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Turkey: Prisons, torture crimes and human rights violations continue

WordForPeace.com Special 

At United Nations Human Rights Council, a symposium was organized by the International Alliance for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms (AIDL) to discuss the suffering of the Turkish women, violations, crimes against humanity and International prosecution mechanism against the perpetrators in order to ensure the achievements of justice. Speakers asserted that Turkey is witnessing a frightening retreat of the rights and freedoms of women, activists and the civil society after the failed military coup in the mid of 2016 through which the Turkish authorities tightened their iron fist violently against all human rights activists, Journalists, lawyers, parliamentarians, Members of municipalities as well as against all the opponents, many of them were subjected to torture, enforced disappearances, cruelty and degrading treatment. The discussion is moderated by UK researcher and lecturer Flora Hasten.

The seminar also discussed the ways to achieve justice, and was addressed by the Mayor of Sezeri Kurdistan Lili Emert, activist in the Kurdish movement in Switzerland Ozan Ayatk and Akhlaq Begua, a liberated Yazidi prisoner and Christine Oslin director of Cady Research Institute in Pittsburgh.

“Turkey has recently witnessed a serious increase in human rights violations, crimes against women and society committed by the authorities and security services, most of it considered crimes against humanity”, said Mrs. Taha Hakeema Mahmoud CHALO, whose family was killed by ISIS in the massacre known as Kocho. She was taken hostage in this attack and was separated from the men hostages and from women with children. She was brought with other young girls first to Mosul and then to Raqqa where she was sold as a sex slave to an Arab man. Then she was sold to a second man.

AIDL’s interest in violations and human rights in Turkey came after the escalation of infringement of human rights and freedoms, especially after the failed military coup in mid-2016, where the Turkish authorities tightened their iron hand on the government and practiced repression towards human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, parliamentarians, elected municipal members and political opponents. Many of them have been imprisoned, tortured and humiliated.

According to the latest international reports there are nearly a quarter of a million detainees in Turkish jails as the second largest country in the world in the number of detainees in addition to torture cases, which called on the Special Rapporteur on torture to address these issues in a statement last February.

The international coalition has opened the file of human rights in Turkey during the past weeks on the sidelines of the forty-first session of the Human Rights Council, a seminar on “prisons, torture crimes and human rights violations,” which was attended by many specialists, parliamentarians and human rights activists.

Other speakers included:

Mrs. Bedia Özgökçe, a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATOPA) Turkish Group

Mrs. Leyla İMRET, ex-mayor of Cizre who was dismissed from her position by the government in 2015

Mrs. Özen AYTAC, active member of the Kurdish women’s movement Switzerland

Moderator:

Mrs. Orsola CASAGRANDE, Italian journalist who has worked as Special Correspondent in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

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