IHD: 2018 it’s Violations of Rights

The Human Rights Association (IHD) announced its 2018 Violations of Rights Report. According to the Report, the right to life of 673 people, including 32 children, was violated. Thousands of cases of torture and ill-treatment occurred during the year, while more than a thousand people were arrested in the context of the so called political genocide.

The Human Rights Association (IHD) held a press conference at its Ankara headquarters. The highlights of the report were read by the President of the IHD, Öztürk Türkdoğan.

Türkdoğan said there were many violations in Turkey during 2018 and added that the government needs to take urgent steps in this regard. “New constitutional debates should be brought to the agenda. – he said – A new peace process must be promoted. All this can be started with the abolition of isolation on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı.”

Some highlights from the report includes: 4 thousand 513 incidents of torture, ill treatment and degrading treatment, almost 10 thousand people were detained and 1,107 people were arrested throughout 2018.

23 suspicious deaths in prisons

• Seven people died and 26 people got wounded after being hit by armed vehicles of security forces.
• At least 23 people suspiciously died in prisons. At least five people, one of whom was a trand woman, suspiciously lost their lives in detention.

Dead in conflict

• In the first 11 months of 2018, 20 people lost their lives and 15 people got wounded due to the extrajudicial executions committed by law enforcement officers, for disobeying their stop warnings or random shots fired by them.
• 502 people in total lost their lives in armed conflicts; while 107 of them were security forces, 391 of them were militants and 4 of them were civilians.

2,719 people tortured, ill-treated

• 2 thousand 719 people in total were subjected to torture and ill treatment throughout 2018. While 356 of these people were subjected to beating or similar methods in custody, 246 of them experienced a similar treatment outside detention centers. 2 thousand 598 of these people were tortured or maltreated in meetings of demonstrations intervened by police.
• In complaints filed by inmates in prisons, 1,149 people stated that they were subjected to torture and ill treatment. 160 other people indicated that they were tortured or maltreated due to the imposition to become an agent.

458 seriously ill prisoners

• According to the latest data shared by the İHD on April 7, 2019, there are 458 seriously ill inmates in the prisons of Turkey.
• In 86 prisons, there are over 3 thousand inmates who have been on a hunger strike with the demand that the isolation imposed on Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan be ended.

10 young people died during compulsory military service

• 10 young people who were doing their compulsory military service died in suspicious circumstances.

1,923 work-related deaths

• According to the data shared by the Laborers’ Health and Occupational Safety (İSİG) Assembly, 1,923 people lost their lives in occupational accidents/homicides throughout 2018.

No right of asylum for 4 million refugees

• As of December 2018, there are 3.5 million refugees in Turkey, according to the official figures. However, it is estimated that the actual figure is, in fact, over 4 million. Though these people have been living in Turkey for more than seven years now, they still have “the status of temporary protection.” They cannot retain the right of asylum.
• Other rights and services mostly focus on refugees from Syria; around 365 thousand refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and African countries are ignored.