KHRP Commends Reforms of Anti-terror Law for Children
KHRP commends today’s reforms passed by the Turkish Parliament concerning the application of anti-terror laws against children in Turkey, which sends an important signal that the current practice of treating children as terrorists is incompatible with international human rights norms and is not conducive to creating a space for a democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue. KHRP urges the government to allocate sufficient human and financial resources and expertise to ensure not only adequate implementation, but to more widely confront the widespread criminalisation and detention of children. Read more
Three leading members of Kurdish Yekiti Party brought to court in Syria
According to Human Rights Organisations in Syria, three members of the Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria were brought before the Supreme State Security Court in Damascus for questioning on Tuesday, 20 July 2010.
This is case number 184/2010, for the prosecution of the leading members of the Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria:
- Hassan Saleh
- Muhammad Mustafa
- Ma’rouf Mulla Ahmed
The hearing was devoted to questioning about the charges against them: membership of a secret organisation that aims to annex part of Syrian territory – Article 267 of the Penal Code. Read more
TURKEY: Kurdish teenager -15 yr.old Berivan sentenced to 7+ years in prison, update
Convicted of terrorism, a Kurdish teenager is serving a seven-year, nine-month prison sentence in Turkey’s Prison E in Diyarbakir.On October 9, 15-year-old Berivan Sayaca left her parents’ home in Batman in southeast Turkey to pay a visit to her aunt. She never came home.
According to news reports, Turkish authorities charged that Sayaca stopped at a demonstration organized by the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, known by the acronym PKK, and threw stones at police. Her advocates deny that she attended the protest and say she simply passed through the crowd. They say the rally was coordinated not by the PKK but by the recently banned Kurdish political party Peace and Democracy, or BDP.
In densely populated and economically suffering southeast Turkey, pro-Kurdish protests are commonplace. On some occasions, youths have thrown stones and gasoline bombs at police, who respond with tear gas and water cannons, the BBC reported. Read more
Act now to stop unfair prosecutions of children under Turkey’s anti-terror laws
July 19, 2010 by sks
Filed under News, Support Kurds, Turkey
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Amnesty International has warned that draft legislative amendments scheduled to be discussed by the Parliament tomorrow, 20 July, would not, on their own, prevent violations of the rights of children.
“To end unfair prosecutions under anti-terrorism laws, the authorities must amend the definition of the crimes themselves, not only the ones under which children are sentenced,” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s researcher on Turkey.
Amnesty International’s research has shown that children, some as young as 12, have been prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws in adult courts, in violation of present domestic law, in provinces where no Children’s Courts exist. Read more
Arrest of the Kurdish political activist Arif Attoun Khalil
Syrian Human Rights Committee – MAD and Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD report that a joint patrol belonging to the political security and military security services from the city of Kobani raided a house where they arrested political activist Arif Attoun Khalil, who was visiting a friend there.
He was arrested without a warrant or court order, and was taken to an unknown destination. There has been no information about his whereabouts since this arrest.
Arif Attoun Khalil, born in 1965 in a village in the Afrin area, is a political activist in the Democratic Union Party (PYD). He suffers from several diseases, including chronic chest and middle ear infections.
Syria: Al-Asad’s Decade in Power Marked by Repression
Rights Suppressed, Activists Detained, Media Censored, Kurds Sidelined
(New York) – President Bashar al-Asad has not delivered on his promises to increase public freedoms and improve his government’s human rights record during a decade in power, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today on the eve of the anniversary of his accession to power.
Iran/Iraq: Iranian Attacks Should Not Target Iraqi Civilians
Villagers Allege Artillery Shelling, Attacks on Livestock Intended to Clear Border Are
(New York) – Iran needs to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians at risk of serious harm from artillery bombardment and other military operations in an area that includes dozens of Kurdish villages inside northern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Iranian attacks, directed against the Iranian Kurdish armed group Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), intensified in late May and have led to the displacement of more than 500 families, wounded an unknown number of villagers, and killed a teenage girl. Iraqi villagers also told Human Rights Watch, which visited the area in late June, that Iranian border guards have targeted their livestock and sometimes fired at the villagers themselves. Read more
Syrian security branches are detaining Kurdish students during the exam season
July 15, 2010 by sks
Filed under News, Support Kurds, Syria
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University examinations are finishing and the Syrian authorities have detained many Kurdish students, and are withholding information about their whereabouts and reasons for detention.
Abdullah Mohammed Mesko, born in 1987 in Kobani, is a student in his last year of study in the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Beirut Arab University. Mesko was arrested by the joint security patrol headed by the area manager Abdul Jawad Jenaidee, on 12 February 2010 and was removed immediately to Aleppo by a detachment of Political Security in Kobani. Until this time, there is no information concerning the location and the reasons for his arrest.
Mesko and other Kurdish students were detained by Syrian security authorities and there is no information about many of them. Read more
Mohammed Saddoun’s case [no. 376/2010] transferred to Qamishli, Syria
According to Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD, the military investigating judge in Aleppo decided on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 to transfer the file of Mohamed Saadoun, [no. 376/2010], to the individual military judge in Qamishli.
Previous reports:
http://supportkurds.org/news/mohamed-saadoun-faces-trial-in-syria/
http://supportkurds.org/reports/update-on-kurdish-azadi-party-members-detained-in-syria/
http://supportkurds.org/reports/update-on-kurdish-azadi-party-members-detained-in-syria
Another political Kurdish arrest in Syria
Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD reports the arrest a week ago of Hassan Sheikh Ahmed by political security forces in Aleppo. He is from Kobani and lives in Aleppo.
His arrest was arbitrary as usual, and without a court order, and it is believe that his arrest is linked to his interest in public affairs.
We strongly condemn the detention of Hassan Sheikh Ahmed, and express our deep concern about his fate. We call for an end to the arbitrary arrests that take place outside the law and which constitute a flagrant violation of fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Syrian Permanent Constitution of 1973, pursuant to the situation of Emergency and Martial Law that was declared and has remained in place since 3 August 1963.
Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD
13 July 2010
