Human Rights Association (Turkey)
The Human Rights Association (HRA; Turkish: İnsan Hakları Derneği İHD) is an NGO for advancing Human rights in Turkey, founded in 1986 and headquartered in Ankara.
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[edit] History
The HRA was founded on July 17, 1986, by 98 people, comprising lawyers, journalists, intellectuals, but mainly relatives of political prisoners. The Human Rights Association works on all kind of human rights, but is mainly focused on abuses in Turkey. In 1992, the statute was changed to cover humanitarian aspects as laid out in the Geneva Conventions.[1] Since then the HRA has also criticized human violations of armed groups.
[edit] Structure and campaigns
Official figures of the HRA claim 10,000 members, in 29 branches in 81 provinces of Turkey.[2] The 24 board members are elected for terms of two years on the association's general assembly. The headquarters in Ankara as well as many branches (in particular the branches in Istanbul and Diyarbakir) are running commissions according to the need. The commission cover subjects such as the Kurdish question, women, children, prisons and torture.[2]
Some of the large number of campaigns of the HRA were: freedom of expression (2001), general amnesty for prisoners (1999), abolition of the death penalty (abolished in 2002-2004), abolition of the state security courts (1997). In 2004 a project called "Don't remain silent against torture" (İşkenceye Sessiz Kalma) was started.[3]
[edit] Persecution
Since its foundation the HRA has been facing state intervention into its work, but also direct violence of individuals or nationalist groups. HRA website claims 400 court cases against executives of the association; the governors of some provinces ordered the closure of branches 30 times; the chairman of the branch in Diyarbakir that stayed close between 1997 and 2000, Osman Baydemir, had to face 60 investigative or penal cases against him in one year; in 2000 the branch in Izmir had the same number of cases initiated against it; because of speeches in 1995 and 1996 the then president of the HRA, Akın Birdal, was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment, of which he served 14 months.[4]
Furthermore, the HRA lists 14 members who were killed. On May 12, 1998, Akın Birdal barely survived an assassination attempt, when two assailants fired 13 shots at him in the office of the association. On November 25, 1999 a group of 30 to 35 persons close to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) stormed into the office and beat the new President Hüsnü Öndül.[4] Repeatedly Amnesty International issued urgent actions to draw attention and prevent threats against human rights activists of the HRA, e.g. for Eren Keskin, chairman of the branch in Istanbul.[5]
In a polarising political climate, the Turkish Army and police, as well as Turkish nationalist politicians and media, accused IHD of links with the PKK. In July 2005, one of the founding members Adalet Ağaoğlu left the association accusing it of connections with the PKK. She also accused the association of having a pro-Kurdish attitude and further for not being able of criticizing the PKK.[6][7]
[edit] Publications
- Annual Reports 1990-2006 (Turkish)
- Annual Reports 1990-1996 (English)
- Annual Reports 1997-2003, 2005 (translated)
- Annual Reports of the Treatment Centers (up to 2006 in Turkish)
- Annual Reports of the Treatment Centers (up to 2005 in English)
[edit] Special Reports (Books)
- File on Torture – Deaths in Detention Places or Prisons 12 September 1980-1994 (Turkish-English), second edition up to 1985
- The Report on the Health Services and Health Personnel’s Problems in the Southeast (English)
- Freedom of Expression and Migration (Turkish)
- HRFT on Trial 1998 (Turkish)
- Manuel on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – Istanbul Protocol (Turkish-English)
- Torture and Impunity 2005 (Turkish-English)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ See Article of Hüsnü Öndül former chair of the HRA, entitled, Entry to Humanitarian Law (Turkish); accessed on 26 August 2009
- ^ a b Portal for Civil Society, Turkish, accessed on 26 August 2009
- ^ Further information on these campaigns can be found on the HRA's website; Turkish, accessed on 29 August 2009
- ^ a b Details can be found on the website of the Human Rights Agenda Association in a report called Defend Human Rights Defenders with a direct link to download the report as a word-file; accessed 26 August 2009
- ^ "Turkey: Eren Keskin - prosecuted for her activities as a human rights defender". Amnesty International. 2002-09-05. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR44/051/2002/en. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ [1] İHD, PKK'cı artık istifa ediyorum (Turkish), Hürriyet, 30.07.2005
- ^ [2] Türkische Literatin meldet sich zurück (German), die tageszeitung (taz) (German), 01.08.2005
