000 websites. Furthermore, during the first six months of 2018, Twitter received 8,988 court orders and requests from authorities to remove content.

The persecution carried out by the Turkish government through witch-hunts has led many of the citizens to escape Turkey using illegal methods as their passports were confiscated. So far, the asylum-seeking Turkish citizens who cross the Evros to escape from a tyrannical regime in Turkey are embraced humanely by the Greek authorities. However, there have been recent reports of several push-back cases, in which groups of Turkish asylum-seekers were beaten by masked men and forced back to Turkey. In the last couple of months, there have been several reports that Turkish asylum seekers who entered Greece through the Evros river were beaten by masked men and pushed back into Turkey.

According to Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST)’s report 1 on this issue, the pushbacks raised concerns among human rights activists and those who are sensitive to such matters. Ten Greek refugee NGOs urged for the immediate investigation of reports of collective expulsions in Evros region. Also, Rebecca Harms, a member of the EU Parliament, stated that this situation violates international law.

International human rights law protects these families. Greece is a party to many human rights treaties and conventions as part of the European Union and the United Nations, thus has an obligation to protect these people when they reached Greece soils. More specifically, both under the EU and UN legislation, Greece cannot return, deport or expel these refugee families knowing that they will suffer from the Turkish government’s persecutions.

Alfred De Zayas, Former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order and Professor of International Law at Geneva School of Diplomacy, states that “Looking at the current situation in Greece, it must be emphasized that Greece is obliged to comply with its commitments under international human rights law and refugee law. Members of the Hizmet Movement fleeing from the Turkish government’s harsh persecutions fulfill the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention and have every right to demand protection from deportation to Turkey, where they face persecution.”

Moreover, Professor Anwar Alam, Senior Fellow at Middle Institute with Policy Perspectives Foundation in New Delhi, also emphasizes that “In this context, it must be brought to attention that fleeing Hizmet or non-Hizmet people from Turkey to Greece via Evros River or the Aegean Sea enjoy the legal right of protection after crossing into Greece border. EU Asylum Procedures Directive (Directive 2013/32/EU) states that the first country of asylum is a country where the person has already received international protection – refugee-like protection, or another kind of “sufficient protection” which must at least include non-refoulement guarantees (Article 35 of the Directive). Therefore, Greek authorities are urged to comply with this legal injunction and investigate the issue of masked men who are pushing back the refugees to Turkey.”

Migrant pushback is a growing concern, especially in the Greek-Turkish land border. Push-backs, as the word conveys the message, is stopping migrants in the borders and pushing them back by force to the country where they came from. According to Article 4 of Protocol 4 (Art 4-4) to the European Convention on Human Rights, push- back is defined in legal terms as “The well-established definition of collective expulsion is any measure of the competent authorities compelling aliens as a group to leave the country, except where such a measure is taken after and on the basis of a reasonable and objective examination of the particular cases of each individual alien of the group."

Therefore, we urge the Greek authorities to review their border security procedures and give serious consideration to maintaining the safety of asylum seekers to remain in compliance with international laws and regulations. The Greek authorities should investigate the pushback and violence allegations whether those allegations are against border security guards or violent non-governmental groups.

Hafza Y. GIRDAP
Spokesperson
directorhg@silencedturkey.org

 


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