Published earlier but worth revisiting, from the Associated Press:
STRASBOURG, France: The European Court of Human Rights is facing a huge case backlog and at its current pace would need 46 years to rule on all complaints, a survey said Wednesday.
The court, underfunded and lacking judges, is struggling with almost 80,000 cases, some of them [...]
Turkish parliament’s justice committee on Friday accepted the bill to amend the controversial Article 301, which holds immense restrictions on freedom of speech in Turkey and in which Turkish officials agree that the article has “embarrassed Turkey abroad”. However, intellectuals and writers in Turkey have very little to celebrate about considering the trivial changes.
By [...]
Turkey’s violation of civil liberties continues with the latest development in the charges brought against 56 mayors for writing a letter to the Danish prime minister requesting him not to shut down the Kurdish broadcast station, Roj-TV, in Denmark after being pressured by Turkey to take it off the air.
When Turkish prosecutors initially raised [...]
Urge Turkey to abolish article 301 in which Leyla Zana was indicted under.
Amnesty International is extremely concerned with the frequent use of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) to prosecute human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society peacefully expressing their dissenting opinion. Article 301, on the denigration of Turkishness, the [...]
From the online newspaper, Yeni Ozgur Politika, translated by Rasti:
The identities of two of the eight people [Kurds] who had been taken by Bolu Brigade [Turkish counter-guerilla forces] from their homes under the pretext of showing them an address, and then returning them, have been revealed. These people were Hasan Örhan and his brother, [...]
European Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC)
11 April 2008
EUTCC press release: Kurdish spokesperson Leyla Zana convicted to two years in prison
Leyla Zana, a well know political spokesperson for the Kurds in Turkey has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Turkish Court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. The court’s judgment said she violated Article 7/2 [...]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL LONDON
AI Index: EUR 44/007/2008
Health concern/ill-treatment
Fifteen-year-old Cuneyt Ertus was arrested by police after Newroz (New Year) demonstrations on 22 March in the south-eastern city of Hakkari. He was apparently ill-treated during and after his arrest and is currently being held on remand at Bitlis Prison. He has been charged with offences including [...]
In the largest Kurdish city, Diyarbakir (or Amed, in Kurdish), reports say that over 1 million people gathered to listen to the music, dance, and hear speeches from the local Kurdish politicians. Pictures from the event showed Turkish jets and helicopters flying low but there were no encounters with this extremely large crowd of celebrators.
However, [...]
