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Amnesty International lawyer Kilic arrested in Turkey

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Amnesty International lawyer Kilic arrested in TurkeyAmnesty International’s director in Turkey, Taner Kilic, was among 23 lawyers arrested in the western city of Izmir. They are suspected of having ties to the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Taner Kilic, the chair of Amnesty International in Turkey , was arrested on Tuesday along with 22 other lawyers, the human rights organization has reported. They have all been accused of links to the network of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Kilic was detained by police at his home in Izmir early on Tuesday before being taken to his office, Amnesty announced.

“We are calling on the Turkish authorities to immediately release Taner Kilic along with the other 22 lawyers and drop all charges against them,” Amnesty Secretary-General Salil Shetty said.

“Taner Kilic has a long and distinguished record of defending exactly the kind of freedoms that the Turkish authorities are now intent on trampling,” Shetty said.

Amnesty reported that there was no reason to believe that Kilic’s arrest was connected to his work for the London-based rights group. He has been the local director in Turkey since 2014.

The Turkish government claims that Gulen ordered a coup attempt last July, but the cleric denies the accusation.

Since July, authorities have arrested 50,000 people and sacked or suspended 150,000 government employees – including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants – for alleged links to Gulen’s network and other groups.

es/jm (Reuters, AFP)

Amnesty International: Aleksander Lapshin is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in Azerbaijan

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Amnesty International condemns the extradition of a blogger from Belarus to Azerbaijan.

“The criminal proceedings against Aleksander Lapshin should be terminated, and he should be released immediately,” organization said in a statement.

Amnesty International is not aware of any other cases of extradition requests being made by the Azerbaijani authorities against individuals who have entered Nagorno-Karabakh without their permission. However, there are numerous individuals who have visited the territory without permission from the Azerbaijani authorities and been “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan – put on an official list of offenders who will be permanently refused entry to Azerbaijan. Amnesty International takes the view that the extradition and charges against Aleksander Lapshin are a means of targeting him principally in connection with his blogs, in particular his criticism of the Azerbaijani border control system and the country’s social inequality.

“The charge of “public appeals against the state” has no legal basis, as the criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities in his blog falls entirely within the scope of his right to freedom of expression. With regard to the criminal charge of illegal border crossing, the organization maintains that irregular entry should not be treated as a criminal offence. As such, Amnesty International considers that his detention is arbitrary and calls for the criminal proceedings against Aleksandr Lapshin to be terminated. He should be released immediately,” the statement reads.

“Concerns were raised regarding the conditions of Aleksander Lapshin’s detention in Belarus where he was held at the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) #1 in Minsk. He is also at risk of torture and other ill-treatment while in custody in Azerbaijan.”

“The Azerbaijani authorities have persistently failed to investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and the Azerbaijani courts have on numerous occasions admitted as evidence “confessions” obtained under torture. In extraditing Aleksander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, amongst other human rights violations, the Belarusian authorities have failed to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law. Belarus ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1998, according to which “no State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

Turkey & Saudi supported Syrian rebels guilty of war crimes: Amnesty International

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AP photo

AP photo

BEIRUT – Agence France-Presse,

Islamist rebels and jihadists in Syria are guilty of war crimes, Amnesty International said in a report on July 5, accusing them of “a chilling wave of abductions, torture and summary killings.”

The London-based rights group named five Syrian anti-regime factions operating in northern Syria: al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front, hardliner Ahrar al-Sham, Nureddin Zinki, the Levant Front and Division 16.

The groups have detained and tortured lawyers, journalists, and children — among others — for criticizing them, committing acts seen as immoral, or being minorities, the report said.   “Many civilians live in constant fear of being abducted if they criticize the conduct of armed groups in power or fail to abide by the strict rules that some have imposed,” said Philip Luther, head of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program.

“In Aleppo and Idlib today, armed groups have free rein to commit war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law with impunity,” he added.

The report is based on 24 accounts of abduction by anti-regime groups between 2012 and 2016 and another five cases of torture.

Halim, a humanitarian worker, was kidnapped and tortured by Nureddin Zinki rebels in Aleppo city until he confessed to a crime.

“When I refused to sign the confession paper the interrogator ordered the guard to torture me,” he said.

“He then started beating me with cables on the soles of my feet. I couldn’t bear the pain so I signed the paper,” Halim said.

Jihadist and hardline religious groups operate their own religious courts which punish crimes such as apostasy or adultery with death.

Saleh was held by al-Nusra in late 2014, and was told by his guard that five women accused of adultery would “only be forgiven by death.”

He said he later watched a video showing al-Nusra militants publicly killing one of women execution-style.

Amnesty said it documented violations in Idlib, which is held by al-Nusra and its allies, and Aleppo.

Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests but has since broken down into all-out war, leaving more than 280,000 people dead.

Rights groups have accused both the regime of Bashar al-Assad and anti-government factions of indiscriminate attacks, torture and detention.

Amnesty called on world powers to “pressure armed groups to end such abuses and comply with the laws of war.”

The report said regional powers must also stop providing weapons or other forms of support to any factions involved in war crimes or other violations.

It said some of the accused groups “are believed to have the support of governments such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the U.S.”

Amnesty International has condemned imposed on an Armenian in Uzbekistan

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arton122471-400x225Amnesty International condemned the Uzbek authorities for the 7 years of imprisonment verdict has delivered justice in this country, regularly singled out for its violations of human rights against a citizen of Armenian origin was accused of Islamist extremism and other serious crimes in a rigged trial held by human rights organizations. In a statement issued on February 21, the international organization based in London has to

German Merkel capitulate to Turkey, Amnesty International criticizes EU migrant deal with Turkey

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German mAmnesty International has called European Union leaders to put refugee rights above concerns to protect their borders.

Amnesty’s call Saturday came a day before German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish officials on an EU plan that would give concession to Turkey in exchange for stemming the flow of migrants into EU countries.

Officials say the concessions would include an aid package, easier access to EU visas for Turkish citizens and speed-up EU membership talks.

Amnesty said the EU should be looking for ways to “offer safe and legal routes to refugees to reach Europe.”

The group said: “A deal premised on keeping refugees in Turkey fundamentally ignores both the challenges they face there and the obvious need for the EU to offer protection.”

Turkey: Amnesty International: convictions fail to bring justice in Korkmaz murder case

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202896_newsdetailAmnesty International (AI) issued a public statement on Wednesday regarding the controversial verdict in the trial of the murderers of Turkish teen protester Ali İsmail Korkmaz, saying the “convictions fail to bring justice.”

The AI statement said two police officers, Mevlüt Saldoğan and Yalçın Akbulut, were convicted for a lesser offense of “deliberately wounding and causing the death” of the 19-year-old Korkmaz. Saldoğan was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in prison and Akbulut was sentenced to 10 years instead of facing punishment for the charge of “deliberate killing.” This charge, under which Saldoğan was prosecuted, would have carried a life sentence.

The statement stressed that a video of the police officers and civilians beating Korkmaz was shown to the court during the trial, noting that “Officer Saldoğan is seen in the video repeatedly kicking him [Korkmaz] in the head as he lay motionless on the ground after the attack.”

AI also stated that two other police officers involved in the deadly beating of Korkmaz, Şaban Gökpınar and Hüseyin Engin, were acquitted of all charges due to a “lack of evidence,” while three civilians also involved in the incident were sentenced to six years and eight months each. A fourth suspect has been sentenced to three years in jail but released from prison due to time served on remand.

The statement mentioned the numerous setbacks the Korkmaz trial was subject to, such as tampering with the CCTV evidence that recorded the attack.

“Hundreds more complaints into police violence look increasingly unlikely even to come to court,” AI said, adding that two further cases involving strong evidence of excessive police force leading to deaths during the Gezi Park protests remain unresolved.

The organization elaborated on these cases by saying the trial concerning the death of Abdullah Cömert, who was hit by a tear gas canister in Antakya, continues, and that Turkish prosecutors have failed to identify the policeman who fired the tear gas canister that led to death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan.

The statement concluded: “Overall, the judicial machinery has been ineffective in bringing police abuses to justice in the face of obstructiveness and failure to provide evidence by law enforcement agencies. The Turkish authorities must bring [a] swift and just conclusion to the many hundreds of complaints that are still pending and bring all those responsible for human rights abuses to justice.”

A local court handed down Saldoğan and Akbulut’s sentences on Wednesday, causing strong reactions from the victim’s family and the general public. The prosecutor was seeking up to 16 years for Akbulut on charges of willfully causing serious injury and death. The two police officers are expected to stay only two-and-a-half years in prison, as they have already spent one-and-a-half years in jail and will benefit from the law on probation.

The court’s verdict was protested by Korkmaz’s family and others present in the courtroom. “God damn such justice,” shouted the slain teen’s mother, Emel Korkmaz. “The life of a person, the life of Ali İsmail, should not have been this cheap. They are beating a 19-year-old teen to death and getting 10 years. Is this justice in this country? The whole world knows how Ali was killed. I could not watch the footage [showing Korkmaz being beaten by police]. The life of my son should not have been this cheap,” the grieving mother said.

Korkmaz, a first-year student at Eskişehir University, died of a brain hemorrhage after remaining comatose for 38 days following the incident in which he was beaten by a group of four plainclothes police officers and four civilians in the street. The incident took place during the nationwide Gezi Park protests that swept Turkey in the summer of 2013. Korkmaz attended a march in Eskişehir and fled the police, who fired tear gas and used water cannons on the peaceful demonstrators. The assailants accosted and tripped Korkmaz as he was running on a side road. The group then beat Korkmaz with bats and kicked him in the head.

The protests started over a government plan to demolish İstanbul’s Gezi Park in Taksim Square and replace it with a replica of Ottoman-era barracks. The attack on Korkmaz further stoked tensions at the time, angering protesters even more.

Amnesty calls on South Korea to suspend tear gas exports to Turkey

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199419_newsdetailPolice forces use pepper spray to disperse protesters who gathered in Ankara to commemorate Berkin Elvan, 15-year-old boy, died a year after being hit by a teargas canister fired by the police during last summer’s Gezi protests, (Photo: Today’s Zaman, Ali Ünal)

An international human rights watchdog has called on South Korea to stop a planned shipment of large amounts of tear gas to Turkey, which it said abuses the use of riot control equipment during mass protests.

In a press release Amnesty International (AI) issued on its website on Monday, it said South Korea is planning to ship around 1.9 million tear gas cartridges and gas grenades to Turkey and the first delivery will take place in mid-January, citing an anonymous and credible source.

“All shipments of tear gas and other riot control equipment to Turkey must be suspended immediately or they risk fuelling further repression and abuses,” Marek Marczynski, head of Military, Security and Police at AI said, according to the release.

The human rights organization asked South Korean authorities to send a clear and urgent message that it won’t send any arms to Turkey “where abusive and arbitrary force is being used against protesters.”

“Turkey has a woeful record of misusing tear gas during demonstrations, frequently firing gas canisters directly at protesters. No responsible government should be fuelling abuses on this scale,” Marczynski was quoted as saying.

The human rights organization said that 1,898,515 “less lethal” chemical irritants — 1,509,015 tear gas cartridges ranging from four different sizes and 389,500 gas grenades — will be delivered to Turkey. While the first part of the shipment, which contains 550,000 items, is scheduled to be in Turkey in mid-January, the rest of it will be delivered by mid-May, AI said.

Amnesty cited the 2013 Gezi Park protests and May Day demonstrations in Turkey, during which riot police repeatedly used abusive and arbitrary force against peaceful protesters. It underlined that at least four demonstrators died due to the police’s use of excessive force, including two people who were hit in the head by tear gas canisters.

“Right now, no government should be supplying the Turkish authorities with the tools to crush further peaceful demonstrations. All transfers of tear gas and other riot control equipment must be suspended until the Turkish authorities can ensure such repression will not be repeated, and commit to carrying out thorough, impartial and independent investigations into past abuses by the security forces,” Marczynski said.

The way Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) handled the nationwide protests of last year drew harsh criticism from international human rights organizations as well as European Union officials. During the Gezi Park protests, which broke out at the end of May 2013, thousands were injured and some died due to police violence involving tear gas and tear gas canisters. Organizations at home and abroad accused the government of committing human rights violations on a large scale during the protests, which started because of environmentalist concerns to protect a green space in the heart of İstanbul.

During the almost one-month-long Gezi protests, which spread all across Turkey, more than 10,000 people were injured, with some losing an eye, due to the excessive use of tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets, based on data from the Ankara-based Human Rights Association (İHD). According to the Taksim Solidarity Platform, in just the first 15 days of protests, the police had used 150,000 gas bombs.