Our reports and publications
Reports, survey results and open letters published or co-published by Solidarity with OTHERS
Open letter to Turkey's justice minister about enforced disappearances
August 2020
Solidarity with OTHERS and International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) released a joint open letter addressed to Mr. Abdülhamit Gül about the allegations of enforced disappearance in Turkey.
The letter aims to raise the series of reported incidents between 2016 and 2020, urge minister Gül to ensure an effective investigation into them and to bring those responsible to justice.
Download the letter: in English, in Turkish
Torture and ill-treatment in Turkey's prisons and detention centers
June 2020
On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Solidarity with OTHERS has conducted a survey on torture and ill-treatment in Turkey's prisons.
A total of 938 participants who were previously detained and/or arrested in Turkey were asked questions on their experiences with the aim of finding out whether the practices of torture and ill-treatment were of a systematic character and whether the participants filed necessary complaints with authorities.
Download the results: in English, in French, in Turkish
Enforced Disappearances: Turkey's Open Secret
June 2020
A dark stain on Turkey's human rights record since the 1980s, enforced disappearances led by state agents have reappeared after a failed coup attempt in July 2016.
In the last four years, 25 such cases have been reported. Most of the cases followed a certain pattern in terms of the victims' profiles, the circumstances of their disappearance, the authorities' reluctance to investigate despite the pleas of family members, and the suspicious accounts given by those who have turned up, most of the time in police custody.
This report provides a case-by-case analysis of the 25 cases, identifies the notable patterns surrounding the incidents, details the way in which authorities and government officials at different levels systematically avoided the issue and brings together the revelations made by those who claimed to be forcibly disappeared over the time they were missing.
Download the report: in English ,in Dutch, in French, in Sarani Kurdish, in Arabic,
The Case of Mustafa Ulaşlı
May 2020
A Defamation Campaign Against A Coronavirus Expert and the Unending Dehumanization of Turkey's Dismissed Public Sector Workers
Mustafa Ulaşlı is a Turkish coronavirus expert who is one of the 130,000 former public sector employees summarily removed from public service in the aftermath of a failed coup in July 2016.
In March 2020, he offered his assistance to the Turkish authorities dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Afterwards, he faced a wave of defamation on traditional and social that exposed several characteristics of the ongoing mass dehumanization of Turkey's purged public sector workers. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the debate as it relates to the wider context of the inhumane treatment of the purge victims.
Download the report: in English, in Turkish
Passport Cancellations & Related Violations
July 2019
On the occasion of the 3rd cycle of Turkey's Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Solidarity with OTHERS and European Professionals Network (EPN) submitted a report that focused on the Turkish government's practice of arbitrary passport cancellations, which it carried out based on investigations or administrative decisions alone, against perceived dissidents in breach of freedom of travel enshrined in Turkey's Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The practice not only affected some 230,000 individuals who were targeted, but also their spouses other close family members as they were included in apparent disregard of the principle of individuality of the criminal responsibility.
Violations of Rights in Consulates
July 2019
On the occasion of the 3rd cycle of Turkey's Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Solidarity with OTHERS submitted a report that dealt with the Turkish consular missions' unlawful and discriminatory practices against citizens believed by Turkey's government to be dissidents, leading to a number of human rights violations, particularly after July 2016.
The report brought together testimonies obtained through a series of interviews conducted with foreign-based Turkish citizens who reported denial of consular services as well as other types of mistreatment.
The findings of the report were acknowledged by the UN's "Summary of Stakeholders' submissions on Turkey," released by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Local and Global Purge
May 2019
This report focused on the allegations of enforced disappearance that saw a sharp increase inside Turkey in the wake of a failed coup in July 2016 as well as cases of abduction and unlawful deportation from abroad.
In the cases of enforced disappearance, detainees were reportedly taken to secret interrogation facilities where they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment aimed at extracting confessions.
The abductions from abroad often bypassed judicial review and domestic extradition processes of the countries involved. In some cases they even disregarded court orders against extradition.
Download the report: in English, in Turkish