ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 3 people over alleged links to the Gülen movement. In October 2020, a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) opinion said that widespread or systematic imprisonment of individuals with alleged links to the group may amount to crimes against humanity. Solidarity with OTHERS has compiled a detailed database to monitor the Gülen-linked mass detentions since a failed coup in July 2016.
ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
April 5: Serhat Kahyaoğlu, a man who on the night of Sunday’s local elections was detained in İstanbul for celebrating by firing a gun into the air, died in police custody after he was allegedly assaulted by officers.
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.
April 1: It is learned that the family of Ali Veli, a Syrian citizen prisoner in Erzincan L Type Prison, who was released on March 13, 2024 and was not heard from again, was threatened by unidentified persons who called them on the phone and sent footage of Ali Veli being subjected to torture to the family.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
April 4: Muş Governorate made a declaration on April 3, 2024 and announced that all events in public areas such as squares, streets, roads, parks etc. will be banned for 3 days between April 4, 2024 and April 6, 2024.
April 4: Şırnak Governorate made a declaration on April 3, 2024 and announced that all open-door meetings and demonstrations are banned for 15 days between April 3, 2024 and April 17, 2024.
April 4: Turkish police have detained 340 people over protests that erupted across Turkey in response to a local electoral authority’s decision to annul the victory of a pro-Kurdish candidate in eastern Turkey and hand the mayorship to the ruling party’s runner-up.
April 6: Turkish courts arrested 23 people among hundreds detained over protests that erupted across Turkey in response to a local electoral authority’s decision to annul the victory of a pro-Kurdish party candidate in eastern Turkey and hand the mayorship to the ruling party’s runner-up.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
April 2: The Council of Europe’s election observation mission to Turkey on Monday released a statement calling on Turkish authorities to do more to ensure freedom of expression in the political and media environment and the oversight of electoral processes by an independent judiciary.
April 3: At least 3 news articles on election irregularities during the March 31, 2024 Local Elections were blocked from access by the Adıyaman 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
April 3: Following the Constitutional Court's ruling on the violation of freedom of expression, the sanctions imposed on at least 2 news articles blocked on May 10, 2023 and ordered to be deleted were lifted by an additional decision of the Ankara 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace.
April 5: Within the scope of the Freedom of Expression Association's EngelliWeb project, it was determined that access to at least 83,250 domain names/subdomains was blocked between January and March 2024.
April 5: Diyarbakır prosecutors have launched an investigation into 11 executives of the Diyarbakır Bar Association on accusations of “denigrating the Turkish nation and state,” over a 2021 statement commemorating the victims of the Armenian genocide.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
April 2: The retrial of Yüksel Yalçınkaya, a teacher whose conviction on terrorism charges was found by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to have violated his fundamental rights, has begun in central Turkey under heightened security measures.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
April 2: A fuel tanker stopped at a resting facility in Şehitkamil district of Antep was carrying 52 refugees from Afghanistan and 2 of 52 refugees were found dead and 7 of them were injured.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
April 3: 29 people were subjected to torture and ill-treatment during police intervention against people protesting in Yüksekova district of Hakkari.
April 5: Zilan Demir, a prisoner in Antalya Manavgat S Type Prison, cannot get treatment due to ill-treatment of health workers even though she is suffering from eye disease, and that Zilan Demir's eye number had changed on the date when the glasses that her family sent for eye disease were delivered to her.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
April 5: According to the "Male Violence Tally Sheet" published by Bianet on April 4, 2024, at least 24 women were killed by men across Turkey in March 2024. It is also stated in the statement that men killed at least 3 children, inflicted violence on 43 women, abused 15 children and forced 51 women to sex work.