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President of Siirt Branch of the Human Rights Association Were Detained

Dear All,

Ms. Vetha Aydın, President of Siirt Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), and Mr. Abdullah Gürgen, Board Member of Siirt Branch of IHD, were detained on early hours of the morning of 16 March 2010 in Siirt, a city of Turkey and located in the southeast. Following the detention of Vetha Aydın and Abdullah Gürgen, the police raided the Siirt Branch of IHD. From 05.35 a.m. to 08:30 a.m., the branch was searched by the police. During the search, all the membership registration forms were taped to the camera. Police officers confiscated a hard disk and some files and cd’s in the branch. Moreover, some application letters that were sent by the prisoners regarding to the confronting violations were confiscated.

Ms. Vetha Aydın and Mr. Abdullah Gürgen have been in detention in the police headquarters for 24 hours. They were detained as part of an ongoing anti-terror operation. The first part of this operation was held on December 24, 2009 in 11 Turkish provinces and 36 Kurdish political leaders, journalists, and activists detained during the operation. Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of IHD and President of the Diyarbakir Branch was of the activists that were arrested in this operation. Mr. Erbey has been still in prison.