Tactics and tools for the protection
of Human Rights Defenders

18 October 2011

Several waves of mass arrests took place this month in Turkey targeting Human rights’ activists. Yakay - der and Mothers for Peace’s representatives, associations members of the Euro-Mediterranean Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED) are now in custody : Cemal Bektas, President of Yakay-der and brother of a disappeared, Kemal Aydin, Yakay-der’s spokesperson, Selahattin Tekin, member of Yakay-der’s Board council and Nahide Ormanci member of the Mothers for Peace.

Since several weeks Turkish police are carrying out massive and targeted arrests against Human rights Kurdish activists in Turkey. Many leaders of the Kurdish political party, Peace and Democracy (BDP), representatives of civil society committed in the rights of Kurds in Turkey and families of disappeared have been subjected to severe crackdown orchestrated by the government.

Kemal Aydin and Selahattin Tekin have been arrested on October 4th, 2011 as part of a vast operation in which 98 person have been arrested in Istanbul. Cemal Bektas was in Diyarbakir on October 4th. He was arrested on his return to Istanbul on October 11th in the evening as he was leaving Yakay – der’s office. Nahide Ormancı, a member of the Turkish association Mothers for Peace, member of the FEMED, was also arrested three days ago in the District of Slopi.

During two days no one knew where the President of Yakay-der, Cemal Bektas, was. Only a few days after the relatives and families were able to obtain information on where they were taken to. They are in custody at Metris Prison in Istanbul. For now, only their lawyer was able to visit them. Cemal Bektas’s family received permission to see him in prison on Friday. We fear he will be transferred to another detention facility by then.

Yakay - der and Mothers for Peace are working for many years for Truth and Justice on enforced disappearances in Turkey. Their representatives are victims of daily harassment by the authorities against them. These associations seek to clarify the circumstances of disappearances and extrajudicial executions occurred in Turkey and this, by conducting research with families of victims, organizing conferences and other outreach activities. Last July, the associations have organized a major conference on the existence of mass graves in Turkey asking the authorities to proceed with the exhumation of the bodies in order to return them to their families.

Faced with these serious attacks on Human rights defenders, the FEMED and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) call on the Turkish authorities to:

• Put an end to arbitrary detention of Human rights defenders;
• Stop all forms of harassment against relatives of the disappeared and Human rights supporters;
• Make Truth and Justice on enforced disappearances in Turkey.

October 18th 2011,

For FEMED, Nassera Dutour, President
Contact : +33 1 42 05 06 22

For EMHRN, Marc Schade-Poulsen, Executive Director
Contact : + 45 32 64 17 00