ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
July 7: The Constitutional Court found inadmissible applications filed by people affected by a curfews in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey in which 137 were killed in counterterrorism operations in 2015-2016.
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES
No news has emerged of Yusuf Bilge Tunç, a former public sector worker who was sacked from his job by a decree-law during the 2016-2018 state of emergency and who was reported missing as of August 6, 2019 in what appears to be one of the latest cases in a string of suspected enforced disappearance of government critics since 2016.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
July 4: Gendarmerie in Şırnak intervened in a protest by local inhabitants against an energy company, detaining 20 people.
July 5: The police in Batman detained four people over slogans chanted at a HDP rally.
July 5: The police in Ankara detained three journalists for attending a demonstration protesting the arrest of 16 of their colleagues on terrorism charges.
July 5: The police in Ankara intervened in a pride march, briefly detaining at least 50 LGBT rights activists.
July 7: The police in İstanbul intervened in a protest vigil, detaining four people.
July 7: The police in Mardin detained seven people protesting a local energy supplier.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
July 5: A Niğde court ruled to block access to a news report about a former district governor.
July 6: Prosecutors launched an investigation into journalists Canan Coşkun and Barış Pehlivan over their reporting on the appointment of a controversial judge as the deputy justice minister.
July 6: An İstanbul court sentenced journalist Can Ataklı to 11 months, seven days in prison over his remarks on a TV program.
July 6: The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the broadcasting regulator, imposed penalties on pro-opposition Halk TV and TELE1 channels over remarks made on their political programs.
July 7: The police in İstanbul physically and verbally assaulted journalists covering a protest march organized by health workers.
July 7: The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the broadcasting regulator, prohibited media outlets from reporting on the murder of a doctor by a patient’s relative in Konya.
July 8: A Sivas court ruled to block access to three news reports about a photo of the president with someone allegedly under investigation due to his Gülen links.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
July 5: The Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) disbarred two judges on account of their alleged links to the Gülen movement.
July 5: A former high judiciary member was arrested and sent to prison after the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld his sentence handed down due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement.
KURDISH MINORITY
July 5: The police in Batman detained four people over slogans chanted at a HDP rally.
PRISON CONDITIONS
July 5: An İstanbul prison denied medical treatment to amputated inmate Necdet Erik.
July 7: An Elazığ prison denied medical care to inmates suffering from health problems.
July 8: Officials at a Manisa prison denied medication to a sick inmate, citing the economic crisis.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
July 4: An İstanbul court rejected a request to extradite Samir Handal, a suspect in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. The court released Handal from pre-trial detention.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
July 5: The guards in a women’s prison in İzmir mistreated inmates during an involuntary transfer.
July 6: The guards in a Kayseri prison tortured an inmate named Rıdvan Taş.
July 7: The police in İstanbul physically and verbally assaulted journalists covering a protest march organized by health workers.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
July 4: A leading women’s rights group reported that Turkey has seen the murder of at least 259 women at the hands of men since the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention in July 2021.
July 6: Men killed at least 32 women and inflicted violence on at least 89 women in June, according to a monthly monitoring report released by Bianet.