IHD March -April 2020 Digest
04.03.2020: Human Rights Joint Platform issued a joint statement entitled “War Is Not a Solution” voicing concern over Turkey’s military campaign into Syria.
06.03.2020: İHD İstanbul Branch issued its 2019 report on rights violations in the Marmara Region prisons.
07.03.2020: NGOs issued a joint statement on the situation of refugees in Greece underlining that violation of refugees’ human rights is unjustifiable.
22.03.2020: The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders issued a call for action regarding the judicial harrassment of 13 human rights lawyers in Turkey.
23.03.2020: The European Committee fort he Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) issued a statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
24.03.2020: The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders and Amnesty International issued a joint press release deploring the sentencing of Mehmet Raci Bilici, board member of İHD, for his legitimate human rights activities.
30.03.2020: Human Rights Association, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Trade Union of Employees in Health Care and Social Services (SES) and Civil Society in the Penal System (CİSST) issued a joint statement on the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent measures to be taken in Turkish prisons.
31.03.2020: OMCT issued a statement calling for early release of prisoners in Turkey without discrimination.
31.03.2020: İHD issued a statement on the COVID-19 pandemic and the medical conditions of sick prisoners.
03.04.2020: İHD issued a special report on the bill to amend the Law on the Enforcement of Sentences and Security Measures (pp. 17).
07.04.2020: FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) called for urgent measures to be taken to preserve the health of detainees and for the release of the most vulnerable, of those detained for minor crimes and on remand custody, and of those whose detention is contrary to international norms in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
08.04.2020: İHD and HRFT issued a call for urgent action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.
08.04.2020: FIDH launched the “For Freedom” international campaign asking for the immediate release of jailed human rights defenders.
20.04.2020: 85 NGOs from all over the world presented a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council on the United Nations’ COVID-19 response.
20.04.2020: 69 NGOs from all over the world presented a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council on economic, social and cultural rights in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
20.04.2020: 75 NGOs from all over the world presented a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council on civil and political rights in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
22.04.2020: İHD indicated its primary concerns on the amendment to the Law on the Enforcement of Sentences and Security Measures in addentum to its comprehensive special report on the bill to amend the enforcement law.
27.04.2020: İHD issued a mandatory statement on the Religious Affairs Director’s address targeting the LGBTI+ community.