ASSEDEL responds to the call for input of the UN SR for their Report on Respecting, Protecting, and Fulfilling the Right to Freedom of Thought. The submission includes observations and inputs for 8 questions of the SR’s questionnaire. ASSEDEL argues that the post-2016 period in Turkey has not been discussed or assessed under the right of freedom of thought and this right is still undermined both in theory and practice.

To read the full report, please click here.

In this report as a source for list of issues prior to reporting ASSEDEL raises concerns for four (4) key issues of human right violations : – Detention of opposition party deputies after being stripped of parliamentary immunity, – Enforced disappearances, – Dismissal of public servants with emergency decree-law, and – The Arbitrary Detention of Masses

The report has been placed into the UN Treaty Body Database soon after its submission and available here.

To read the full report, please click here.

ASSEDEL emphasizes that one of the most crucial obstacles that contribute to the current global accountability gap for torture and ill-treatment is that in some extent human rights violations do not become priority topics in the agendas of some democratic countries. ASSEDEL proposes an extension of the definition of torture so that psychological dimensions for the loved ones, relatives, and acquaintances of the maltreated person and the public conscience should be included in official definitions and in relevant articles of criminal law.

To read the full report, please click here.

Attending to the call of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders for inputs to inform her thematic studies to be presented at the UN Human Rights Council in March session and at the UN General Assembly in October, ASSEDEL responses to the third (3rd), fourth (4th) and fifth (5th) questions of the questionnaire. The report presents the situations of three prominent human rights defenders Ebru Timtik, Mehmet Osman Kavala, and Eren Keskin. The report also compares Turkey’s democracy index before and after July 2016.

The report has been placed into the official website of the Special Rapporteur after its submission and available here.

To read the full submission please click here.

Bogazici University, known for its achievements, libertarian identity, and international recognition has taken an opposing stance against the current Turkish Government as it has turned into authoritarianism in recent years. The University’s opposing stance has caused disturbances in the regime, and ultimately the government dismissed the University’s rector and, following an unconventional route, appointed a trustee-rector to the University. Students and faculty members who have not accepted this situation started to protest. The police, using excessive force, have degraded human dignity towards students who were protesting peacefully. In this communication, the violations committed by the police were expressed with concrete examples.

To read the full communication click here.

Attending to the call of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression to inform the annual thematic report for the 47th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2021, we submitted our responses to Ms. Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

To read the full submission, please click here.

On the call for inputs from the Special Rapporteur for his report to be presented at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, ASSEDEL submitted the below responses in the context of Turkey. The submission highlights the difficulties of individuals, lawyers, political parties, and NGOs to seek their rights, the feeling of being stuck, and how violations are justified by the regime.

You can read the full submission from here.

On 11 February 2021 Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders have sent a letter to Turkey addressing their serious concerns on with the potential consequences of the Law No. 7262 on Preventing Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction which was adopted on 27 December 2020 and entered into force on 31 December 2020. The Law potentially can restrict freedom of association, it would also entail granting the Ministry of Interior and judges wider powers to prosecute human rights defenders for terror charges and block their associations’ activities for long periods of time. This concern has already been discussed within the above-mentioned submission of our association submitted to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association on 28 January 2021.

To read the full communication please click here.

Ms Dunja Mijatovic, Commissioner for Human Rights, also intervened on the above-mentioned Law No. 7262. In a letter addressed to the Turkish Government on 25 February 2021, she pointed out that the government appears engaged in exactly the opposite direction by broadening the catalogue of tools which it may use to further target civil society organisations and human rights defenders, and their legitimate and lawful activities.

To read the full letter please click here.

L’Association européenne pour la défense des droits et des libertés, ASSEDEL, has reported the pushback incidents enforced to Turkish asylum seekers, on the call for their forthcoming report on the human rights of migrants to the 47th session of the Human Rights Council. The report summarizes the authoritarian atmosphere in current Turkey and informs about the media coverage on pushback incidents. Two specific incidents from the Maritsa River borderline between Greece and Turkey have also been reported.

You can read full report from here.